Allow me to be specific about the meaning of “coupe”. According to my trusty dictionary, a coupe is “a car with two doors and a sloping back”. So if cars such as the Mercedes-Benz CLS and Volkswagen CC are coupes, then my Longman is wrong, man.
But I know that my Longman is right, because the four-door coupe concept espoused by certain automakers is absurd. A coupe must have two doors to qualify as one, before we even consider the necessary styling elements like a low-slung body, a streamlined shape and, of course, that sloping back mentioned earlier. No matter how low, sleek or sloped-back a car may be, it’s ultimately not a coupe if there are four doors for the cabin. Coupe pretenders obviously have a set of four handgrips operating four individual doors that open or close independently of one another.
Let us not be confused by car-company marketers armed with MBAs in illogical nomenclature. Let us call a spade a spade, and a saloon a saloon.
