ladies' lounge

English

Alternative forms

• ladies lounge

Etymology

From plural genitive of lady + lounge.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

ladies' lounge (plural ladies' lounges)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see lady,‎ lounge.
2. (Australia) A room in a pub or hotel, separate from the main drinking area, in which drinks are served; originally a place for women to drink in when not welcome or not comfortable in the traditionally male-oriented public bar, and latterly a more genteel area than the public bar.
   • 2003, Robert Gray, “from: The Waters under the Earth”, in Peter Craven, editor, The Best Australian Essays 2003, page 229:

     When she accepted his invitation, finally, and went to have a drink with him in the ladies′ lounge, her first experience of such a place, she alone seemed to notice how in the raucous group conversations he had a peculiar mannerism.

   • 2008, Toby Creswell, Notorious Australians, unnumbered page:

     In 1961 Australia was a very uptight place. The Queen and Sir Robert Menzies loomed large in the national psyche; there was capital punishment, pubs closed at 6 pm and women stayed in the ladies′ lounge; White Australia, cricket and the sheep′s back were pillars of the community. Dissent or satire — especially where these matters were concerned — was unthinkable.

   • 2008, Julia Lawrinson, The Push, unnumbered page:

     ‘There′s definitely no ladies′ lounge?’
     ‘Not for us.’
     Ivy had taken Erica into ladies′ lounges when she was younger, after RSL Women′s Auxiliary meetings, and Erica remembered Ivy hissing at her to get back to the table if she ever ventured near the door that opened to the public bar.

Synonyms

• (drinking area separate from main bar): beer garden

See also

• ducks on the pond