OK, this is making my brain itch, and I need your help.
I’m an upper Mid-West transplant, so Southernisms sometimes don’t work for me.
My question to the crowd:
When referring to the set of furniture in a given room, is it a “suite” or “suit”?
Example:
“We went to the store the other day and bought a new bedroom suit”
My mind says it’s “suite”. But four different Kentucky people, including my lovely and long-suffering wife, say “suit”.
Also, when referring to the little shelf that sits at the base of a window, is it a “sill” or “seal”? Again, several Kentucky people use “seal”, while I’ve always said “sill”.
Please help. It’s making my head hurt.
DaddyBear’s Den 
bluesun
/ January 19, 2012Well, as a life long westerner, I can authoritatively say that I've never heard of a set of furniture referred to as a suite or a suit, but it is a window sill.
LikeLike
North
/ January 19, 2012It is a sill and a suite.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sill
Read through:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couch
LikeLike
North
/ January 19, 2012http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bedroom+suite
Also, just to make it muddy, the term “three piece suite” is a play on “three piece suit”, the former is furniture.
LikeLike
Keads
/ January 19, 2012Native NC person here. It IS suite, but I have heard suit used here and in SW VA as well.
It IS sill, you may be running into the accent as well.
LikeLike
Duke
/ January 19, 2012It is sill and Suite, It's just the way they pronounce it sounds different.
Like some say crick instead of creek or worsh instead of wash.
LikeLike
North
/ January 19, 2012“Like some say crick instead of creek or worsh instead of wash.”
Sweet!
LikeLike
Suz
/ January 19, 2012Yeah, what everyone else said. Aren't colloquialisms fun?
LikeLike
Jennifer
/ January 19, 2012sill and suite.
Also, chest of drawers, not chester drawers.
LikeLike
Les Jones
/ January 19, 2012People in East Tennessee say bedroom suit.
LikeLike
Sean D Sorrentino
/ January 19, 2012The two answers are “Set of furniture” and “Window sill.”
LikeLike
Mad Jack
/ January 19, 2012North of the Mason-Dixon line it is:
The window sill.
An airtight seal.
A suit is worn to Church on Sunday.
A suite refers to a series of rooms, such as the Honeymoon suite of the Notell Motel.
South of the Mason-Dixon line:
You might have a windah seal (read sill), which is phonetically identical to the airtight seal referenced earlier.
A suit refers to a collection of furniture and is phonetically identical to the clothing you wear to Church on Sunday.
A suite (sweet) still refers to a series of rooms, such as the Honeymoon suite of the Notell Motel.
Moreover, depending on usage your window might have a sah-eel-al-ah – say it in four syllables.
Y'all unnahstan' nah?
LikeLike
PISSED
/ January 20, 2012From New England.. its suite and sill 🙂
LikeLike
Lazy Bike Commuter
/ January 20, 2012Growing up in Bowling Green, I always heard it said “suit”, though I always say suite”.
And I think people are saying “sill”, but the accent makes it sound like “seal”.
Somehow I grew up with no accent. I am thankful for this.
LikeLike
Old NFO
/ January 20, 2012North got it 🙂 but it IS pronounced suit… LOL
LikeLike
Auntie J
/ January 20, 2012Exactly, Old NFO.
LikeLike
DaddyBear
/ January 20, 2012Thanks y'all. I'm pretty good with accents, but these two have just stuck for some reason.
LikeLike