The phrase common room is used especially in British and Canadian English to describe a type of shared lounge, most often found in dormitories, at (for example) universities, colleges, military bases, hospitals, rest homes, hostels, and even minimum-security prisons. It is generally connected to several private rooms, and may incorporate a bathroom. However, they may also be found in day schools and sixth forms.
Regular features include couches, televisions, coffee tables, and other generic lounge furniture for socializing.
Depending on its location and purpose of use, a common room may be known by another name. For instance, in mental hospitals, where access is usually restricted to the daytime hours, this type of room is often called a "day room".
Famous quotes containing the words common and/or room:
“Throughout the 1980’s, we did hear too much about individual gain and the ethos of selfishness and greed. We did not hear enough about how to be a good member of a community, to define the common good and to repair the social contract. And we also found that while prosperity does not trickle down from the most powerful to the rest of us, all too often indifference and even intolerance do.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton (b. 1947)
“Last night you lay a-sleeping? No!
The room was thirty-five below;
The sheets and blankets turned to snow.
MHe’d got in: Dirty Dinky.”
—Theodore Roethke (1908–1963)