So, I just made a comment to Keith about buying a “dining room suit.” He asked me to spell “suit” as I’d just used it.
“S-U-I-T.”
“Don’t you mean ‘suite’?”
“No. ‘Suit’. Dining room suit.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes. Of course.”
And of course, the fact that he’s so sure I’m mistaken sends me out of bed and to the Internet, where I learn that I — and thousands of others like me — have been taught the phrase “dining room suit” which is totally and completely incorrect.
I recall Mom saying, “Bonnie, dust the dining room suit with Pledge,” and such.
How, at nearly 34, can I be shocked and amazed by the fact that I have had anything like that wrong my entire life? Haven’t I learned by now that there is always more to learn?
When I found thousands of hits for the phrase “dining room suit” in Google, I asked Keith how it was possible that we ALL had this wrong.
“Well, I’d assume you were all raised in GEORGIA,” he said… and you KNOW how he said it.
Grumble grumble grumble.
You can tell him that actually, the person that taught you that was raised in New Jersey (at least part of the time.)
Also, if two people can be considered to be married (common law) after living together for 7 years, I think that ‘dining room suit’ can be claimed as correct under the common law as we’ve been using it for way more than 7 years.
I believe “suit” used in that connotation has been accepted as one of those fun colloquialisms that, while it might not be exactly correct grammar, is widely accepted as such. So there
XOXO
I would have gotten it wrong too. I think it just an outfit for your dining room.
The above explanations suit me just fine!
“Dining room suit” sould be a mix of “dining room set” (my Mom’s term) and “dining room suite”…
My Mom was from Tacoma, Washington, so it’s definitely not an East-coast thing. I always found it endearing.