# "cottage" or "cabin"?



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

I might be suffering from a bit of cabin fever...But, on the lighter side....
newfoundlanders always referred to their 'summer homes' as "cabins" (or for some, 'da shack', as in: "I was up to da shack da weekend.") And some of these "cabins" could be pretty impressive houses! But for years I've noted most of the rest of the country called them "cottages" (maybe not so much so in quebec?).
Over the last few years though, some here are starting to use the "cottage" term (Still doesn't sound quite right to these ol' ears; when did your cabin become a cottage?.)
And now... I've noticed just recently -even here on the CMF- that 'mainlanders' are starting to use the "cabin" word...instead of "cottage".
What gives? 
For those that own summer homes (or more precisely, a house that you go to in the summer), which is it - a cottage or a cabin?


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## steve41 (Apr 18, 2009)

I think the govt should strike a Royal Commision to resolve this.


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## Mukhang pera (Feb 26, 2016)

Seems that "cabin" prevails around here.

In my younger days, in southern Ontario, the word "cottage" was in vogue. The magazine "Cottage Life" suggests that is still the case.

Not sure about now, but back in them days in more northern parts of Ontario, say north of the French River (where Sunday hunting was legal), to refer to one's cottage or cabin as a "camp" was de rigueur, as in "I'm taking the family out to the camp this weekend."


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

...yes, my NB friends use "camp" too....


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## Davis (Nov 11, 2014)

As far as I understand:

British Columbia: cabin
Manitoba: camp
Northern Ontario: camp
Southern Ontario: cottage
Ottawa: senate appointment
Quebec: chalet
New Brunswick: camp
Newfoundland: cabin


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## Janus (Oct 23, 2013)

Davis said:


> As far as I understand:
> 
> British Columbia: cabin
> Manitoba: camp
> ...


haha - noice.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

at least ONE manitoban on the forum her uses "cabin", eh?...

and, if you have an actual 'log cabin', can you refer to it as "the cottage" or "the camp"?


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## Prospector (Jul 25, 2014)

Just be sure to add clarifier if you are talking to a Brit about going cottaging. Apparently there is a totally different connotation over there.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

My take on it is.............

A camp is where only guys go. It is rough.......wood stumps for chairs and a table. It will most likely not have indoor plumbing. Decor will consist of animal skeletons hung on the wall. Women aren't interested in going to a camp.

A cabin is a little bigger with simple furniture and an adequate if rustic kitchen. It may have basic indoor plumbing. Decor will be nature pictures torn from a magazine. Some women will be content to go and may put a pot of flowers on the table.

A cottage is like a house. It has regular furniture, full kitchen and a full four piece bath. Decor will be Canadian wildlife and flower framed prints. Women love to go and bring their friends for tea and poetry reading.

My grandpa had a camp. The government seized it while he was in the Ontario Hospital for a month. After that we had a "tent".

When I got older, I had a "trailer" which ranks higher than a tent but lower than a camp.


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## NorthernRaven (Aug 4, 2010)

I would go with the general rule that if it is on the electricity grid, it is ineligible to called a cabin... 

I've heard "camp" used in northern New England much more frequently for things we would tend to call cottages or cabins, not merely rudimentary "guys shacks".


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

sags said:


> My take on it is.............
> 
> A camp is where only guys go. It is rough.......wood stumps for chairs and a table. It will most likely not have indoor plumbing. Decor will consist of animal skeletons hung on the wall. Women aren't interested in going to a camp.
> 
> ...




love those descriptions.

around here we just say "in the country." Occasionally we say "my place" or "at the lake."

size or condition of any dwelling that exists on the place, in the country, is never implied.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

sags said:


> My take on it is.............
> 
> A camp is where only guys go. It is rough.......wood stumps for chairs and a table. It will most likely not have indoor plumbing. Decor will consist of animal skeletons hung on the wall. Women aren't interested in going to a camp.
> 
> ...


I have to say some of these descriptions are pretty sexist. 

I call my place a cabin, as do most people in Alberta, and we go mostly to BC. It is a full townhouse decorated wth furniture we no longer wanted from our main house. It sounds like the description of a cottage, but I don't think I have ever had tea and a poetry reading. Beer, wine, and coffee and valleys are the norm. 

I have been to a camp with the guys, and other females, and had fun. It didn't have the animal carcusss, but all outdoor plumbing. We just told the guys not to pee on the seat as usual.


Back to the OP. From what I can tell, a lot of people East of Manitoba call them cottages, no the prairies are called cabins.


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## hboy43 (May 10, 2009)

Non of the above ... boat! Has outdoor and indoor plumbing.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

And there is one more...........the Lodge, which I judge as the best of them all. The pinnacle of outdoor adventuring, I would say.

You fly in to the lodge, most often as well appointed as most homes and after settling in for the first night, you book your fishing trip for the next morning.

In the morning you put on all your great new fishing outfit, grab your new custom made fishing pole and monogrammed tackle box and head down the the dock.

A local guide will meet you there and after you step into the boat, he will take you to the exact place in the lake where all the fish are waiting for you.

He will put a worm on your hook and point to where to drop in the fishing line. A few seconds later you will be reeling in your first "catch of the day".

A couple hours and a boat load of fish later, the guide will take you back to the lodge...........where the staff take your picture with the stringer of fish and they will filet all the fish and cook a fine dinner for you.

Have I ever been to a lodge................No, but I was always envious of those who did.............rich folks, don't you know.

Sags reporting..............from the Scuttlebutt Lodge.


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## LBCfan (Jan 13, 2011)

Back when I had an extra abode, I called it a "falling down farm house", which it was.


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