Room Meat Definition
noun
Person(s) being present in a passive way or to make up the numbers ; bystander(s)
There is a scene in the film In The Loop where an MP is asked to attend an important meeting. But as he enters the room he is warned, with some menace , to keep his mouth shut tight. "What?", he asks, "You've got me here as room meat?"
How much of our lives as academics is spent as room meat: turning up to things because it would look bad if the numbers were small, or just because we are meant to be there?
Wiktionary
Origin of Room Meat
-
from the sense of "meat" that refers negatively to people as in meat puppet
From Wiktionary
