sunbed/tanning bed

[Frank78]

Hello everybody,

I´m wondering which preposition to use with sunbed/tanning bed. Is it "in (the) sunbed" according to other beds? And do you need an article here?

Thanks in advance.

 

[tepatria]

In the sunbed sounds right to me and yes, the article the or a would be used.

 

[ewie]

Hello Frank. I'd always use on with sunbeds, but whether or not you need an article depends on circumstances:
I've just spent an hour and a half on a sunbed, that's why I'm all red
He can't come to the phone just now ~ he's on the sunbed upstairs
Those old broads look like they spend their whole lives on sunbeds


EDIT: lots of agreement there, then!

 

[JamesM]

I would use "in" simply because the sunbeds or tanning beds I'm familiar with are clamshell-like devices (some would say "coffin-like" devices) that enclose you, surrounding you with light.

http://greenerpractices.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/tanning-bed.jpg

 

[cycloneviv]

Despite the enclosing nature of a sunbed, I'd still use "on". "In" sounds vaguely bizarre to me, perhaps because it makes me imagine being nestled among the interior wiring of a sunbed.

 

[ewie]

I get exactly the same image, Vivi. I guess it must be a transatlantic thing. Or transpacific, in your case.

 

[JamesM]

It may very well be a BE/AE difference. If I use Google Ngrams to look at "on sunbeds, in sunbeds", the "on sunbeds" definitely wins out, although not even twice as much as "in sunbeds":

https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra...ct_url=t1;,on sunbeds;,c0;.t1;,in sunbeds;,c0

If do an Ngram of "on tanning beds, in tanning beds", the phrase "on tanning beds" doesn't even show up on the chart:

https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra...g=3&share=&direct_url=t1;,in tanning beds;,c0

 

[vincix]

I changed the searches to "in a tanning bed" and "on a tanning bed". The former wins out again, again about 2 to 1.
https://goo.gl/GrIcw4