What would you call this structure that I have pictured below? My dear sweet husband and I laid in bed last night and "discussed" what these structures are called. The house we made an offer on has one in the backyard and Kc was drooling over how wonderful it would be to have said structure. I sweetly informed him that he called it the wrong thing ... and it was determined that I'd find a picture on the internet and ask the blogging world. [I won't tell you which name I used to google these pictures but I think that, in and of itself, answers my question!]
So, do you call these structures:A) Tool shed or B) Mini Barn
Leave your comment and may the best spouse win! :)
42 comments:
It is a TOOL SHED!
Oh, that? That would be a tool shed.
tool shed
Husband ... your votes don't count.
My first word in my head was tool shed.
But if you said mini barn I would know exactly what it was. I think both can be used.
I should go into politics...
definitely a shed. "mini shed" sounds like what a woman would call it. :)
Mini barn. No questions, no doubt, no argument. A tool shed is more of a permanent structure, probably with an in-ground foundation. Sorry, KC.
Grpa S would call it "mini barn."
wait, how about a 'wood shed'??
It's a mini-barn -- check at Lowes.
Mini-barn :)
Andy, the educated and intelligent all agree. It is definitely a shed. And since the viewership of this page is greatly slanted toward Indiana folk-speech, I submit my principal and his wife's opinion. Both declared it to be a tool shed, and laughed at the alternative.
I win. I do indeed.
I'm with you Megan... it's definitely a mini barn :-)
I would call it a mini-barn. Maybe it's an Indiana thing?
Mini-barn. No doubt about it.
I'd just call it a shed.
~Stacey
Mini barn, definitely. Aunt b
Definitely a tool shed. I've never heard it called a mini-barn.
hello.....It is definitely a mini barn....end of discussion!! Aunt K
Well....being somewhat of an expert on this subject....it's called a mini-barn in Indiana. Now what they call it in TX????? I don't know. Mine has a 13" color TV, a loft where I could put a mattress, and all it needs is a fridge and a window air conditioner and I could live in it if things get tough inside the castle where the QUEEN lives....:-)
It's a mini-barn. Stacey has no idea what she's talking about since she didn't grow up with one, so you can throw out her vote.
Josh didn't grow up with one either. So if you throw out my vote his has to go too. (Though Grandpa had one that I spent plenty of time in.) ...When I asked Joel what he would call it, he said shed too. And he DID grow up with one.
Tool shed, for sure.
Catherine in Atlanta
shed.
Dear Mr. Kenneth Myers,
Please note the following companies around the United States and their small "barn-like" structures:
http://www.hillviewminibarns.com/
Located in Maine.
http://www.drycreekminibarns.com/locations/
Located all around California.
http://www.generalshelters.com/ContactUs.php
Located in Texas.
http://www.clminibarns.com/
Located in Wisconsin.
I love you, Mr. Myers. However, companies from the eastern, western, northern, and southern portions the United States, including your beloved Pittsburgh (e.g http://krestview.com/BarnPages/Mini-Barn.html) seem to call the structure a mini barn.
Sincerely,
Colin
Tooll shed or just shed
anyone who thinks that is a tool shed is a tool
I helped my dad build one in the back yard a decade or two ago, and it's definitely a tool shed (or usually just shortened to "shed"). If you live in the suburbs in MN, you'd be called crazy for having a barn - mini or otherwise - in your backyard. =)
According to:
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary,
Dictionary.com,
UrbanDictionary.com,
and even the definitive record of the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary,
the term mini-barn, or mini barn, or minibarn, or any permutation of the above word is at best "yet to be defined". The closest result is "mini-bar" and "mini-beast".
It is, thus, most aptly identified as a shed.
This smells strongly of the Great Remote Debate of 08 in our household. I hope you are winning because I remember all too well how it feels to lose on your own blog.
sniff sniff
Anyways, I would never say tool shed but I would call it a shed before I called it a mini barn.
Kenneth,
Turning to the dictionary definition is an excellent approach to solving this problem. However, although mini-barn remains technically undefined, it appears that "shed" clearly does not correctly identify the said structure. According to Archiseek.com's glossary of architectural terms, a shed is "a roof type with one high pitched plane covering the entire structure." If the structure in your new back yard has a single plane covering the entire structure, I yield to your definition. However, if there are two planes in the roof, I submit that it is more "barn-like" in appearance than "shed-like."
Colin,
Unfortunately, the site you reference is not a dictionary, but merely the skeleton of a glossary, which the site acknowledges. Here are submissions that I found from veritable sources. You will find that each is a satisfactory definition for the structures in question.
Dictionary.com:
Shed (n) - 1. a slight or rude structure built for shelter, storage, etc.
Tool shed (n) - a small building where tools are stored, often in the backyard of a house.
Merriam-Webster.com:
3Shed (n) - 1a. a slight structure built for shelter or storage; especially: a single-storied building with one or more sides unenclosed b: a building that resembles a shed
Tool shed (n) - an outbuilding for storing tools
Oxford English Dictionary (oed.com):
Shed1 (n) - 1. a simple roofed structure, typically of wood and used for storage or to shelter animals.
If words and definitions are not your thing, here is an online picture dictionary that does a pretty good job of illustrating what a shed is:
http://giraffian.com/dictionary?filter0=shed
There are others, but I find this one is satisfactory.
Home depot has a great selection of sheds. Check it out:
http://www6.homedepot.com/homeservices/sheds/index.html?cm_mmc=RMI_Home_Services-_-goog-_-T2_-_Storage_Sheds-_-bidid1351591
Ooo. So does Sears!
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_10153_12605?vName=Lawn+%26+Garden&cName=Sheds+%26+Outdoor+Storage&keyword=shed&sLevel=1&sLevel=0&sid=46717978
I don't see why it can't be known by BOTH names? Just like many other things are known by more than one name.
Growing up in CA, we would have referred to it as a "shed." I never heard the name mini-barn until I moved to the mid-West. We had a "shed" in our backyard that looked very similar to the pictures you posted.
I propose a truce. Apparently, the structure is known by both names, at least in Indianapolis.
According to the following zoning regulations brochure, the City of Indianapolis recognizes both terms as a correct identification of the structure.
http://www.indygov.org/eGov/City/CodeEnforcement/Inspections/Zoning/Documents/Shed_Mini%20Barn%20Brochure%20Dec%202008.pdf
By the way, as for dictionary definitions being "my thing," simply because a word is not located in a dictionary does not mean that it does not exist. Sometimes dictionaries need to catch up to common usage. Under your theory that a word does not exist unless Merriam-Webster says it does, "Google" would never have been a verb.
Can you say "get a life?" G Ma S
WOW Grma S. is gettin' down with it. Mini barn, final answer. Aunt B.
I might be a bit late to this discussion, but I've never heard a shed called a "mini-barn" until I read this post. So it's not a Midwest thing, it must be a Hoosier thing.
And I, another Hoosier, grew up with a shed. If I heard the term "mini-barn" before this post, it didn't stick in my memory.
Laura in Indy
That would be a shed, and a tool shed if said shed contained tools.
"mini barn" is something manufacturers starting calling them to make women want to let their husbands put one in their yard... "don't YOU want a MINI BARN in your yard?!?" but to me it sounds like something from a Jack in the Box commercial to be accompanied by dancing midgets.
Loved it!
Drew, that was brilliant.
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