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In the United States, the term John Q. Public is used by law enforcement officers to refer to an individual with no criminal bent, as opposed to terms like perp (short for perpetrator) or skell to qualify unsavory individuals.
The phrase “John Q. Public” is a well-known idiom that has been used in various contexts to refer to an average person or member of the general public. This expression has its roots in American English and was first coined in the early 1900s.
John Q. Public in British English. (dʒɒn kjuː ˈpʌblɪk ) noun. US informal. a typical member of the general public. While Mr. Bruckheimer sometimes can't please the critics, he sure knows how to please John Q. Public. AOL doesn't want to burden their users by making their password system too complicated for John Q. Public.
John Q. Public Definition: 1. a member of the public or the community 2. the public or the community personified No one knows what the Q in John Q Public actually means, due to the fact that the initial doesn’t really stand for anything.
Sep 28, 2017 · As the name of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, it was one of the most frequent Christian given names, and in England by early 14c. it rivaled William in popularity and was used generically (in Middle English especially of priests) and as an appellative (as in John Barleycorn, John Bull, John Q. Public).
What does the noun John Q. mean? There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun John Q. . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
“John Q. Public” is a generic name used in the United States to denote a typical member of the general public or an average citizen. It represents the common person whose opinions and interests might be overlooked by those in power.