I’ve never really quite understood the difference between a Family room and a Living Room. Even though my main degree at university was Architecture – these two always confused me and I tended to use them interchangeably. I just thought that the terminologies were as a result of Americans and the British using different words to describe the same thing. But actually, when I dug a little deeper, I found that there is a real difference…
1) Family room is also called Recreation room or Game room. It is usually found at the back of the house and it is where the family hangs out. 2) Living room is also called Lounge or Sitting room or Front room. It is a more formal space and is used for entertaining or conducting business. It is found at the front of the house and usually has a formal dining room adjacent.
I found that the KEY to understanding the difference is understanding the functionality of the space and that the two are usually found in big houses. Smaller houses have just one of these and depending on how the space is used, it is referred to as a Sitting room or Family room.
I find that many small businesses are confused by business jargon in the same way. For example, Top Line Vs Bottom Line – what is the difference and what do they actually mean?
The KEY to understanding this is in knowing that they are both found in the Income Statement (also Profit and Loss Statements, also P&L). The Income Statement is the report that shows you how much profit your business makes. The layout and presentation of the numbers is the same – internationally.
1) The first line of this report is called the Top Line and it represents the sales (also called income or revenue). If you hear that someone has grown their Top Line by x%, it basically means they have grown their sales by x%. 2) Similarly, the last entry on the Income statement is called the Bottom Line (also net income/net earnings). If you hear that someone has increased their Bottom Line by x%, it means that they have grown their Profit by x%.
Now the next thing I want to understand is the difference between DINNER and SUPPER. Can anyone help?