The Johns and other first names

Hi everyone,

The English language frequently uses first names in expressions, usually in informal language...

John...:
- [!] lavatory
- [!!] name given to a prostitute's client
- John Bull - can stand for l'anglais moyen or l'anglais xenophobe
- John Doe (US) - l'homme de la rue
- John Hancock [!] (US) - signature
- johnny (US) - blouse de patient
- johnny [!] (UK) - condom
- johnny [!] (UK) - fellow
- johnny-cake (US) - crêpe
- johnny-come-lately (US) - a newcomer or an upstart
- John Q Public [!] (US) - l'homme de la rue

Joe...:
- [!] (US) - a guy
- jo or joe - banjo
- Joe Bloggs (UK), Joe Blow (US) - Monsieur Tout-le-Monde
- sloppy joe [!] (UK) - grand pull
- sloppy joe [!] (US) - viande hachée à la sauce tomate

bob [!] - shilling
bob-a-job (UK) - it's a way to earn money for scouts (small jobs)

bill...:
- [!] (US) - banknote
- Bill (US) - un projet de loi
-
to fit ou fill the bill / faire l'affaire
to give sb/sth a clean bill of health / (lit) trouver qn/qch en parfait état de santé
to give sb/sth a clean bill of health / (fig) blanchir qn/qch
- billy indique un animal male
- billy (UK & Oz) - gamelle
- billy (US) - matraque
- billy goat - bouc

Dick - I renounce: to many naughty words around

Jack... -
every man jack / tout un, chacun
every man jack of them / jusqu'au dernier
to be (a) jack of all trades (and master of none) / être un/-e touche-à-tout
to have an I'm all right Jack attitude / ne s'occuper que de sa petite personne.
- Jack Frost - Bonhomme Hiver
- jack-in-the-box - diable à ressort
- jackknife - couteau pliant
- jackknife dive - saut carpé
- jack-o'-lantern (US) - citrouille taillée en forme de visage
- jack-o'-lantern (UK) - feu-follet
- jack shit [!!] (US) - que dalle [!!]
- Jack-the-lad [!] (GB) - esbroufeur [!]

~~~~~~~~~~

In French -

Roberts [!!] - knockers[!!], boobs[!]

jean-foutre [!!] - a waster [!], a good-for-nothing

~~~~~~~~~~

Does anybody have others?

Hi Gérard, hi everyone
You have also expressions with Tom
Peeping Tom= Voyeur
any Tom Dick or Harry = N'importe qui

Hi Gérard, hi Muriel,

I never knew that a sloppy joe in America was something to eat !
In Australia, it is a sweatshirt.

Woozy ... why not tell us about Dick ???

When Fanny is in America or England, she always says that her name is "Stephanie". When she says she is Fanny, people laugh at her

Hi Muriel,
I can well understand and sympathise with your daughter's dilemma regarding her name in America.
In Australian English, a fanny is somewhat worse (un vagin), so the uncouth natives in Oz would be rolling on the floor in hysterical laughter !

Better to call her Steph like my niece...

In the UK & Oz, fanny is vagina.
In the US, fanny is buttocks.

Hi everyone,

Other French first names in words/expressions.
- (Fr) jules [!] / boyfriend, man [!]
- (Fr) jules [!] (vieillot) / (UK) chamber pot, jerry [!]
- (Fr) marcel [!] / (UK) vest / (US) undershirt
I would like to add that Jules, in the States, is a diminutive of the female first name Julia.

Hi Muriel, everyone,

MurielB a écrit:Hi Gérard, hi everyone
You have also expressions with Tom
Peeping Tom= Voyeur
any Tom Dick or Harry = N'importe qui

Thanks a lot for your examples!

I'd like to add:
- tom is used as a prefix to designate male animals as for tom-cat or simply tom = matou
- in the US, tom is an offensive word for a black person

- every Tom, Dick and Harry [!] / n'importe qui
- to go out with every Tom, Dick and Harry [!] / frayer avec Pierre, Paul et Jacques [!]

A few others:

harry
- harceler
- (military) ravager

jerry
- (UK) [!] (old fashioned word) / pot de chambre
- (UK) [! offensive] (old fashioned word) / Fritz [!], boche [!]
- jerry-building / construction de mauvaise qualité
- jerry-built / construit à la va-vite

And in UK, "tom" is a word for a prostitute.

Really!

I understood Tom was kinda symbol of males...
Is well John the client?

Hi Gérard,
Yes, a "john" is a client.
I suppose they call the girls a "tom" after tom-cats (who go out at night looking for trouble !)

Hi Krystyna,

> tom-cats (who go out at night looking for trouble !)
I see the scene!


I wrote a few words for you: did you learn anything with jules or marcel?

Hi hi hi,

Jacques:
- faire le Jacques / to play the fool
- jouer à Jacques a dit / to have a game of Simon says

Marie:
- marie-couche-toi-là [!!] / [!] promiscuous woman
- marie-salope [!!] / slut [!!]


Sorry!
me were thinking English was a naughty language!

Hi everyone,

A word I had forgotten about John:

- long johns[!] / caleçon long

Remember that everytimes something goes by 2, it's plural in English: scissors, specs, pants, briefs, knickers, panties, pyjamas, jeans, trousers, butts... which is not always the case in French (un pantalon, un bikini, un slip...)
... exception bikini bottom (they also say "bikini bottoms" but it's at the singular because the other part is bikini top).

Hello Gérard
thank you again for your very interesting post. I used to call "maillot de bain" in BE "swimming costume" and people would laugh at me because it's a very old -fashionned word, just say "bathing-suit"

gerardM a écrit:Hi everyone,

A word I had forgotten about John:

- long johns[!] / caleçon long

Remember that everytimes something goes by 2, it's plural in English:.

Hi Gérard,
I don't much like your opening sentence !
Better to say ...
"Remember that whenever something has two parts, it's plural in English"

AND ...
an exception to your rule !!!
One person does not have "butts", but a butt, or a bottom ... BUT he does have buttocks (with a right buttock and a left buttock) !

Hi Muriel,
I don't know why the British laugh at "swimming costume" because that's still a usual term in Australia !
But we like short and pithy, so more likely you would hear ...
cozzie
swimmers
bathers

And, as an aside, do you know what a "birthday suit" is ?

Hi Krystyna, Muriel, hi everyone,

@ Krystyna: thanks a lots for having fixed my... typos

I agree with "butt" (I changed from buttocks to butts at the last moment).

However let me show my disagreement on one point:

gerardM a écrit:... pyjamas...

"Pajamas" is the American writing and you know my thoughts about Aus and Brit En's being threatened with at hand extinction Okay Okay I might exaggerate a bit!

Hi Krystyna, hi everyone,

krystynaD a écrit:...
One person does not have "butts", but a butt, or a bottom ... BUT he does have buttocks (with a right buttock and a left buttock) !

Okay, I agree with teh singular "butt".

Hm, with this sentence, you would have oodles of American ladies on your back!
They had to fight hard back in the 1920s, to get consideration...

You have to write: "BUT they do have buttocks".
This is not a plural by mainly the neutral gender pronoun in use for equality.


> And, as an aside, do you know what a "birthday suit" is ?
Yes I know about the expression.

Hi Gérard,

I am sorry, but I will NEVER EVER spell or write like an American !
At school, I learned British English and I loved the language of the queen.
However I like to use the funny little expressions of my Australian youth, as I like to confuse the Americans !!!

So, PYJAMAS forever !!!

Krystyna,

Yes I know... a few people said the same in Waterloo... also the last of the Mohicans! LOL

Hum ... LOLOLOL
But this is not enough of a deterrent !

Hi Krystyna, hi everyone,

Let me add another layer: are you ready to speak a dead langUage soon?

Aren't you convinced by my statements yet?

NB: I'm just teasing you! Hope you're not too upset after my harsh words.

Hi Gérard,

You will give up teasing me when you realise that I will NEVER be convinced !
60 million Brits and 20 million Aussies can't be wrong !
We will fight proudly to the death and continue to spell THEATRE, COLOUR, FAVOURITE, PYJAMAS etc etc


And sorry, I don't agree with your buttocks !
Well, not your personal buttocks, but buttocks in general !
One person (singular) does not have "butts" but HE DOES (singular) have "buttocks"
To say THEY DO (plural) have buttocks, you would first have to say PEOPLE (plural) do not have butts !