Sedan

[Tony Glaser]

>Webster's New World suggests possibly coined (1634) by Sir S. Duncombe,
>holder of the patent for sedan chairs, prob. < Ital. Sedente, sitting, from
>Latin root.
>
>At least we don't call it a saloon, like the English.
>
>
>Steve

Precisely.

Wouldn't that be a good reason why the word sedan is used in the US?
In the UK, a saloon is a (relatively) classy place - pubs often have
a "saloon", where the drinks, ambience, and clientele are more
expensive, and where women (at least in the past) were more likely to
feel comforatable, versus a "public bar" (sometimes only four or five
feet away on the opposite side of the bar) which is the downmarket
working man's area. So in the UK a saloon would not have a negative
connotation, at least not with respect to its closest comparator -
it's the posh part of a place that is a centre of much local life -
whereas in the US a saloon is a place of somewhat worse repute.

Tony Glaser