Talk:Behind the sofa

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[edit] Sofa positioning

The argument keeps arising that sofas are traditionally pressed against the walls of a room, thereby making this phrase rather bizarre. I kind of object to this, as at least anecdotally only about half the households I've encountered have had their sofas pressed against the walls. The rest of the time (including my mother's house in Maine and nearly every TV commercial I've seen in my life), they're in the center of the living room, allowing traffic to pass on all sides. Now, some reference might be made to the debate -- though the debate strikes me as itself rather bizarre to start with. There are no real standards to interior decoration.

Fair enough. 'Tis a good point, and I was never entirely happy with that bit. Angmering 19:37, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Furthermore, many sofas have backs which curve, meaning that even if the top is against a wall, there is often enough space at the bottom for a child to crawl in behind and look around the sofa rather than over the top. --Bonalaw 10:01, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Is Doctor Who really the source of this phrase?

The phrase has always been closely linked with Doctor Who in my mind, but the earliest reference I can find to "behind the sofa" (as cowering in fear from something) is actually in relation to one journalist's memories of puppet show Sooty (of all things). The article, "SOOTY BEARS ALL! 42 YEARS ON, A PUPPET REGIME STILL RULES OK" was written by Jane Kelly and was published in the Daily Mail on 10 September 1990, two years earlier than the earliest reference in this article. --The Brain of Morbius 06:49, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure there must be earlier Who-related references than that, but I must confess that when I originally wrote the article I was being a bit lazy and picked two easy ones! I shall go back to the Cuttings Archive site and try and locate an earlier reference than 1990. Stay tuned. Angmering 17:24, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Right, so far I've got a "hiding behind the settee" from 1988 here. I'd rather have a sofa, though. On with the search... Angmering 17:47, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

This alas is nothing citable, but I remember hiding behind the sofa (and later the French curtains) during the first two Quatermass shows (1953 and 1955 respectively) on the BBC. Signinstranger 21:50, 20 July 2006 (UTC)