# Hoity-Toity Love Seat

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoity-toity-love-seat/782798>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 23, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoity-toity-love-seat/782798 "2017-03-23T00:17:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoity-toity-love-seat/782798/1 "2017-03-23T00:17:19Z")

</div>

Just what do you call the figure-8 shaped love seat that looks kinda like this:  
[![](https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/lot-images.atgmedia.com/SR/36064/2873109/397-2013530165632_original.jpg) ](https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/lot-images.atgmedia.com/SR/36064/2873109/397-2013530165632_original.jpg)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoity-toity-love-seat/782798/2 "2017-03-23T00:28:29Z")

</div>

> **[Must-Know Furniture: Get Close With a Tête-à-Tête](https://www.houzz.com/magazine/must-know-furniture-face-off-with-the-iconic-tete-a-tete-stsetivw-vs~33774424)**
>
> This classic French seat solves furniture configuration dilemmas — and is perfect for conversation

Tete-a-tete chair, or conversation chair.

[http://swsurplus.com/loveseat/](http://swsurplus.com/loveseat/)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoity-toity-love-seat/782798/3 "2017-03-23T00:30:42Z")

</div>

[More](http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/33774424/list/must-know-furniture-face-off-with-the-iconic-tete-a-tete)

> [@](#):
>
> “Tête-à-tête” literally means “head-to-head” in French, and the seating creation allows just that. Its S-shaped, serpentine form encourages two people to face each other and engage in conversation, yet still be visually tied to their surroundings.

[And more](http://swsurplus.com/loveseat/)

> [@](#):
>
> The courting chair is basically what happens when you take two chairs, make them face each other, and attach them by the armrest. This sounds highly intimate, but they are actually only attached by one armrest; it acts as a barrier between the two seats. This way, even though the two people sitting in the courting chair are facing each other, they are not actually touching.
> 
> The courting chair is also referred to as a “conversation chair” and a “tete-a-tete” chair. “Tete-a-tete” means “face-to-face” in French, because the chair is designed in such a way that both people sitting in it are facing each other, perfect for intimate, face-to-face conversation.
> 
> It was manufactured in the second half of the seventeenth century and was very popular in the Baroque period, back when it was conventional for a man to “court” his beloved: thus, it was named the courting chair. Some modern reproductions of the S-shaped sofas are still produced, but for the most part, courting chairs have been replaced by the loveseat.

It’s amazing how much information there is out there, just a magic word away.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoity-toity-love-seat/782798/4 "2017-03-23T00:34:57Z")

</div>

[Matching toilet seat](http://www.goliath.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Screenshot_1.png). (SNL)