this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2024
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[–] [email protected] 78 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Why on earth do Americans call a single bed ‘twin’?

[–] [email protected] 68 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Because you can put two in a room.

[–] [email protected] 93 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Need Mace Windu saying this to the Jedi Council

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Unfortunately, Mace is the council making stupid-ass decisions.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

Then call it a half twin.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That makes no sense! I'd say that this greatly depends on the size of the room. Unsless rooms have standard sizes in the US!?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Don’t forget that you can stack them and make bunk beds too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Why arent they called triplets then?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Because you can’t reasonably get three in a room whereas you can reasonably get two in the majority of bedrooms.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I looked it up to put an end to this. American hotels call them twin beds because they were a matching set of beds put in a room.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

That makes good sense! Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 31 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

According to this:

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/27810/why-do-americans-call-single-beds-twin-beds

In the 1950s, a single was as wide as the average person's shoulders. A twin was a single & a half. A double was two singles. A queen was a single & a twin. A king was 2 twins (or 3 singles). Nowadays, the single is forgotten, so everyone is confused. When I was a child in the 1950's, my bed was a twin and you could put two first graders in it side by side. My best friend had a single bed, so when I slept over at her house, I slept in her bed and she slept on the floor.

EDIT: I don't think that that's correct, though, because while beds have become larger, it sounds like the twin was very much around in the 1950s.

https://www.ebohemians.com/a-guide-to-antique-bed-sizes-understanding-the-history-and-variations/

Single beds, also known as twin beds, are the smallest antique bed size and the most common size for children’s bedrooms. They were widely used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and measured around 39 inches wide and 75 inches long. However, some antique single beds may be shorter, measuring around 72 inches long.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago

I heard it was because siblings shared rooms and they had two beds in the room, hence twins.