Flats, not apartments

gurramok

Wonder if any of the posters arguing that their flats be called apartments rather than flats own one of those overpriced apartments!

rubadub

ApeXaviour wrote:

French for little house. I bloody hate the way people associate french with high class... Giuseppe Verts is not an exotic name, it means Joe Green.

It has gotten to the stage where it is comical, I have heard people using french to ridicule. e.g. a person would be laughing saying "if you won the lotto all you could afford is a shed- sorry I mean maisonette"


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2316309.stm

Talliesin

Hardly a new phenomenon. Chaucer was considered a bit down-and-dirty because he used Middle English for his poetry rather than Medieval French.

Zulu

gurramok wrote:

Wonder if any of the posters arguing that their flats be called apartments rather than flats own one of those overpriced apartments!

I own an overpriced apartment which I personally call a flat, as there are "flats" near by.
I also lived in a flat in Chelsea which was what I was taught was a flat (ie: a old house divided up into flats). There, the "snobs" lived in flats and would turn their nose up at it being called an apartment. Blocks of apartments were where council housing was.
Personally I couldn't care less if you called it a sh1t-shack (which I do on occasion when something goes wrong), and I don't really care what anyone else chooses to call theirs. As far as I'm concerned, if they live there, they can call it a châteaux if they want.
I do however find it funny that they people who cry "snob" the loudest tend to associate themselves with their own exclusive little clique. It kinda reminds me of secondary school when everyone was a d1ck...

User45701

ApeXaviour wrote:

Well that's solid definition. I submit that there is "actually" no difference.

no

Are you still trying to debate your original point? Ya just provided evidence against it. The definition of a flat being "an apartment".

This, for all intents and purposes, is the same thing. It's entered our vocabulary from commercialised lingo used by estate agent's; equivalent words are "rustic" and "cosy". And hence people have taken it to literally mean posh flats. That's why nobody can decide on a definition.

I'll have to second monkey tennis' remark on this. It tells the whole story IMO in one succinct sentence:

French for little house. I bloody hate the way people associate french with high class... Giuseppe Verts is not an exotic name, it means Joe Green.

well you got me thinking so these are t he different meanings of the word flat i found

1. horizontally level: a flat roof.
2. level, even, or without unevenness of surface, as land or tabletops.
3. having a surface that is without marked projections or depressions: a broad, flat face.
4. lying horizontally and at full length, as a person; prostrate: He was flat on the canvas after the knockdown.
5. lying wholly on or against something: The banner was flat against the wall.
6. thrown down, laid low, or level with the ground, as fallen trees or buildings.
7. having a generally level shape or appearance; not deep or thick: a flat plate.
8. (of the heel of a shoe) low and broad.
9. spread out, as an unrolled map or the open hand.
10. deflated; collapsed: a flat tire.
11. absolute, downright, or positive; without qualification: a flat denial.
12. without modification or variation: a flat rate.
13. Informal. lacking money; broke.
14. without vitality or animation; lifeless; dull: flat writing.
15. having lost its flavor, sharpness, or life, as wine or food; stale.
16. (of a beverage) having lost its effervescence.
17. without flavor; not spiced: flat cooking.
18. prosaic, banal, or insipid: a flat style.
19. pointless, as a remark or joke.
20. commercially inactive: a flat day in the stock market.
21. (of a painting) not having the illusion of volume or depth.
22. (of a photograph or painting) lacking contrast or gradations of tone or color.
23. (of paint) without gloss; not shiny; mat.
24. not clear, sharp, or ringing, as sound or a voice.
25. lacking resonance and variation in pitch; monotonous: a flat delivery of the speech.
26. Music. a. (of a tone) lowered a half step in pitch: B flat.
b. below an intended pitch, as a note; too low (opposed to sharp).

27. Grammar. derived without change in form, as English to brush from the noun brush and adverbs that do not add -ly to the adjective form as fast, cheap, and slow.
28. Phonetics. lenis; voiced.
29. Nautical. (of a sail) a. cut with little or no fullness.
b. trimmed as nearly fore-and-aft as possible, for sailing to windward.

30. flat a, the a-sound (a) of glad, bat, or act.
–noun 31. something flat.
32. a shoe, esp. a woman's shoe, with a flat heel or no heel.
33. a flat surface, side, or part of anything: He struck me with the flat of his hand.
34. flat or level ground; a flat area: salt flats.
35. a marsh, shoal, or shallow.
36. Music. a. (in musical notation) the character ♭, which when attached to a note or to a staff degree lowers its significance one chromatic half step.
b. a tone one chromatic half step below another: The flat of B is B flat.
c. (on keyboard instruments, with reference to any given note) the key next below or to the left.

37. Theater. a piece of scenery consisting of a wooden frame, usually rectangular, covered with lightweight board or fabric.
38. a broad, thin book, chiefly for children: a juvenile flat.
39. Informal. a deflated automobile tire.
40. (in postal use) a large flat package, as in a manila envelope, for mailing.
41. Architecture. a flat roof or deck.
42. Nautical. a. Also called platform. a partial deck between two full decks.
b. a low, flat barge or lighter.

43. Shipbuilding. a. a broad, flat piece of iron or steel for overlapping and joining two plates at their edges.
b. a straight timber in a frame or other assembly of generally curved timbers.

44. an iron or steel bar of rectangular cross section.
45. Textiles. one of a series of laths covered with card clothing, used in conjunction with the cylinder in carding.
46. Photography. one or more negatives or positives in position to be reproduced.
47. Printing. a device for holding a negative or positive flat for reproduction by photoengraving.
48. Horticulture. a shallow, lidless box or tray used for rooting seeds and cuttings and for growing young plants.
49. a similar box used for shipping and selling fruits and vegetables.
50. Football. the area of the field immediately inside of or outside of an offensive end, close behind or at the line of scrimmage.
51. flats, Informal. flat races between horses. Compare flat race.
–verb (used with object) 52. to make flat.
53. Music. to lower (a pitch), esp. one half step.
–verb (used without object) 54. to become flat.
–adverb 55. in a flat position; horizontally; levelly.
56. in a flat manner; positively; absolutely.
57. completely; utterly: flat broke.
58. exactly; precisely: She ran around the track in two minutes flat.
59. Music. below the true pitch: to sing flat.
60. Finance. without interest.
—Verb phrase61. flat in, Nautical. to pull the clew of (a fore-and-aft sail) as nearly amidships as possible. Also, flatten in.
—Idioms62. fall flat, to fail to produce the desired effect; fail completely: His attempts at humor fell flat.
63. flat aft, Nautical. trimmed so that fore-and-aft sails present as flat a surface as possible, as in sailing close to the wind.
64. flat on one's back. back (def. 19).
65. flat out, Informal. a. without hesitation; directly or openly: He told us flat out he'd been a double agent.
b. at full speed or with maximum effort.

and nothing about living accomadations so i can only assume flat in reference to somewhere you live is only slang like that time i heard someone call the stuff in your eyes when you wake up "Cacks" i always thought the stuff in your eyes was sleap and cacks are something you wear.

nesf

User45701 wrote:

and nothing about living accomadations so i can only assume flat in reference to somewhere you live is only slang like that time i heard someone call the stuff in your eyes when you wake up "Cacks" i always thought the stuff in your eyes was sleap and cacks are something you wear.

Eh... the Oxford English dictionary lists it as being a word for accommodation that came into use in the 17th century.

Get a decent dictionary would you..

Naked Lepper

i live in 'apartments' at royal canal park 'dublin 15'
daft.ie advertised them as castleknock (ROLMwhateverAO) dublin 15

turns out theyre sandwiched in between Finglas, Cabra and barely touching off a corner of ashtown

Should be been either dublin 7 (cabra) or dublin 11 (finglas i think)

but they chose dublin 15 to make it look more castleknock-esque

poltics suck..

thats all ive to say for now

ApeXaviour

User45701 wrote:

and nothing about living accomadations so i can only assume flat in reference to somewhere you live is only slang

Okay so you copied that from:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/flat

You'll notice on that page that the word has a little "1" beside it. If you scroll down you'll see flat listed again this time with a little "2" beside it, containing the information you desire. This is because it doesn't have the same origin (presumably) the adjective flat.

Talliesin

nesf wrote:

Eh... the Oxford English dictionary lists it as being a word for accommodation that came into use in the 17th century.

That in turn was a variant of a word (flet) that was in English when the English where still living in part of what is now Denmark. It's never not been in English.

Scawgeen

Two little words omitted when on this subject.....Tenement and the legendary...............Bedsitter !!!!!

ApeXaviour

Talliesin wrote:

when the English where still living in part of what is now Denmark.

Sorry to go tangental, but you've piqued my curiosity. What part of Denmark? When was this? Any links/books?

Capt'n Midnight

Flat = if the corpo own it
Apartment = you are paying off the mortgague

ApeXaviour

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Flat = if the corpo own it
Apartment = you are paying off the mortgague

Are you just stating blind opinion? I think if you'd read much of the thread you'd note that this clearly isn't the case. Just cos your momma said it doesn't make it right.

Capt'n Midnight

*makes note to send a large bag of irony to ApeXaviour, COD* :rolleyes:

ApeXaviour

Ugh. Please don't, irony and t'interweb (in fact anywhere you're writing it) generally don't mix so well.

miju

flats and apartments are the exact same thing IMHO. apartment is just a word that sounds better than a flat and so doesnt have the social stigma attached to it.

for the record i live in a flat / apt

Lirange

ApeXaviour wrote:

Sorry to go tangental, but you've piqued my curiosity. What part of Denmark? When was this? Any links/books?

He's probably talking about the Jutes and Angles migrating during the 5th and 6th Century BC who brought their language with them. The dark ages.

mastermind2005

miju wrote:

flats and apartments are the exact same thing IMHO. apartment is just a word that sounds better than a flat and so doesnt have the social stigma attached to it.

for the record i live in a flat / apt

I tought a flat was a sectioned off part of a lager single house...

and an appartment was a purpose built unit.. ?

Talliesin

Lirange wrote:

He's probably talking about the Jutes and Angles migrating during the 5th and 6th Century BC who brought their language with them. The dark ages.

Yep. England means "Land of the Angles" and they came from part of Jutland (named after their neighbours the Jutes) with a territory partly in what is now the north of Germany and the south of Denmark.

Their language is the source of English, though there were many other influences (particularly a massive injection of Norman influence in the mid 11th century). At the point at which it starts being called English (Old English) they had a word for dwelling place "flet" which later became "flat".

miju

nope mastermind take the ballymun flats for example, they were never used , built or sectioned off from houses. they're the exact same as apts just apts is more socially palatable