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Chariot Posted 18 years ago
Vocabulary
perch, sit
When perch is used for sit, what is the difference between the two words? Thanks for your help.
Top answer
Perch includes a sense of not being properly seated - you are somewhat precarious or the seat is rather small and you are not fully sitting on it. You might perch on a small high stool or the sort of 'shelf' seat you get in bus shelter queues, for example, but you'd find it hard to perch on a sofa. You could perch on the arm of a sofa though...
- Perch includes a sense of not being properly seated - you are somewhat precarious or the seat is rather small and you are not fully sitting on it.
- You might perch on a small high stool or the sort of 'shelf' seat you get in bus shelter queues, for example, but you'd find it hard to perch on a sofa.
- You could perch on the arm of a sofa though...
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3 Answers
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Perch includes a sense of not being properly seated - you are somewhat precarious or the seat is rather small and you are not fully sitting on it. You might perch on a small high stool or the sort of 'shelf' seat you get in bus shelter queues, for example, but you'd find it hard to perch on a sofa. You could perch on the arm of a sofa though...
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In AmE, perch is most often used to describe how birds sit. If someone is perched, they are probably squatting in a chair.
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Perch also gives a context of height as in someone is at/on the top of something above the ground, often not in a normal position. Usually, writers will not use perch for a situation where "sit" would be just as accurate. You will likely not hear of someone "perched on the floor".
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