What sounds better an apartment or flat

I did wonder Elegran! still impressive though. I have discovered my ancestors were tax collectors from Perth!

I have just seen that I missed out a little "1" which made it seem as though I have wills from the 7th Century. No such luck, just the 17th.

Elegran Those thoughts should keep you occupied today! How many derivations can you get.

"Tenders" as in a coal tender on a steam train?
Tent?

And tenacity and tenacious - that has just made me think of Tena Lady, which does hold it in - wonder if that was the reason for the name?

elegran I did wonder that as in tenure and tenancy etc.

Tenement originally meant holding. I have copies of wills made by my ancestors in the 7th Century, where they leave their "tenement" of house, barns, land etc to their descendents. In a city there would later be a terrace of apartments built on the holding, which were indeed rented out to tenants. but only some of them descended into slum dwellings as they aged and were neglected. There are desirable apartments by the hundred.

Here is one for sale at the moment - the first one to appear in my srapid search, there are doubtless swisher ones too. www.gspc.co.uk/property/214033/

Glasgow tenement slums were pulled down in 1900 by The City Improvement Trust and high quality sandstone tenements were built to replace them.

These facts are easily sourced.

Happen one needs to check these things by passing them through a reality filter?

@agus...it was the freeline dictionary updated in 2009 ...

Dollie such a description of tenement would be historic - hardly applies nowadays.

The word does conjure-up images of slums, perhaps that's why it isn't much used these days.

What year was your. Dictionary published

Just deleted my response .... to save GNHQ from having to do so

the tenement comment was copied and pasted from the dictionary and the comment re apartment was said 'tongue in cheek'...

dollie have you been inside a Glasgow or Edinburgh sandstone tenement, most of which are privately owned?

Dollie did you not read Granny23's post?

a tenement is building for human habitation especially one that is rented to tenants....its a rundown low-rental apartment building whose facilities and maintenance barely meet minimum standards...in this day and age its appalling to think that these tenements still exist!!

re; apartment/ flat they are the same but people seem to think apartment sounds more upmarket...a bit of snobbery me thinks!

Granny23 I am sorry! I didn't mean to offend but I was commenting on the impression the term "tenement" gives to me down south.

Nellie I think that many residents in tenement flats in Glasgow's West End would be incensed if they heard you referring to their homes as 'slums'

For example:

Offers over
£359,000
4 bedroom Flat

More details and 11 photos

Saltoun Street, Dowanhill, G12 9AR

A substantial and stunning six apartment second floor flat within a landmark traditional blonde sandstone tenement within the heart of Glasgow's West...

Slater Hogg & Howison (West End) 0141 258 1066

You would never use the term "tenement" now. It sounds like a Glasgow slum.
I expect one day they will have to reinvent a word for apartment. Do the huge and posh mansion flats in London now get known as Mansion apartments? Or is it "suites."?

Change the description when selling a flat by calling it an apartment and increase the asking price by 25% . Does calling it an apartment sound better now.
I know what I would rather call it.

For what it's worth I think apartment sounds better.

For me it depends on size, location and type of building.

My DD lives in what she bought as an 'apartment'. It's on a third floor and has a living room, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms.

I did refer to it as 'your flat' and was promptly corrected.

This (moi) "Mrs Bouquet" would say apartment only because when I was at work selling properties at The Albert Dock/Waterloo Warehouse on The Docklands it was not acceptable to ask a client would you like to view The Show Flat !! far better would you like to view The Show Apartment,I live in a first floor apartment fondly known as The Penthouse to my downstairs neighbours