# Is a sofa the same as a couch? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496 "2011-06-14T22:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/1 "2011-06-14T22:19:38Z")
So I’ve always used the two terms interchangeably, but it occurs to me that there might be some difference I’ve never learned about. Which term do you use and do you think they refer to the same piece of furniture? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/2 "2011-06-14T22:23:36Z")
I’d be more likely to say _couch_, but they mean the same things. I think a two-seater is also known as a love-seat, but I’d still refer to it as a couch. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/3 "2011-06-14T22:23:38Z")
For no particular reason, I think a couch seats two, while a sofa seats three. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/4 "2011-06-14T22:25:18Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > For no particular reason, I think a couch seats two, while a sofa seats three. A couch that seats two is a love seat. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/5 "2011-06-14T22:28:06Z")
Couch, sofa and [davenport](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davenport_%28sofa%29) reference the same furniture in my books. Davenport is like Kool-aid as in it’s a brand that became the name of a product. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/6 "2011-06-14T22:36:36Z")
Couch, sofa and settee are used interchangeably where I’m from (London). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/7 "2011-06-14T22:44:10Z")
It’s better to be a Sofa King than a Couch King. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/8 "2011-06-14T23:11:08Z")
I would use the two interchangeably. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/9 "2011-06-14T23:26:50Z")
My impression is that couch is the more general term, and a sofa is a type of couch. (Chaises longues, love seats, and récamiers are other types.) For example, “couch” (which derives from the Latin _culcita_, “mattress”) was formerly or poetically used to mean “bed, sleeping spot” (to rise from one’s couch). ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/10 "2011-06-15T00:29:10Z")
Don’t forget “chesterfield.” Hey, I’m on the Ontario border and I had a Canadian grandmother. We just know these things, and only use them when we want to confuse non-Michiganders/Ontarioians. (I’m always sure to have a serviette while eating on the chesterfield.) ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/11 "2011-06-15T00:41:30Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Couch, sofa and [davenport](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davenport_%28sofa%29) reference the same furniture in my books. Davenport is like Kool-aid as in it’s a brand that became the name of a product. My grandma used to call it a Davenport - is that you grandma? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/12 "2011-06-15T00:49:45Z")
then there is the versatile dual use furniture called a sofa-bed other wise known as the foldout couch. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/13 "2011-06-15T01:05:49Z")
A sofa and a couch are the same, but a loveseat is smaller. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/14 "2011-06-15T01:17:28Z")
Sofa and couch are as similar to each other as curtains, drapes and window treatments all are to each other. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/15 "2011-06-15T01:35:38Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I’d be more likely to say _couch_, but they mean the same things. > > I think a two-seater is also known as a love-seat, but I’d still refer to it as a couch. Love-seats tend to be smaller. There is a difference. You’ll see it (feel it) if you sit on one and then on a couch. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/16 "2011-06-15T03:25:22Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/17 "2011-06-15T03:46:25Z")
Sounds like I’ve been right all along. I feel vindicated! There was just that niggling part of the back of my brain going "people have been thinking you’re stupid for _years!_ ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/18 "2011-06-15T03:48:46Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Don’t forget “chesterfield.” Hey, I’m on the Ontario border and I had a Canadian grandmother. We just know these things, and only use them when we want to confuse non-Michiganders/Ontarioians. > > (I’m always sure to have a serviette while eating on the chesterfield.) I finally looked up what a chesterfield was when I heard the Bare Naked Ladies using it in song lyrics. I like to use it sometimes too and I am not Canadian and probably won’t ever be. It is cool term. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/19 "2011-06-15T12:21:34Z")
You can’t be a sofa potato though, or sofa surf … ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/20 "2011-06-15T12:43:06Z")
People never say I am “couch king” stupid. But I get accused of being “sofa king” stupid all the time. Otherwise I always thought the two were 100% interchangeable. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496.md?page=2)