Talk:Apartment
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'Flat' is a working class designation? Not in all the Commonwealth; where I lived 'flat' simply meant 'apartment', no matter how modest or luxurious. Quill 20:39, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)
In my experience in the UK 'flat' is the most widely used term irrespective of social class. Purpose built luxury apartments from the ninetweenth and twentieth century were and are still widely called "mansion flats". "Penthouse flat" would be an oxymoron if flat indicated low social class. I believe that the term apartment was, until recently, largely confined to a dwelling created within a larger household: for example, 'state apartments' within palaces. TheoClarke Theo 20:27, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)
In my experience (limited to the U.S.), the word "apartment" is never used (outside of legal jargon) to refer to property which is owned rather than rented. Certainly I would never call my condo an "apartment". There's also a strong implication to "apartment" of having only a single level (presumably the origin on British "flat" as well); a multi-level rental dwelling would typically be called by the appropriate name for the type of structure; e.g., rowhouse, triple-decker, townhouse, or just plain house. (I live in a townhouse condominium myself.) 18.26.0.18 02:44, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)