The Expression "Every Tom, Dick and Harry" in Your

Geoff_One   Fri Oct 21, 2005 12:37 pm GMT
Many people are probably familiar with the subject expression.
Some examples of its use can be:

These days, it seems that every Tom, Dick and Harry is going to university.

That woman has been out on dates with every Tom, Dick and Harry.

Jumbo planes made overseas air travel cheap, so we now have every Tom, Dick and Harry taking overseas plane trips.

I read that the equivalent in Spanish is Fulano, Mengano, y Zutano.
Is this universal throughout the Spanish Speaking World?

What is the equivalent expression in other languages?
Geoff_One   Fri Oct 21, 2005 12:39 pm GMT
The title should be:

The Expression "Every Tom, Dick and Harry" in Your Language.
Bubba   Fri Oct 21, 2005 3:00 pm GMT
In German, "Krethi und Plethi"--origins of this expression are obscure to me, but perhaps so other German-speaker can lend clarification?
Naldo   Fri Oct 21, 2005 3:35 pm GMT
In Portuguese :fulano, beltrano, sicrano

What about John Doe in English, is he in the same category?
Walker, Texas Ranger   Fri Oct 21, 2005 4:43 pm GMT
Not exactly, but we have in Sweden the expression 'Svensson', or 'medelsvensson', meaning an/any ordinary middleclass man.
Saif   Fri Oct 21, 2005 4:53 pm GMT
Walker - Svensson translates better as 'everyman'. T, D & Harry means more or les 'vemsomhelst'.
Xatufan   Fri Oct 21, 2005 7:37 pm GMT
You use "fulano" when you're talking about an indetermined person. "Mengano" has the same meaning, but you only use it when you have already used "fulano". You use "zutano" after "fulano" and "mengano". (Like algebra: x, y, z)

Vi a fulano hablando con mengano acerca de zutano.

"Fulano" and "mengano" have an Arabic origin.
Uriel   Sat Oct 22, 2005 5:48 am GMT
No, John Doe is not the same as Tom, Dick, and Harry; a John Doe is a person whose identity is unknown. For instance, a John Doe in a morgue is an unidentified male corpse. The female equivalent is Jane Doe.
Heehee   Sat Oct 22, 2005 10:28 am GMT
In Mandarin Chinese, we say...

"a mao, a gou"

Basically, "cats and dogs", hahaha!!

The phrase "every Tom, Dick, and Harry is going to university" in Mandarin Chinese would be:

"A mao, a gou dou qu da xue" which literally means "cats and dogs all go to university."
Frances   Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:02 pm GMT
John Doe - the term originally comes from "nominal defendant" too; that's when you want to sue someone and you don't know who to sue.
Easterner   Mon Oct 24, 2005 1:30 am GMT
In Hungarian we have a similar expression, without using proper names: "minden jöttment", literally: "everybody who comes and goes". The word "jöttment" is rather unique to Hungarian, I think (and therefore intranslatable), it is a slightly derogatory reference to a person whose background is unknown or dubious, or who comes to a certain neighbourhood from another, unknown surrounding, and is therefore considered as not to be fully trusted until "checked out."
adivina quien soy   Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:47 pm GMT
"Every Tom, Dick and Harry"

Todo quisqui (spanish)