I was reading a UK-set fanfic

[conuly]

wherein somebody sits on a twin bed, and for some reason the question asked itself: are mattress sizes the same in the UK, and do they have twin beds over there?

And the answer is no, no they don't!

So now I know, and you do too, and that about sums up what I know about the UK, so I'll also tell you something about NYC if you ever write something set here. I'll tell you two things.

First, of course, is that there are (virtually) no alleys in Manhattan. I don't care what you've seen on TV and in movies, you should hold yourself to a higher standard.

Secondly, wind patterns in Lower Manhattan before 9/11 were intense. Like, omg whoa. Those towers had one hell of an effect.

Thirdly, I can't count, and also, cashiers in the city can say "next", but more often ask the following customer to step down, which may be realized upon occasion as "following" or "step down" rather than "following (customer), please step down". This is something I didn't notice at all until somebody happened to mention it once on reddit, and immediately I was beset by the twin feelings of "wait, yeah, they do say that" and "hold on, that's not what they say everywhere!?"

Fourthly, I still can't count, and this may not be accurate to school today, but when I was a kid and when my mother was a kid, public schools in NYC spent time teaching students three chords on the piano - get ready, stand, sit down - so we could all stand and sit in unison at assembly. Mommy didn't realize it was not a universal practice until the first time she and my father went to a school thing in Brooklyn and he was left sitting after the entire audience of adults and students had stood up. And then he was left standing after they'd all sat down, having failed even the second time to recognize the musical cue.

Comments

[conuly]

Question: When you say "twin bed", what does that refer to?

[cesy]

For me as a Brit, it means two single beds in one room.

[conuly]

In the US, it means "a mattress or bed in the size 'twin'", and from context I think that's what was intended here.

...okay, actually, it was a HP fic, so this is a great opportunity to invent some wild wizard bed terminology. Or, alternatively, wizards don't have standardized bed sizes at all.

[siliconshaman]

Non-standard sizes would make sense. Prior to WW1 (I think) mattresses and beds weren't standardised, and since the wizarding world has a lot of medieval hold-overs and seems to lag behind muggles (function of a wizards longer life-span perhaps? or innate conservatism due to spells being learnt by route and having to be precise) it would follow that standardization never really caught on with them.

[conuly]

function of a wizards longer life-span perhaps?

Probably. This is actually a known problem of a longer life-span + a lower birthrate = the society tends towards conservatism. Add that to their isolationism and... well....

I've long since headcanoned that a. there are more schools than Hogwarts (have to be, to support the society we see) but b. nearly all of them are boarding schools because somebody along the line realized that this is the best way to ensure that first generation students are isolated from their natal communities and socialize "appropriately" into wizarding society, ie, without bringing too many outside ideas with them.

[poliphilo]

So it seems we both have the term, but mean different things by it.

[conuly]

Yes. Why did you think I linked to a page on mattress sizes?