English Explanatory Dictionary

John Q. Public

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen.

Pronunciation

En-au-John Q. Public.ogg

Word forms

John Q. Public

Etymology

First use appears c. 1938. John Q. Public was the name of a character created by Vaughn Shoemaker, an editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Daily News from 1922 to 1952; Shoemaker introduced this character in 1922 but is believed to have added the "Q." sometime in the early 1930s.https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/22/obituaries/vaughn-shoemaker-created-john-q-public.html Compare also John Doe.

Synonyms

Joe Average Joe Bloggs Joe Blow Joe Doakes Joe Public Joe Q. Public Joe Schmoe J. Random User man on the street everyman Tom, Dick or Harry Joe Sixpack

Related words

John Q. Law Joe Schmoe
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