How do you call them?

1) A coil spring mattress.

2) Call her a "woman that binds her feet."

I'd differ slightly. I'd call the matress "an inner-spring matress"; that is, not a matress that sits on top of a separate set of springs.

Also, there's a subtle difference between "a woman who binds her feet" and what I would say, "a woman with bound feet." The first makes it seem like the woman's choice, and it wasn't. Even though they may have accepted it as a custom and even as a sign of beauty, having your foot slashed across and the toes bent under until they rot and fall off isn't something you'd choose...

BTW, "bound" is the past tense of "to bind"...

Thanks colorbook and Wy.
Regarding (2), I'd incline to Wy's opinion. But I think "bound" is past participle of "bind", not past tense.

As with the vast majority of English verbs, the past participle and the past tense forms for "bind" are identical. In the sentence "the woman who bound her feet," it's the past tense; in the sentence "the woman with bound feet," it's the past participle.

Thanks, Joe... and sorry, oristarA, I should have explained that I was referring to your post: "the woman who binded her feet ..."

I am sure every one here would not make such simple a mistake...

Esp. Wy, a veteran in English language.

Just a bit of misunderstanding...

Okay, I noticed my misspelling: binded should be bound. Thanks.

A "sprung mattress" is description enough. It doesn't refer to springing in the base of the bed (which would be a "sprung base")

Sweet dreams.

Like the others, I have no name to offer for a woman who binds her feet. Although, since we already have Bigfoot.....

Hi McTag,

Is that how you call your mattress? In China, such a "sprung mattress" has been called "a mattress that you think it in your dream".

So what I want to know is that how the advertizers of sprung matress in your country call it? Usually, they have a BEST advertizing word or phrase or sentence (or message).

The best mattresses available in Britain are supposed to be by a company called Vi-Spring.
You could look for their site on the Web. I'll do it later.

Bye for now. McT

Here you go!
Not cheap, this stuff.

http://www.vispring.co.uk/frames2003.htm

I feel sleepy already

McTag, oristarA, in America, a "sprung mattress" would be an old lumpy one, with the springs broken... "sprung" refers to a spring which has escaped its confines and unwound!

I found this description on the Vi-Spring website: "Vi-Spring's unique pocket spring mattress construction..." There's an American mattress company that does this too. Supposedly it keeps the springs separate, so they don't tangle with each other and become "sprung"!

Well Wy, whichever way you cut it, sprung is the adjective from spring.

I know what you're saying, but to me, that would be a secondary meaning, and not the intuitive one in this context.

Yes, you can think of a sprung barrel stave, or a sprung plank, but the context should be the guide.

And please don't forget, OristarA, who is a seeker after truth, is only a beginner (at least with colloquialisms) and I don't like to add too many shades, or alternatives, of meaning; which I think would not be helpful. Maybe I'm being unnecessarily protective.

I'm telling you, McTag, that's the only way I have heard "sprung" used in the context of mattress-type springs. To me, in this context, that's the primary meaning.

M-W Online says "sprung" is an inflected form of the verb "to spring" meaning "to fit with springs." But as far as I know, it's not used that way here. So you're correct, just not American. And, oristarA, I don't mean to mislead you. I did say that "sprung=broken" was an American construct.

Thank you both. I understand what you said.

Americanism, in a way, is often different to Briticism.

So in different country, I might use different wording.


BTW, why does "Vi" mean in "Vi-Spring"?

Vi-Spring is just a trademark and need not have any meaning.

However one of the websites I saw yesterday when I searched for it, said there were, in the manufacture of these mattresses, six springs in a group and the VI comes from the Roman numeral for 6

You know, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, IIX, IX, X

Thanks McTag.