everybodyliesmd | I've got a question...

I've got a question...

Does the word "couch" mean something different than "sofa" where you're from?

because I've read a ton of fanfic where the authors have placed a couch in House's office and/or conference room. Now for me, a couch is either a long piece of furniture meant to seat 2 or more people side by side, or a kind of extended chair psychiatrists use for their patients to lie down on. Your mileage may vary.

However, unless I'm far less observant than I give myself credit for, I've never seen a couch in either of those two rooms. (Wilson DOES have a couch in his office, but I'm talking about fic scenes that take place in House's office or conference room).

I know fanfic is fiction based on canon and may contain elements that are not canon (or can be completely AU, which I don't care for). But I've read some stories where the authors go out of their way to keep everyone in character and believable but toss in something like a couch and it just throws me. I like fanfic that sticks as closely to canon as possible, especially when it comes to character traits and personalities (I don't like a mushy, overly emotional House or a very Dark!Wilson). Sticking closely to canon makes it believable for me and I can really get lost in a story, but little details like sofas that never existed just spit me out of that pleasant little "zone" I'm in. (This goes for anything I read, not just fanfic; if I don't get completely involved and totally invested in the characters and the story, then I lose interest. To me, a story with good writing, characterizations, and plotlines grabs your attention and sweeps you into their world.)

Am I too picky? Do things like this bother you?

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Little details drive me nuts, too.

As for the relationship between "sofa" and "couch"? I've always considered the latter to be slang for the former.

Oh, good. I'm not the only one that goes crazy when things don't line up!

Yeah I admit the couch being put into House's office in a fic bothers me too since I know there isn't one but I will continue to read that fic unless 1) the writing is just so BAD or 2) the characters say/do something I know is just too far out of the realm of possibility for it to ever really happen and is VERY out of character

I'll also continue to read if it's a well-written story, but those little details are what makes a good story even better. It just makes me pause and say "Wut?" while I'm reading, and that just kind of bugs me.

At least they didn't call it a Chesterfield!

Thank godness!

Though I could totally see that in the Househaus.

Actually, you can call House's soft office chair a couch because couch is really just french for couche and can be used to identify any furniture used for sitting or reclining, so a reclining chair could be called a couch and be used properly.

House's office doesn't have a sofa although Wilson's does. A sofa is a longish piece of furniture that fits two or more people. I would say when it comes to Wilson's two-seater that using either sofa or couch is fine. When it comes to House's chair, couch or chair is also fine but not sofa.

But you're right it depends on where you are. The English language borrows from many languages and then different cultures within English can have different meanings for the same word.

I generally never use the term sofa, I pretty much use couch all the time. Interesting tho.

...a reclining chair could be called a couch and be used properly.

Actually, House's Eames chair doesn't recline. The backrest can flex slightly and the chair can flex slightly on the base, but it isn't considered a reclining chair. He can stretch out and put his feet on the ottoman, but the back of the chair doesn't adjust to lie flatter. He sleeps sitting up.

But you're right it depends on where you are. The English language borrows from many languages and then different cultures within English can have different meanings for the same word.

I figured I'd ask because you are right; the meanings of words are very different among different cultures and in different regions; in the US, for example, a Coca-Cola or similar beverage can be called a Coke [regardless of whether it's a genuine Coke or not], soda, tonic, or pop depending on where you live.

I generally never use the term sofa, I pretty much use couch all the time. Interesting tho.

Me, too. The only time I use the word sofa is when it is a high-end piece of furniture. Since no one I know can afford high-end furniture, we use the term couch.

Just to add that in French the name couche means first "layer". The "sofa" meaning comes from the verb coucher = "to lye down". BTW, couche can mean too "diaper" (yes, like Pampers) LOL.

There are couches in his office though, but on the other side of the glass right? Wasn't there an episode where Chase and Foreman were sleeping on them?

No, that was the doctor's lounge. Where the foosball game is. To my knowledge, there has never been anything but chairs in House's office and conference room.

Hmm. You're right. I think. I honestly don't think they keep the sets consistent anyway.

Zeppomarx did a series on House's apartment and showed how massively it was rearranged from one episode to the next. Even the door moved around and trees appeared and disappeared. LOL.

I've probably written House having a couch in his office before. Maybe. Not sure.

Hmm. You're right. I think. I honestly don't think they keep the sets consistent anyway.

They don't keep a lot of things consistent. Cuddy's age, for example. And the fact that there are no balconies on the front of the hospital (or anywhere else visible on the opening flyover), yet House and Wilson hang out there all the time. I had asked in My Wishlist for House, MD that DS would hire a continuity person that really pays attention and can do the job better than a drunken monkey. I doubt my wish will come true, though.

Zeppomarx did a series on House's apartment and showed how massively it was rearranged from one episode to the next. Even the door moved around and trees appeared and disappeared. LOL.

I saw that! There was another one, too, about how the layout of the hospital has changed, but I'd have to go digging in my bookmarks for it. It's amazing how much just the front door (the one that opens onto the street) of the Househaus has changed, never mind the interior door. (The weirdest thing is that in The Socratic Method his apartment was on the third floor of an entirely different building!)

I've probably written House having a couch in his office before. Maybe. Not sure.

If someone held a gun to my head I wouldn't be able to name anyone that has (except for the one I read today that caused me to ask the question). My memory doesn't retain stuff like that very well (thank goodness for bookmarks and tags). I just know that I've seen it written that way multiple times.

PS - you can see the blue couch Chase and Foreman slept on behind House in my icon (you may have to squint, cuz' it's small).

Drunken monkey.

Did you notice that Thirteen said Kutner was 28 years old in Simple Explanation and his obituary says he was born in 1975?

Seriously! Can you believe that? Discontinuity between seasons is a least somewhat understandable, but within the same episode???

Then again, I think it was Fox that did the obituary saying he was 33 (can't anyone ADD any more?), not DS, KJ, or any one of the myriad of House writers.

They did the same thing with Chase in Autopsy. And they're still doing it with Cuddy. Unless she's lying, there's no way she can still be 38. That would make her 11 years younger than House and they were supposedly at the University of Michigan at the same time.

Drunken monkeys.

She said she was an undergrad while he was in medical school. Meaning they have to be at least 5 years apart. In season 3, House refers to her as "nearing" 40, meaning she's at the very least 37.

In Cursed, House refers to Chase as being 26. The following season, Chase tells Andie he is thirty.

The list goes on.

She said she was an undergrad while he was in medical school. Meaning they have to be at least 5 years apart. In season 3, House refers to her as "nearing" 40, meaning she's at the very least 37.

Also, he went to Hopkins before that, thought they don't say for how long, so that adds to his age as well.

I 'm going to do a timeline and post it on my LJ. Just for kicks and giggles.

meep. I did put a couch in there in "I Know This Much Is True" aka the orgy fic, but there are certain activities going on in that fic that one kind of needs a couch for.

Like I said to

californiaquail, if someone put a gun to my head I wouldn't be able to name anyone that's done it (except for the person whose story I read minutes before posting my comment). It's pretty common, though, so you certainly aren't the only one.

Orgy fic, huh? Who, may I ask, is partaking in the orgiastic festivities? Would there be lots of boys, lots of girls, or a little of both?

the original cast and my SI. here's a link to the first part, not the orgy itself but some dialogue setting up the orgy and some of House's motivations:

http://chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com/2008/08/24/

and the orgy itself:

http://chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com/2008/09/03

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