# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/21 "2011-06-15T13:32:41Z")
A sofa has two cushions (also known as a love seat) while a couch has three cushions. I appear to be in the minority however. ---
**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 15, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/22 "2011-06-15T13:54:09Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > A sofa has two cushions (also known as a love seat) while a couch has three cushions. > > I appear to be in the minority however. That’s pretty much the opposite of what I said. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/23 "2011-06-15T14:07:23Z")
Don’t even get me started on ottoman. ---
**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, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/24 "2011-06-15T14:11:18Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > A sofa has two cushions (also known as a love seat) while a couch has three cushions. > > I appear to be in the minority however. I agree with you and assumed that is what everyone thought until I read this thread. A sofa to me doesn’t have a strict definition but it tends to be a smaller sized couch like a love seat. Couches are the big ones in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/25 "2011-06-15T14:31:46Z")
For me it’s always been that sofa, couch, davenport and chesterfield are synonymous terms for the largest (usually three-seater) bit of living room/lounge room/parlor furniture. A love seat looks like a sofa but has two seats – it’s for lovers to sit alone and cuddle, hence the name, and lack of seat for a third wheel. A settee, on the other hand, contrary to my Commonwealth friends, is specifically something [set off from the ground](http://www.thefurniture.com/store/Images/Primo-Designs/Havana-Bay/Bedroom-set/7272-34-settee.gif) with a decorative back or arm pieces and [always with the higher, typically spindled and exposed legs](http://www.furniturefashion.com/image/Baker%20Traditional%20Furniture%20Neoclassic%20Settee.jpg) and almost always just two seats, often [resembling a chair that mutated](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-64okhPt3ptY/Td8L5vQScSI/AAAAAAAAGvk/MczQDbyHxww/s1600/french_settee_1.jpg) much more than it resembles a sofa. [This may be called a settee to some](http://0.tqn.com/w/experts/Moving-Furniture-2016/2009/06/settee-langham.jpg) but to me, the skirting at the bottom makes it 100% love seat/sofa. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/26 "2011-06-15T14:36:46Z")
How about _divan_? Synonymous to the other terms, or different? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/27 "2011-06-15T14:37:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Don’t even get me started on ottoman. I’ve never figured out how any number of those things would constitute an empire. ---
**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, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/28 "2011-06-15T14:37:54Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Don’t even get me started on ottoman. I knew a girl who would perch a certain way on the ottoman. And she was just getting started. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/29 "2011-06-15T20:08:37Z")
I use the two interchangeably, but to me a sofa is usually a bigger version of a couch. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/30 "2011-06-15T20:13:52Z")
I always say sofa. Couch is the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/31 "2011-06-15T20:46:23Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > How about _divan_? Synonymous to the other terms, or different? I was going to ask the same thing. I think all three mean the same thing. And I agree with the poster above that a setee (in the US at least) is more like a big-ass chair than a sofa/couch/divan/etc. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/32 "2011-06-15T21:39:21Z")
I always think of a sofa as an uncomfortable couch. Davenports are _really_ uncomfortable couches and probably have furniture covers on them to boot. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/33 "2011-06-15T21:41:26Z")
> [@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.) That’s a specific type of couch. Like calling all cars hatchbacks no matter what. Edit: In other news, I was born in Chesterfield, UK. You may not, however, sit on me. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/34 "2011-06-15T22:01:16Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > How about _divan_? Synonymous to the other terms, or different? In the UK a divan is a type of bed with a solid base, often with drawers included in the base. ---
**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 16, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/35 "2011-06-16T00:21:45Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > That’s a specific type of couch. Like calling all cars hatchbacks no matter what. > > Edit: > > In other news, I was born in Chesterfield, UK. You may not, however, sit on me. Perhaps in the UK. In Ontario there’s no distinction in general. Well, maybe some distinction in the same way other Americans are trying to distinguish between sofas and couches 😉 And please don’t sit on me when visiting one of my favorite restaurants in Chesterfield, Michigan! ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/36 "2011-06-16T00:30:34Z")
Divans: [sofas that might have arms](http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQba-ti1DojhpOIQswju39uid3RN4qSD4ZhgOFOqcAaHnxYJDp_&t=1) but definitely [don’t have backs](http://mocoloco.com/archives/rodriguez_divan_blanco_sep_04.jpg) so they look like (but aren’t) beds to an extent. These are labeled as divans, but they aren’t. [Because they have an arm](http://www.furnitureforlivingroom.com/gifs/divan.jpg) and/or [an incline at one end](http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/3dclipartsde/3dclipartsde0907/3dclipartsde090700161/5253013-comfort-divan-bed-with-animal-print-fabric-3d-render-with-clipping-and-shadow-over-white.jpg) they’re _chaises_. ---
**Author:** ![Dripping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dripping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dripping)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/37 "2011-06-16T00:37:07Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Sofa and couch are as similar to each other as curtains, drapes and window treatments all are to each other. “Window treatments”?? Is that like windex? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/38 "2011-06-16T00:43:08Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/39 "2011-06-16T01:43:24Z")
> [@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. Put me down for the same logic and word. If it’s bigger than a chair and will seat at least two it’s a couch or a sofa, even it there may be a fancier name for the specific design. Other names I have heard for such a piece of furniture include settee, divan, chesterfield, and others I can’t remember at the moment. Sofa and couch are interchangeable to me. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496/40 "2011-06-16T02:01:18Z")
None of the above. I say ‘lounge’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-sofa-the-same-as-a-couch/585496.md?page=3)