Room 101

"Everyone knows what is in room 101."

In George Orwell's fantastic and gripping satirical book 1984, room 101 is the ultimate torture chamber in the Ministry of Freedom building in Airstrip One (London). Here, deviators are tortured with the thing they most hate and fear, for example some plague rats on their face.

Room 101 is also a British comedy on BBC TV, where Nick Hancock (but now Paul Merton) interviews guests, giving the guest a chance to put the six things they most hate (like football, parties, and Portsmouth) into a notional Room 101.

The room number 101 has always been associated with a beginning class or homeroom, at least here in the beautiful US of A. Most applications are inane, but nonetheless this little meme has found a niche in our little television induced society. I searched the web and found some examples:

• www.autoshop-online.com/auto101.html - Autoshop 101
• www2.famvid.com/i101/ - Internet 101
• www.golf101.com/ - Golf 101
• www.gyn101.com/ - Gynecology 101
• www.rom101.com/ - Romance 101
• www.freestuff101.com/ - Free Stuff 101
• www.abcnews.go.com/sections/travel/DailyNews/Aussieslang000901.html - Aussie 101
• www.sonic-boom.com/industrial/ - Industrial 101

You get the idea. =)