Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
#17087 01/26/01 03:30 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
OP Offline
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Some posts on the thread about "whilst" have raised the question for me regarding architectural and related terms. I wonder, what are the regional differences in describing the parts of buildings?

Depending on the speaker and the exact use of the room, I have heard a room used for common gatherings and activities described as a living room, family room, parlor, sitting room or front room. A room used for entertainment can be called the family room, den, rec room or entertainment center (the latter used when the room is specifically built to house gargantuan electronic entertainment systems). The room used for ablutions is the bathroom, even when it doesn't contain a bathtub. The room housing the cooking is the kitchen. A room used for formal dining is the dining room, while (/whilst ) a room used for everyday eating is the eating area or breakfast nook. The area adjacent to the front entry, used to receive guests, is the entry, entry hall, hall, front hall or foyer.

Other rooms include sun rooms, sewing rooms, and laundry rooms. We have a garden room, so called only because it is adjacent to a walled-in garden area.

Outdoor areas include porches, porticos, stoops, verandahs, piazzas and decks.

And then there are all the style designations, and commercial terms ...


#17088 01/26/01 03:59 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
for some inexplicable reason you have left out the bedroom, which leads me to add that I am currently sitting in a converted bedroom (converted to an office), now (more topically) referred to as the "computer room".


#17089 01/26/01 04:00 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
J
jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
J
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
>a living room, family room, parlor, sitting room or front room

All of these, except parlour (although some Georgian/Victorian/Edwardian houses may use the name). Others: Lounge is used a lot, drawing room (up-market).

The bigger Victorian Edinburgh houses tend to have a drawing room/lounge with a large bay window on the first floor and another room, usually used as a family room (with TV and old(er)/less grand sofas etc) on the ground floor.

I don't see many dens or entertainment rooms but some people use a room which should be a bedroom as a den. Studies, on the other hand, are common and may double as a spare bedroom.

I might be too old to know anyone with a garganuan entertainment system. One of my neighbours had a room with a home cinema but I don't know what he calls it (he's never invited anyone in!)

>The room housing the cooking is the kitchen. A room used for formal dining is the dining room

Same

>The room used for ablutions is the bathroom, even when it doesn't contain a bathtub.

Not usually. A bathroom has a bath. (A public toilet is never called a bathroom, as previously discussed)
A shower room has a shower (although some people still call it a bathroom).
A "downstairs loo" or "cloakroom" is a separate toilet (loo to many of my generation) with a wash-hand baisin and maybe a place to hang coats.

>while a room used for everyday eating is the eating area or breakfast nook
Never a nook. Possibly a breakast room (older houses have them) more likely a family room or just part of a large kitchen.

>The area adjacent to the front entry, used to receive guests, is the entry, entry hall, hall, front hall or foyer.

Never front entry. Older terrace houses with yards (concrete flat area at back of house), have an "entry" but I think that is the path that runs along the back of the houses (Rubarb Commando will know). I heard Paul Daniels (TV Magician) say that he had a "vestibule" which is another name heard little, these days. A theatre would have a foyer but I don't think a house would have one.

>Other rooms include sun rooms, sewing rooms, and laundry rooms. We have a garden room, so called only because it is adjacent to a walled-in garden area.

A laundry room tends to be called a "untility room". SOme of the others are used.

Conservatories are often built onto the backs of houses.

>Outdoor areas include porches, porticos, stoops, verandahs, piazzas and decks.

I'd never heard of a "stoop" until it was discussed in a previous posts. We'd only see a piazza in a public place, a solid paved area would be a patio. Decks are not native but are finding their way into gardens. Pergolas, are wooden posts with a bit of cross bracing, built for plants to grow up.



#17090 01/26/01 04:05 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
J
jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
J
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
>for some inexplicable reason you have left out the bedroom, which leads me to add that I am currently sitting in a converted bedroom (converted to an office), now (more topically) referred to as the "computer room"

Funnily enough, your experience mirrors mine, according to the Estate Agent's specification, I am in "bedroom 4/study".

I was reading a newspaper article whilst I was in the USA which said that the living room, beloved of sit-coms was virtually redundant. The first question asked by people looking at a house was "Where will the computer go!"


#17091 01/26/01 04:13 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Hey, I'm sitting a converted bedroom, too!

Jo, what the heck's a conservatory? Though my old Clue game has one, it's hard for me to tell what it is.

Sparteye, does anybody up your way have a Florida room?


#17092 01/26/01 04:18 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
J
jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
J
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Conservatory

Probably a sun room, Victorian ones are popular on old houses:

http://www.conservatoriesonline.com/style.htm

Porches tend to be small affairs, built around a front door.


#17093 01/26/01 04:32 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
B
old hand
Offline
old hand
B
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
Pergolas, are wooden posts with a bit of cross bracing, built for plants to grow up.

I think I might call this a "trellis". This is the only word I can think of to describe such a thing.


#17094 01/26/01 04:35 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
M
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
...whereas in the UK a trellis would be a framework fixed flat against the wall, on which to train a climbing plant.

There is one exception: the noble Mrs Trellis from North Wales (but that's another story entirely!)


#17095 01/26/01 04:40 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
B
old hand
Offline
old hand
B
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
I had a friend who had both a family room and a living room. Most newer houses in Winnipeg have this sort of distinction. Living room has the nice furniture, used when people come over. Family room has the TV, video games, and all the mess. Our house was old enough not to need such a distinction. A rec room to me is necessarily in the basement. (Not sure why.)

The area adjacent to the front door is "by the front door" for me, usually. A bit unsophisticated, I guess.

As I was growing up, and we switched around the contents of two ground-floor bedrooms, there were rooms which were sometimes the "piano room" (so as not to annoy the rest of the people in the house when playing) and the "computer room" (obvious). The piano and computer were, for a time, together in a room. Much later both were removed but the name stayed with the room. In my new place we have a "study" with a computer, no piano, two bass guitars, a guitar, a violin, and a trombone, but for some reason I still call it the "piano room". Luckily my husband was familiar with my old house - otherwise it would be very confusing!


#17096 01/26/01 04:43 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
OP Offline
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Rarely have I come across someone in this area calling a room a Florida room, but I think I know what is meant. Up here, what I believe to be a Florida room is as often called a three-seasons room, which is still a misnomer, since an unheated, uninsulated room can be used only four months of the year. The heated, insulated version is a sun room.

BTW, my home computer is in a built-in computer area, consisting of floor-to-ceiling shelves and such, stretched wall-to-wall behind bi-fold doors, in the family room. I got the idea from a parade-of-homes tour. Open the doors, and instant office. Close the doors, and the mess disappears! It is, as I described it to the builder, a glorified closet.


Page 1 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 302 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5