Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2018 June 2

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June 2

Lobby broom

Small brooms are often labeled by their manufacturers as “lobby brooms.” I have never heard anyone refer to a broom this way. It seems odd to assume that a small broom is better suited to sweeping a lobby than a larger broom, and to the contrary when I have seen a janitor sweeping a lobby of a building he used a large broom. Why is this term used, and when did it originate? Googling it only turned up ads for the product. Edison (talk) 21:41, 2 June 2018 (UTC)

Lobby means different things to different people. To some the entrance space in a building, typically were the concierge sites, is the lobby, but here in the UK, some people say the lobby is that little room under the stairs. Here a small broom is more practical. My mother uses a lobby broom and dustpan for spot cleaning, or sweeping up spiders and insects so she can put them outside. She finds it much more convenient than a large broom. --TrogWoolley (talk) 22:05, 2 June 2018 (UTC)

Apparently this guy used to do quite a good line in cut-price lobby brooms. Martinevans123 (talk) 22:19, 2 June 2018 (UTC)