# Word Needed for the Space Under a Desk **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 7, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546 "2011-09-07T21:42:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/1 "2011-09-07T21:42:00Z")
Is there a word for the area under a desk into which your legs fit? I thought that it was called a well, but that doesn’t show up in my dictionaries. A modesty panel is the name for the strip of wood or metal across the front of the desk that prevented lechers from looking up of the skirts of secretaries back in the old days. But what it is that the modesty panel is in front of? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/2 "2011-09-07T22:08:27Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Is there a word for the area under a desk into which your legs fit? I thought that it was called a well, but that doesn’t show up in my dictionaries. > > A modesty panel is the name for the strip of wood or metal across the front of the desk that prevented lechers from looking up of the skirts of secretaries back in the old days. But what it is that the modesty panel is in front of? I believe it’s called a [knee hole](http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=knee+hole+desks&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8) ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/3 "2011-09-07T22:11:51Z")
Spider cave. 🙂 actually, I think it’s called a footwell ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/4 "2011-09-07T22:25:20Z")
Knee hole or kneehole appears in the dictionary as the space under the desk. Thanks for that. The problem is that my memory tells me there’s another word for it. It’s not footwell: that seems to be car-specific. But the word is used in comedies when people scrunch up hiding under the desk. They don’t hide in the kneehole. They hide in the … ---
**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:** [September 7, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/5 "2011-09-07T22:34:41Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > They hide in the … [space underneath the desk?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W__qCFWi1KA#t=1m) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/6 "2011-09-07T22:41:51Z")
I propose that we start calling it the _Ullage_ > **[Ullage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ullage)** > > Ullage or headspace is the unfilled space in a container, particularly with a liquid. > The word ullage comes from the Latin word oculus, used by the Romans to refer to a barrel cork hole. This word was, in turn, taken in medieval French as oeil, from which a verb ouiller was created, meaning to fill a barrel to full capacity. Around 1300, the word ouillage was created by the Normans to refer to the amount of liquid needed to fill a barrel to capacity. > In winemaking, ullage came to refer to any a... > **[Ullage (wine)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ullage_(wine))** > > Ullage (from the French ouillage) is a winemaking term that has several meanings but most commonly refers to the headspace of air between wine and the top of the container holding the wine. It can also refer to the process of evaporation that creates the headspace itself or it can be used as a past tense verb to describe a wine barrel or bottle that has gone through the evaporation process (to be ullaged, etc.). The headspace of air is a mixture mostly of alcohol and water vapors with carbon diox... ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/7 "2011-09-07T23:31:27Z")
How about [John-John’s playpen](http://iconicphotos.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/article-1210746-0644c5db000005dc-244_634x730.jpg?w=700)? (Note: the door in the front of the kneehole was added by FDR, to conceal his leg braces.) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/8 "2011-09-08T00:50:03Z")
[The carpenter apparently did a lousy job of it](http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/west-wing/oval-office/oval-office-1930s.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/9 "2011-09-08T00:59:36Z")
The place where George takes his naps. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W\_\_qCFWi1KA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W__qCFWi1KA) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/10 "2011-09-08T01:01:19Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > How about [John-John’s playpen](http://iconicphotos.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/article-1210746-0644c5db000005dc-244_634x730.jpg?w=700)? > > (Note: the door in the front of the kneehole was added by FDR, to conceal his leg braces.) Or “Monica’s prayer mat”? :D:o:D ---
**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:** [September 8, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/11 "2011-09-08T01:04:23Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > The place where George takes his naps. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W\_\_qCFWi1KA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W__qCFWi1KA) Post 5, cued up and everything. Pwned:D ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/12 "2011-09-08T02:06:55Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > [The carpenter apparently did a lousy job of it](http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/west-wing/oval-office/oval-office-1930s.jpg). That’s a different desk. Kennedy was the first President to use the[Resolute Desk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolute_Desk) in the Oval Office. Previously (and during the G. H. W. Bush presidency) it was used elsewhere in the White House. Also, the front panel wasn’t commissioned until 1944, and only actually got added after FDR had died. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/13 "2011-09-08T02:15:50Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Post 5, cued up and everything. > Pwned:D Doesn’t count. You were cryptic about what your were referencing. There wasn’t any way to know it was a Seinfeld reference without watching the video. ---
**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:** [September 8, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/14 "2011-09-08T02:25:08Z")
I just googled it (like everyone else I’m sure) and amongst all the references to kneehole I did happen across one random person calling it a kickspace. Could that be what you were thinking of? At the very least it _sounds_ better then kneehole and I think most people would immediately know what was being talked about. Especially if the word desk was nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/15 "2011-09-08T02:39:15Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I just googled it (like everyone else I’m sure) and amongst all the references to kneehole I did happen across one random person calling it a kickspace. Could that be what you were thinking of? At the very least it _sounds_ better then kneehole and I think most people would immediately know what was being talked about. Especially if the word desk was nearby. That sounds exactly like it should be the word. But I can’t find anybody who uses it, not even your random person. Let’s start using it. All of us. Not one of us. Not two of us. At least three of us. If three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people calling the leg area under a desk a kickspace. They may think it’s an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day calling the leg area under a desk a kickspace. Friends, they may think it’s a movement. And that’s what it is, the Call the Leg Area Under a Desk a Kickspace Movement. With feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/16 "2011-09-08T02:42:34Z")
To combine two previous answers, I have heard kneewell to refer to the space in question. ---
**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:** [September 8, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/17 "2011-09-08T02:43:41Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > That sounds exactly like it should be the word. But I can’t find anybody who uses it, not even your random person. > > Let’s start using it. All of us. Not one of us. Not two of us. At least three of us. If three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people calling the leg area under a desk a kickspace. They may think it’s an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day calling the leg area under a desk a kickspace. Friends, they may think it’s a movement. > > And that’s what it is, the Call the Leg Area Under a Desk a Kickspace Movement. With feeling. Slow your role there buddy. They’ll put you on the Group W bench with the father rapers and mother stabbers and that guy that put that an envelope under a half a ton of garbage. ---
**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:** [September 8, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/18 "2011-09-08T02:46:31Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > To combine two previous answers, I have heard kneewell to refer to the space in question. How about leg well? I can find some pages that refer to the space as that. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/19 "2011-09-08T02:46:50Z")
Kickspace. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546/20 "2011-09-08T03:31:34Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Kickspace. Again. With _ **feeling** _. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-needed-for-the-space-under-a-desk/595546.md?page=2)