Nomad of Norad wrote:
> > That's interesting. For some reason I'd always thought the "cloak room"
> > was a clothes-closet that was located near the front or back door, that
> > you would take off your cloak (that is, long-coat), put it on a hanger,
> > and hang it in the "cloak room" before heading on into the house proper.
To me that's just the "coat closet" or depending on location "hall
closet"........
>
Keith Bertelsen wrote:
>To me, the "cloak room" was something we had in elementary school; one of
>the walls could actually open up (via a bunch of panels all revolving) to
>reveal a closet-like area behind it. In the mornings, that's where we
>stored our coats (and bags &c), and in the evenings, where we obtained them
>again. Coats, of course, being the modern form of cloaks.
>
Agreed, although in my Elem.Sch. it was a separate room with a proper
doorway that stank of wet wool in wintertime :-( There's also the infamous
"Senate cloak room" at the Capitol in Washington where deals are
made.........
>The word "room" would imply an ability to walk into; the difference between
>a coat closet and a cloak room is that the former is too shallow to justify
>entering, while the latter would mean that it could be entered. (Walk-in
>closets straddling the line here).
>
>I have never heard of a half bathroom called a cloakroom, and I'm from the
>USA.
LIkewise on both counts.
>On the other hand, I've also never bought a house; though I'm at the age
>where I've started looking into it, and from what I've seen (and heard from
>growing up), half bath(room)s are always just called half bath(room)s. I'm
>in St. Louis, MO, so maybe it's a regional thing?
Half-bath does seem to be current realtor-speak. In my early days, it was
called "lavatory".