common sense

nounB1Not compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

Common sense is the practical everyday judgement most people share. Knowing not to touch the hot pan.

The phrase does a lot of quiet work in argument, since appealing to common sense claims that a position is obvious and needs no defending, which is convenient and often unfair. It is also genuinely useful, and a common-sense approach means a sensible one. The adjective is hyphenated before a noun. There is a well-known observation that common sense is not, in fact, very common.

Definitions of common sense

1nouncommon sensePractical good judgement in everyday matters.B1
“It is a matter of common sense rather than training.”

Where it comes from

Ancient Greek
κοινὴ αἴσθησις
Latin
sēnsus commūnis
Middle French
sens commun
English, today
common sense

Middle French sens commun and its source, Latin sēnsus commūnis, itself a calque of Ancient Greek κοινὴ αἴσθησις.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Big Ideas, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 6 of A Man Called Ove.

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