Children were sitting on their parents' lap or laps?

Question

Children were sitting on their parents' lap or laps? Can lap be used in plural form at all?

It's funny, my 2yo daughter just recently started asking to sit on my laps, or sometimes "not this lap, your other lap". I have to explain to her that I have only one lap. I think she feels each leg constitutes its own lap.
I think it has to do with the fact that originally, as Webster says, a lap was "the clothing that lies on the knees, thighs, and lower part of the trunk when one sits", but the meaning has transmuted over the years.

Jonathan Leffler · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-06 00:42:10Z

up vote 8 down vote accepted

There are multiple parents, each with their own lap.

Therefore, the children (collectively) were sitting on their parents' laps.

However, each child was sitting on one parent's lap.

edited Dec 6 '10 at 0:42

answered Dec 5 '10 at 17:47

Jonathan Leffler
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1 Answer