Search results
People also ask
Where did the idiom every Tom Dick and Harry come from?
What does Tom, Dick & Harry mean?
Who are ‘every Tom, Dick, and Harry’?
Can you say 'every Tom Dick and Harry' in English?
Tom, Dick and Harry is an English phrase used to refer to average, random men. It is often used to denote ordinary, working class men of no especial note. It is a near equivalent of ‘John Doe’ or ‘Jane Doe’ in US speech, although Tom, Dick and Harry isn’t used to refer to a signature.
The phrase originated in Bologna during the Middle Ages, where a jurist, Irnerio, wrote of ‘Titius et Gaius et Sempronius’, originally Latin names which morphed into the Italian. The phrase is used the same way as Tom, Dick and Harry in English, or 'Pierre, Paul ou Jacques' in French, as a placeholder for a generic set of people. [5]
According to the OED, the first citation for Tom, Dick and Harry is from 1734 where it appears as a popular song lyric, but other sources maintain it first appeared about one hundred years before this.
Tom, Dick, and Harry went to the party last night, but only Tom made it home by sunrise. This idiom is used to list three unnamed people as examples, representing the generic population. It highlights that out of the group, only Tom was able to make it home by sunrise after the party.
Tom, Dick, and Harry definition: 1. used to refer to an ordinary person or all ordinary people: 2. used to refer to an ordinary…. Learn more.
Mar 8, 2017 · Why Tom, Dick, and Harry? Generic names? If so, why just those? From Suffolk to Yorkshire people speak about some Laurence and some Lumley, whose fame rests only on the fact that both have alliterating lazy dogs (as lazy as L.’s dog, as laid him down to bark). Other farmers had worse luck.
Jun 10, 2014 · Although the phrase 'Tom, Dick and Harry' means people in general, the picture above is, of course, not any Tom, Dick or Harry but Prince Harry whose official title is HRH Prince Henry of Wales.
