"John Q. Public" meaning in All languages combined

See John Q. Public on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Audio: En-au-John Q. Public.ogg
Etymology: 20th century. In use by 1938. Head templates: {{en-noun|-|head=John Q. Public}} John Q. Public (uncountable)
  1. (idiomatic) A generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen. Tags: idiomatic, uncountable Synonyms: Joe Average, Joe Bloggs, Joe Blow, Joe Doakes, Joe Public, Joe Q. Public, J. Random User, man on the street Related terms: John Q. Law, Joe Schmoe Translations (a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen): Jan Novák [masculine] (Czech), Jan Janssen [Flanders, masculine] (Dutch), Matti Meikäläinen (Finnish), Jean Dupont [masculine] (French), Hans Meier [Austria, Switzerland, masculine] (German), Max Mustermann [masculine] (German), Otto Normalverbraucher [masculine] (German), Mario Rossi [masculine] (Italian), Jan Kowalski [masculine, person] (Polish), Manuel Dos Santos [Portugal, masculine] (Portuguese), João da Silva [Brazil, masculine] (Portuguese), José da Silva [masculine] (Portuguese), Zé da Silva [masculine] (Portuguese), Ива́н Ива́нович (Iván Ivánovič) [animate, masculine] (Russian), Marko Marković [masculine] (Serbo-Croatian)

Alternative forms

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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "-",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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          "langcode": "en",
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          "text": "Near-synonyms: everyman; Tom, Dick or Harry"
        },
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              79,
              93
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Even careful safety precautions in the factory do not make it a good place for John Q. Public to wander unattended.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen."
      ],
      "id": "en-John_Q._Public-en-noun-qLuGyEKm",
      "links": [
        [
          "generic",
          "generic"
        ],
        [
          "hypothetical",
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "John Q. Law"
        },
        {
          "word": "Joe Schmoe"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "Joe Average"
        },
        {
          "word": "Joe Bloggs"
        },
        {
          "word": "Joe Blow"
        },
        {
          "word": "Joe Doakes"
        },
        {
          "word": "Joe Public"
        },
        {
          "word": "Joe Q. Public"
        },
        {
          "word": "J. Random User"
        },
        {
          "word": "man on the street"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Jan Novák"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "Flanders",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Jan Janssen"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "word": "Matti Meikäläinen"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Jean Dupont"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "Austria",
            "Switzerland",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Hans Meier"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Max Mustermann"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Otto Normalverbraucher"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Mario Rossi"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "person"
          ],
          "word": "Jan Kowalski"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "Portugal",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Manuel Dos Santos"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "Brazil",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "João da Silva"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "José da Silva"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Zé da Silva"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Marko Marković"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "Iván Ivánovič",
          "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
          "tags": [
            "animate",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Ива́н Ива́нович"
        }
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "En-au-John Q. Public.ogg",
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/En-au-John_Q._Public.ogg"
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  "word": "John Q. Public"
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  "etymology_text": "20th century. In use by 1938.",
  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "John Q. Law"
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    {
      "word": "Joe Schmoe"
    }
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        "English words containing Q not followed by U",
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              79,
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          ],
          "text": "Even careful safety precautions in the factory do not make it a good place for John Q. Public to wander unattended.",
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        "A generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "hypothetical"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen."
      ],
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        {
          "word": "Joe Average"
        },
        {
          "word": "Joe Bloggs"
        },
        {
          "word": "Joe Blow"
        },
        {
          "word": "Joe Doakes"
        },
        {
          "word": "Joe Public"
        },
        {
          "word": "Joe Q. Public"
        },
        {
          "word": "J. Random User"
        },
        {
          "word": "man on the street"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "uncountable"
      ]
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Jan Novák"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "Flanders",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Jan Janssen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "word": "Matti Meikäläinen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Jean Dupont"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "Austria",
        "Switzerland",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Hans Meier"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Max Mustermann"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Otto Normalverbraucher"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Mario Rossi"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "person"
      ],
      "word": "Jan Kowalski"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "Portugal",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Manuel Dos Santos"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "Brazil",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "João da Silva"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "José da Silva"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Zé da Silva"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Marko Marković"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "Iván Ivánovič",
      "sense": "a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen",
      "tags": [
        "animate",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Ива́н Ива́нович"
    }
  ],
  "word": "John Q. Public"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-05-29 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-20 using wiktextract (e937b02 and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.