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:
“This is really the common mentality of prisoners: they read with great attention all the articles that deal with illnesses and send away for treatises and “be your own doctor” or “emergency treatments” and end up by discovering that they have at least 300 or 400 illnesses, whose symptoms they are experiencing.”
—Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937)
“Our chaotic economic situation has convinced so many of our young people that there is no room for them. They become uncertain and restless and morbid; they grab at false promises, embrace false gods and judge things by treacherous values. Their insecurity makes them believe that tomorrow doesn’t matter and the ineffectualness of their lives makes them deny the ideals which we of an older generation acknowledged.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)