Quick links
chesterfield
[< Lord Chesterfield, probably the Fourth Earl of Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, 1694-1773 (Chambers 1995: 157)]
DCHP-2 (May 2010)
1†n. — proprietary
a leather couch with upholstery buttons, high back and arm rests (see Image 1).
This meaning is not specifically Canadian, as it refers to an English couch style. It provided, however, the base meaning from which meaning 2 was generalized.
Quotations
1890
A pretty shaded lamp stood on a little round table beside her mother's empty chair. Jocelyn had crouched up in one corner of a large Chesterfield sofa; she was sobbing bitterly, and the doctor and Cecil Grey were both trying to comfort her.
1903
He was leaning over the cushioned back of the Chesterfield upon which an old lady was seated . . . .
1910
Chesterfield Sofa or Davenport, all-over up-holstered high back, large deep seat, roll arms, [...].
1918
[Advert.] Chesterfields, all-over upholstered frame, deep spring back, roll-shaped arms, and spring seat and edge covered in floral tapestry and velour, Reg. $110. for $85.00.
1920
NOT MANY STIFF, old-time drawing-rooms left in the land, are there? One by one they are being converted into the cheery, comfortable living-room of present vogue. And behold the Chesterfield, that very throne of Comfort, [...].
2n. — dated
any couch.
Type: 2. Preservation — In the earlier part of the 20th century, the term was used as a generic word for couch in many parts of the US, including California, the Upper Midwest and parts of the South, which is supported by Linguistic Atlas data (Allen 1973-76, Reed 1954) and ancedotal evidence (Chambers 1995: 156).
In the US, chesterfield 'couch' remained a regional variant but receded early in the 20th century, while in Canada over the course of the 20th century it became "the standard generic term" for a couch (Chambers 1995: 157). The dated quotations help to draw a time line: the couch in the 1915 quotation, sold at $2.50 (and compared with the $85 price for a Chesterfield, see the 1918 quotation in meaning 1), was not the leather version, but an early generic use of the term. The generalization from one type of couch to any couch has been linked to newly-arrived immigrants in the pre-WWI period, who may have learned the term while working in domestic service, where they would have been exposed to the term Chesterfield. The semantic generalization from one type of couch to any type of upholstered bench is plausible (Dollinger 2015b: 88-95).
Chart 1 shows the recessive use of the term in the Greater Toronto Region with data from the early 1990s. By then, people in their twenties would prefer couch (c. 80% range) over chesterfield (less than 5%) and sofa (about 10%), while the older generations prefer chesterfield. Given the American uses early on, the term can be considered a preservation from US English, or, alternatively, a semantic change from the original meaning.
The decline of the form started in the 1960s (when the 50s in Figure 1 were about 20 years old), but the 1970s were likely the period of rapid change towards couch. In Chart 2, data from the 1971 Survey of Canadian English (Scargill & Warkentyne 1972) shows that option B (chesterfield) is still quite high in both parents and Grade-9 students (option A: sofa, option C: davenport, option D: other), but lower in the students.
Gregg (1973), however, found survey evidence that in the early 1970s in BC, chesterfield was named in only 40% of cases, while couch fared better with 56%. He concluded that “the preferred General Canadian (GC) form chesterfield has lost ground heavily to couch” (1973:108). We can therefore say that from about the 1920s to the 1970s chesterfield was the standard Canadian variant, after which it was replaced by couch.
In the US, chesterfield 'couch' remained a regional variant but receded early in the 20th century, while in Canada over the course of the 20th century it became "the standard generic term" for a couch (Chambers 1995: 157). The dated quotations help to draw a time line: the couch in the 1915 quotation, sold at $2.50 (and compared with the $85 price for a Chesterfield, see the 1918 quotation in meaning 1), was not the leather version, but an early generic use of the term. The generalization from one type of couch to any couch has been linked to newly-arrived immigrants in the pre-WWI period, who may have learned the term while working in domestic service, where they would have been exposed to the term Chesterfield. The semantic generalization from one type of couch to any type of upholstered bench is plausible (Dollinger 2015b: 88-95).
Chart 1 shows the recessive use of the term in the Greater Toronto Region with data from the early 1990s. By then, people in their twenties would prefer couch (c. 80% range) over chesterfield (less than 5%) and sofa (about 10%), while the older generations prefer chesterfield. Given the American uses early on, the term can be considered a preservation from US English, or, alternatively, a semantic change from the original meaning.
The decline of the form started in the 1960s (when the 50s in Figure 1 were about 20 years old), but the 1970s were likely the period of rapid change towards couch. In Chart 2, data from the 1971 Survey of Canadian English (Scargill & Warkentyne 1972) shows that option B (chesterfield) is still quite high in both parents and Grade-9 students (option A: sofa, option C: davenport, option D: other), but lower in the students.
Gregg (1973), however, found survey evidence that in the early 1970s in BC, chesterfield was named in only 40% of cases, while couch fared better with 56%. He concluded that “the preferred General Canadian (GC) form chesterfield has lost ground heavily to couch” (1973:108). We can therefore say that from about the 1920s to the 1970s chesterfield was the standard Canadian variant, after which it was replaced by couch.
Walter S. Avis tells this anecdote relating to chesterfield 'couch':
"Not long ago a Torontonian shopping in a large department store just across the border [in the US] asked where he could find chesterfields. On following directions, he was somewhat dismayed to find himself at the cigar counter!" (Avis 1954: 13)
"Not long ago a Torontonian shopping in a large department store just across the border [in the US] asked where he could find chesterfields. On following directions, he was somewhat dismayed to find himself at the cigar counter!" (Avis 1954: 13)
As a general guide, upper case spellings refer to the proprietary meaning 1 (but see the 1915 quotation below for an exception). Lower case spellings usually refer to generic meaning 2.
Quotations
1915
From any of our chintzes or cretonnes on sale: Chesterfield or Sofa..... $2.50
1926
As she crossed the sunny space to Mrs. Hearst, waiting with her face upturned to kiss her, she was acutely conscious of a stranger standing with Frank in front of the chesterfield.
1939
Enjoying the privileges of a lifelong familiarity, he went to the chesterfield . . . and lay down flat on his back.
1945
WHAT YOU WANT IN A CHESTERFIELD... WHAT EATON'S CAN GIVE! (pictured next to a picture of a large couch)
1950
17. Example, how about the buck (Most fascinatingly concealed) Discovered by a stroke of luck Underneath the chesterfield? If this is unearned increment Please, may I keep just 10%? (But if the answer should be no, See Item 46 below.)
1957
And now, from a distance greater than the space between chair and chesterfield, he watched the girl Katherine as she tried to straighten her skirt, twisting and raising her hips, showing the tops of her stockings pulled up in little V’s where the garters hooked.
1965
[Caption] Looter carries out chesterfield on back.
1971
The only negative criticism I have is a carping one dealing with the author’s use of the Canadianism “chesterfield” for couch or sofa, which I’m sure he didn’t bring over from Glasgow.
1973
He had waved at the national director for him to take a seat on the worn chesterfield and had finished the call quickly.
1979
There are practical advantages to living in mixed arrangements.
It's cheaper. Rent split several ways reduces costs. The greatest saving is on furniture - one chesterfield is cheaper than three or four, and so is the phone bill, split several ways.
Then there's food. In the arrangements where food costs are shared and people eat meals together, tastes become more cosmopolitan.
1989
Christmas.
For me, now, there's always a special, private time at Christmas. It comes well after midnight on Christmas Eve when everyone is asleep. I go into the living room and lie on the chesterfield and the room is dark and I play my favorite carols and the feeling is so pure and innocent and beautiful, and I remember long ago and far away, and sometimes there in the dark, alone, I softly cry. Hopelessly sentimental? Yes. And I hope I never lose it.
1995
I'm sitting around one night in my housecoat, watching TV with my shoes off, you know how you do, and I see this guy's feet coming down past the window, and the next thing you know he's standing on the balcony, he's let himself down by a rope with a hook on the end of it from the floor above, that's the nineteenth, and before I can even get up off the chesterfield he's inside the apartment. He's all dressed in black with black gloves on" -- I knew right away what show she got the black gloves off because I saw the same one -- "and then he, well, you know."
2007
Aiming for a style she calls "transitional," a word she also applies to the house they chose, [Susan Swedberg-Kohli] first focused on the chesterfield: "Because my previous sofa was too big for the room, I sold it and chose a simple -- not stark: note the legs -- sofa in an ivory, linen-like material.
2008
"The Fishermen have their own dressing room, our own office there and I'm there all the time. I have my TV and VCR and chesterfield and fridge and whatever else I need. I'll never give up the keys," he said. "It was (basketball coach) Pat Riley who said it's not about wearing championship rings, it's about leaving footprints."
References
- Chambers (1995)
- Reed (1954)
- Allen (1973-76)
- Dollinger (2015b)
- Gregg (1973)
- Scargill & Warkentyne (1972)
Images
Image 1: Hotel lobby with Chesterfield couches. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo: Ardfern
Chart 1: Chesterfield and competitors in the Greater Toronto Area, 1991/2 (data: Chambers 1995)
