Davenport??? ETA: Answer in first post

[Mom in High Heels]

Okay, some other WTM friends and I were debating this word over on FB, and one wanted me to put a poll up to see if people knew what it was.  Please answer the poll, but DON'T give it away in the comments.  If you know, you're part of a secret club, and we cannot give our secrets away.

 

I will be posting the answer in a day or so.  

 

Also, no googling before you answer the poll!  i want an unskewed survey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ETA:  Answer

 

Hmmm...I guess I should have worded the poll differently, as some people seemed to have voted yes, thinking the British definition or the name of a town.  For those of you who don't know, a Davenport is a sofa, or couch, for those of you who use that term (I personally dislike the word couch.  There's no really reason, I just do).  Looks like I was wrong, as I was on the side of most people not knowing what it was.   :svengo:

[Slartibartfast]

Yes, I know what it is.

 

 

[Isabella]

Well, I just googled to see if my definition is right, because you don't hear it very often, and I know davenport only with the British definition - apparently in the US it's different. :)  But I clicked that I know it, and feel the love!

[Laura Corin]

I'm British and I don't know either definition.  Off to Google..

 

L

[Slartibartfast]

Well, I just googled to see if my definition is right, because you don't hear it very often, and I know davenport only with the British definition - apparently in the US it's different. :)  But I clicked that I know it, and feel the love!

 

Well, I was going by the American version. I had forgotten this was something else to the British. I do recall now it referring to a different thing in some books.

 

It was in a camp song we used to sing and my grandmother would call it that.

 

L-O-double L-I-P-O-P spells lollipop, lollipop :lol:

[jelbe5]

You mean it is something other than a city in Iowa? ;-)

[PrincessMommy]

Yes I know what it is because my grandmother called it that.

[Tap]

I know what it is, but I have only heard one family use the word.  

[EndOfOrdinary]

My husband did not know this word. He didn't know what a potato bug was either! Anyway, my maternal grandfather was from Boston and I had no clue there was another word until I was an early teen and people thought I was being snooty. Now it just makes me think of him and his quiet proper ways.

 

My weird, unsocialized homeschooler uses both potato big and davenport. Though Dad is in there too with y'ens, "let's kick this pig," and "now we're cookin' with oil!"

[Arcadia]

I know the British one, and that Davenport is a nice beach city along highway one in California. I had to google for the American definition.

 

ETA:

There is also a Davenport in South Australia which is having a by-election on Saturday. Seems to be a popular place name.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Yes, the American definition.  

[chocolatechip]

Yes, thanks to grandpa and grandma.

[Aiden]

I had to double check with Google to be sure I was right before I clicked that I knew it--I was right, though I had no idea that the British had a different definition.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Oh and the main reason I knew the definition was because I had friends with the last name Davenport and they always would add "you know, like the _________".  

[Ausmumof3]

I thought it was a place...

[EndOfOrdinary]

There are lots of places, you are totally right!

[JustEm]

Had no idea. When I looked it up I confirmed that I had never heard it before

[Pawz4me]

I had to double check with Google to be sure I was right before I clicked that I knew it--I was right, though I had no idea that the British had a different definition.

 

Same here!

[Joules]

I know the last name and the place, but those aren't definitions. So I'm off to google.

 

 

ETA: Found the American and, yes, I've definitely heard that before, just didn't remember. Can't find a British definition. The first thing that comes to mind is a particular person.

[creekland]

I knew the American definition (thanks Grandma!).  I had no idea there was a British definition until this thread - then I googled it - so now I know both.

 

Where is that "Learn Something New Every Day" thread?   :D

[TracyP]

Yes, I know. Thank you, great grandma. :)

 

Asked hubby and he kind of knew. He could have classified it in the right place, but he couldn't say, "It is a ________."

[elegantlion]

Yes, haven't heard it in ages though.

[marbel]

I know the British one, and that Davenport is a nice beach city along highway one in California. I had to google for the American definition.

 

ETA:

There is also a Davenport in South Australia which is having a by-election on Saturday. Seems to be a popular place name.

 

Sigh.... one of the few places I miss in California.

 

I knew the American definition, not the British.

 

[Mama Geek]

Yes, that is what my grandmother used to call it.

[Southern Ivy]

Dang it. 
Never answer a poll when you first wake up. 
I answered 'no, I don't know it', then went to google to find out what it was. Had I thought about it, I would have remembered reading about davenports. Grrr. Oh well.

[Sherry in OH]

Yes, the American definition.   My grandparents used this term.  

[Cindy in FL.]

I know the American definition.

[momto10blessings]

My cousin is a teacher in Davenport. But I don't know what it is. Off to google.

 

Eta: I was expecting something more interesting

[Jayne J]

Thinking of my grandma right now. :) She had one, so I know what it is.

[HelenNotOfTroy]

It's the place where people who work at Walt Disney World live. And that other thing, but I didn't know the British one.

[LuvToRead]

My grandparents used this word, too.  

 

[DawnM]

Yes, grew up with one in northern Ohio. ;)

 

 

I only know because DH's grandmas, in Southern Michigan, used that term.

[mom31257]

The only Davenport I know is a former church staff member. 

[PrincessMommy]

I guess I didn't even think you might mean a British definition... off to google that one.

[Reefgazer]

Yes, I know what it is; my mom uses that word to describe the __________.  The word originated in upstate NY's Adirondak region, and that is where my mom is from.

 

You need to add another option to your poll:  "A city in Iowa", LOL!

[edelweiss]

Yes, I know what it is.  

[SKL]

I've seen it but it isn't very common.  I clicked "I know" but then I googled to check if I was right.  :P  I was.

[Dmmetler]

Yes, but only because of my grandmother, who used it. She also lived very near the city in Iowa, so sometimes it could be confusing as to which she meant!

[Cinder]

Yes, but now I'm lost re: British definition. There's a difference?

[Hikin' Mama]

My vote was yes, but only because my grandparents used the word.

[Guest]

If you had an "other," I would have picked it, because I know of two uses for the word to describe different things.

[KatieJ]

Yes I believe i know what you are referring to, and that is what we called it growing up. I don't use that name any more, so I I have to admit my first thought was that you were asking about Davenport college. I have a friend who works at one and my youngest just headed back to college to finish his business degree there.

[Rachel]

My grandma is the only person I've ever heard use the word.

[Mom22ns]

Yes, but I asked my oldest whose vocabulary is simply amazing and he didn't. I consider it an old, mostly out of use word.

[Joules]

Yes, but now I'm lost re: British definition. There's a difference?

I'm lost on the British definition, too.

[KungFuPanda]

I don't use it, so I was uncertain. I thought "It's either A or B." Turns out A is the American definition and B is one-off from the British one. I didn't vote.

[Chris in VA]

Yep. Neighbors in Ohio used it.

[MomtoCandJ]

You don't have an option for maybe, in just going with what my great grandma said :)

Eta: her's was the American definition

[JFSinIL]

while yes, of course I knew what it was, my first thought was Davenport, Iowa, from where I used to buy my 8mm silent movies decades ago.  I was thrilled to visit Davenport (my son went to school just across the river in Rock Island) but Blackhawk Films was long gone :-(

[TrixieB]

That is the word my mom used to use.

 

Sometime during my childhood, she switched to a different word. Now I am wondering why.