So, do you call them curtains or drapes?  Sofa or couch?  Do you mow the lawn or cut the grass?  Is it a coffee table or a cocktail table?  Do you hire a housekeeper, a maid, or a cleaning lady?  Do you and your partner fight over a remote or a clicker? 
More importantly, what should you be calling them?
There was a time when what you called things could be a signifier of your social class – the middle class being more euphemistic and “fancy” than the upper and lower classes.
The theory was that the old-money, upper-class was always modestly downplaying things, so mansions in Newport were “cottages” and yachts were “boats”.  But the ever-aspiring middle class, (strivers that we are), were always gussying up their language, apparently in an effort to try and make it into the UC Big Leagues.  (The lower class, apparently didn’t give a hoot and just called things what they were—same as the upper class).
In Vance Packard’s classic (but now quite dated—written in 1959—before we were even born, for goodness sakes!) book on the American class system, The Status Seekers, some examples from that time are given.  For instance, the upper class said wash, sofa, long dress, while the middle class said launder, davenport, and formal gown.  The middle class said tuxedo, wealthy, and “pleased to meet you”, while the UC simply called it a dinner jacket, rich, and said “hello”.  And while the middle class genteely claimed to feel ill, the upper class just felt sick.

But the real question is, what are the Fashionable People these days calling things?  As always, we are here to help you navigate the muddy waters of social protocol.
Past wisdom says that, when in doubt, always use the humbler term.  And it has been our experience that the chicest people do indeed say curtains, couch, and cleaning lady or cleaner.  (Maid sounds too exploitive, and Housekeeper is too pretentious).  The mow the lawn v. cut the grass debate is kind of a non-issue in Florida, since the abundance of affordable landscapers makes it possible for us to never have to do either.  But when we’re talking to the landscapers, surely we’ll say “cut the grass”, because “mow the lawn” sounds too…British or something. 
Of course, sometimes the rule can be broken for accuracy-- we don’t think it’s too high falutin’ to go with “cocktail table” over “coffee table”, because in our case, it’s a clear matter of which beverage is placed most upon said table.  For us to call it a coffee table would just be a lie.
As for remote v. clicker, we have to side with clicker.  Remote sounds too techie, and remember we’re trying to downplay our expensive educations, not flaunt them….