Table (parliamentary Procedure)

Table (parliamentary Procedure)

In parliamentary procedure, a motion to table has two different and contradictory meanings:

• In the United States, to table usually means the to lay on the table or to move for postponement of consideration; a proposal to suspend consideration of a pending motion. Much less often, it means a motion to "put on the table": a proposal to begin consideration (or reconsideration), a usage consistent with the rest of the English-speaking world.
• In the rest of the English-speaking world such as the United Kingdom, to table means to move to place upon the table (or to move to place on the table): a proposal to begin consideration (or reconsideration) of a proposal.

Both the American and the British dialects have the sense of "to table" as to lay on the table or to cause to lie on the table. The difference is the idea of what the table is for, that of a shelf off to the side, or an active work bench.

The British meaning has the sense of the table as being an active work bench, with the topic being the center of attention, considered and discussed by all until it can be resolved, at which point it is taken off the 'table'.

The American sense is that the table is like that of a shelf, archive, or long-term storage device, where the topic has been disposed of by sending it to the 'table' and leaving it there.