English edit

Noun edit

honest John (plural honest Johns)

  1. (idiomatic) An ordinary, honest, member of the public
    • 2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian[1]:
      The high street was a place of utility once, with concentrated amenities. It was a place of wildly fluctuating codes of behaviour and scruples. Particular smells. Finicky proprietors. Honest johns. Crooks.