couch

A couch, also known as a sofa, settee, futon, or chesterfield (see Etymology below), is a piece of furniture for seating two or three people. It is commonly found in the form of a bench, with upholstered armrests, and often fitted with springs and tailored cushions. Although a couch is used primarily for seating, it may be used for sleeping. In homes, couches are normally put in the family room, living room, den or lounge. They are sometimes also found in non-residential settings such as hotels, lobbies of commercial offices, waiting rooms, and bars.

The term couch originally denoted an item of furniture for lying or sleeping on. Couch is predominantly used in North America, South Africa, Australia and Ireland, whereas the terms sofa and settee (U and non-U) are most commonly used in the United Kingdom and India. The word couch originated in Middle English from the Old French noun couche, which derived from the verb meaning "to lie down". The word sofa comes from Turkish and is derived from the Arabic word suffah ("ledge/bench"), cognates with the Aramaic word sippa ("mat"). Joseph Pubillones in A Little Shimmer Goes a Long Way specifies that the main difference between the couch and the sofa is that "couches can be used for reclining or laying upon" so a couch would "best be used to describe an upholstered piece in a family room", while the term sofa "used predominantly in England and Ireland denotes a tone of formality, hence a sofa is more appropriate word for the upholstered piece in the living room".

Living room is U, lounge (from the French) is non-U; napkin is U, serviette is non-U; sofa is U, settee is non-U; and two more amusing examples: what? is U, pardon? is non-U [哈哈哈哈]; lavatory or loo is U, toilet is so very non-U. Why this very predictable pattern? And what’s with this “U/non-U” business? Wikipedia explains it clearly: U and non-U English usage, with "U" standing for "upper class", and "non-U" representing the aspiring middle classes, was part of the terminology of popular discourse of social dialects (sociolects) in Britain and New England in the 1950s. The debate did not concern itself with the speech of the working classes, who in many instances used the same words as the upper classes. For this reason, the different vocabularies often can appear quite counter-intuitive: the middle classes prefer "fancy" or fashionable words, even neologisms and often euphemisms, in attempts to make themselves sound more refined, while the upper classes in many cases stick to the same plain and traditional words that the working classes also use, as, conscious of their status, they have no need to make themselves sound more refined.

A couch consists of the frame, padding and covering. The frame is usually made of wood, but can also be made of steel, plastic or laminated boards. Sofa padding is made from foam, down, feathers, fabric or a combination thereof. Sofa coverings are usually made out of soft leather, corduroy or linen.

六级/考研单词: sofa, furnish, seldom, tailor, cushion, norm, lounge, lobby, denote, predominant, unite, noun, derive, verb, mat, differentiate, usage, aspire, discourse, dialect, vocabulary, refine, pad, foam, linen