"John Doe" and "Jane Doe" are multiple-use names that are used when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law enforcement in the United States, such names are often used to refer to a corpse whose identity is unknown or unconfirmed. Secondly, such names are also often used to refer to a hypothetical "everyman" in other contexts, in a manner similar to "John Q. Public" or "Joe Public". There are many variants to the above names, including "John Roe", "Richard Roe", "Jane Roe" and "Baby Doe", "Janie Doe" or "Johnny Doe".
A legal fiction is a fact assumed or created by courts, which is then used in order to help reach a decision or to apply a legal rule. The concept is used almost exclusively in common law jurisdictions, particularly in England. An example of a legal fiction outside common law is that it is legally possible to have consumed an illegal substance without having owned it. That is, in some jurisdictions, owning or handling cannabis is illegal, but testing positive in a drug test is not illegal, even though the latter is presumably impossible without the former.
In law, a reasonable person, reasonable man, or the man on the Clapham omnibus is a hypothetical person of legal fiction crafted by the courts and communicated through case law and jury instructions.
The man on the Clapham omnibus is a hypothetical ordinary and reasonable person, used by the courts in English law where it is necessary to decide whether a party has acted as a reasonable person would – for example, in a civil action for negligence. The character is a reasonably educated, intelligent but nondescript person, against whom the defendant's conduct can be measured.
The term comrade is used to mean 'mate', 'colleague', or 'ally', and derives from the Spanish term camarada, literally meaning 'chamber mate', from Latin camera, meaning 'chamber' or 'room'. Political use of the term was inspired by the French Revolution, after which it grew into a form of address between socialists and workers. Since the Russian Revolution, popular culture in the Western World has often associated it with communism. However, the term comrade is improperly attributed to Russian speakers, since Russians do not say comrade, but rather tovarisch (това́рищ).
John Q. Public is a generic name in the United States, to denote a hypothetical member of society deemed a "common man." It is presumed to represent the randomly selected "man on the street."
Placeholder names are words that can refer to objects or people whose names do not exist, are temporarily forgotten, irrelevant, or unknown in the context in which they are being discussed.
G.I. are initials used to describe the soldiers of the United States Army and airmen of the United States Air Forces and also for general items of their equipment. The term G.I. has been used as an initialism of "Government Issue", "General Issue", or "Ground Infantry", but it originally referred to "galvanized iron", as used by the logistics services of the United States Armed Forces.
John Doe is a placeholder name in a legal action, case or discussion for a party, whose true identity is unknown or must be withheld for legal reasons.
Ola Nordmann is a national personification of Norwegians, either for individuals or collectively. It is also used as a placeholder name. The female counterpart is Kari Nordmann, and collectively they are referred to as Ola og Kari Nordmann.
Joe Shmoe, meaning 'Joe Anybody', or no one in particular, is one of the most commonly used fictional names in American English. Adding a "Shm" to the beginning of a word is meant to diminish, negate, or dismiss an argument. It can also indicate that the speaker is being ironic or sarcastic. This process was adapted in English from the use of the "schm" prefix in Yiddish to dismiss something; as in, "Fancy, schmancy.". While "schmo" was thought by some linguists to be a clipping of Yiddish "schmuck", an etymology supported by the Oxford English Dictionary, that derivation is not universally accepted.
The everyman is a variant of stock character in storytelling media, such as novels, plays, television series and movies. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist, whose benign conduct fosters the audience's wide identification with him.
Joe's Diner is a placeholder name for a fictional or hypothetical everyman's restaurant. Although there are franchises that use the name, its rhetorical use is often to describe a small, local business contrasted against large businesses or franchises. The phrase "Eat at Joe's" is a complementary fictional or hypothetical typical advertisement for such an establishment, and has itself become a snowclone in the form of X at Joe's, Eat at Y's, or simply X at Y's. It has also been noted that "[a] 'Joe's Diner' is an example of a weak name that would likely be unsuccessful suing another Joe's Diner in another state" for trademark infringement.
The terms average Joe, ordinary Joe, Joe Sixpack, Joe Lunchbucket, Joe Snuffy, Joe Schmo and ordinary Jane, average Jane, and plain Jane, are used primarily in North America to refer to a completely average person, typically an average American. It can be used both to give the image of a hypothetical "completely average person" or to describe an existing person. Parallel terms in other languages for local equivalents exist worldwide.
Joe is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Joseph.
In governance, sortition is the selection of political officials as a random sample from a larger pool of candidates. Filling individual posts or, more usually in its modern applications, to fill collegiate chambers. The system intends to ensure that all competent and interested parties have an equal chance of holding public office. It also minimizes factionalism, since there would be no point making promises to win over key constituencies if one was to be chosen by lot, while elections, by contrast, foster it. In ancient Athenian democracy, sortition was the traditional and primary method for appointing political officials, and its use was regarded as a principal characteristic of democracy.
