common-or-garden
adjective

- very ordinary

Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

The origin of “common-or-garden” seems quite logical – as a descriptor for a plant that was to be found growing in both the garden and on the commons, patches of land or woodland designated as being for the use of the community as a whole. Such abundance would mean that the plant was regarded as being unexceptional or ordinary.

The phrase first appeared in print in 1657 in history of plants, herbs and flowers called ‘Adam in Eden’ by W. Coles Adams.

“Common-or-garden” is now often used to refer to something that represents the basic version. For example, “I don’t need a luxurious hotel, just a common-or-garden accommodation that’s clean and comfortable."

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SYNONYMS

bare bones, commonplace, COMMON-OR-GARDEN, cookie-cutter, dime a dozen, everyday, garden-variety, ho-hum, humdrum, middle-of-the-road, mundane, normal, nothing special, ordinary, orthodox, plain, Plain Jane, plain vanilla, regular, routine, run-of-the-mill, so-so, standard, stereotyped, straight, traditional, two-a-penny, typical, usual, vanilla, well-known

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“He's just experiencing a COMMON-OR-GARDEN cold, it's not the flu or anything more severe.”

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