Tom, Dick and Harry

English

Alternative forms

• Tom, Dick or Harry

Etymology

Three common first names; many languages have similar formations (see #Translations). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Noun

Tom, Dick and Harry pl (plural only)

1. Anybody or everybody; random or unknown people.

   We want the place to be accessible to any Tom, Dick or Harry that happens to find it.

   • 1661, John Payne Collier, N D, editors, An antidote against melancholy: made up in pills. Compounded of witty ...‎^[1], published reprint, page 90:

     Here is Tom, Jack, and Harry:
     Sing away, and doe not tarry.
     Merrily now let's sing, carouse, and tiple.

   • 1723, Charles Leslie, A short and easie method with the deists: Wherein, the certainty of the ...‎^[2], page 12:

     ... and that there was no such Thing as Government in the World; and that Tom, Dick, and Harry, ay, every individual Man, Woman, and Child, had a Right to the whole World ...

   • 1922, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “First Steps in Education”, in Fantasia of the Unconscious, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, →OCLC, pages 111–112:

     Those whose nature it is to be rational will instinctively ask why and wherefore, and wrestle with themselves for an answer. But why every Tom, Dick and Harry should have the why and wherefore of the universe rammed into him, and should be allowed to draw the conclusion hence that he is the ideal person and responsible for the universe, I don't know.

Usage notes

Typically used in the collocations:

• every Tom, Dick and Harry (corresponding to everybody)
• any Tom, Dick or Harry (corresponding to anybody).

Translations

anybody or everybody; random or unknown people

• Afrikaans: Jan Rap en sy maat
• Arabic: فُلَانٌ وَعِلَّان (fulān wa-ʕallān), كُلّ مَن هَبَّ وَدَبَّ (kull man habba wa-dabba)
• Basque: Urlia, Sandia eta Berendia
• Bulgarian: Су́льо и Пу́льо (Súljo i Púljo), ку́цо и сака́то (kúco i sakáto), фила́нкишията m (filánkišijata)
• Catalan: en Pau, en Pere i en Berenguera (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 張三李四／张三李四 (zh) (Zhāng sān Lǐ sì) (張 and 李 are common surnames, while 三 and 四 are the numbers three and four), 阿貓阿狗／阿猫阿狗 (zh) (āmāo'āgǒu) (negative connotation)

• Danish: hvermand, gud og hvermand
• Dutch: Jan en Alleman, Jan, Piet & Klaas
• Finnish: mattimeikäläinen
• French: Pierre, Paul ou Jacques (fr) m
• Galician: fulano e citrano
• German: Hinz und Kunz (de) m, (pejorative) Krethi und Plethi (de), Hans und Franz
• Greek: κάθε καρυδιάς καρύδι (káthe karydiás karýdi) (negative connotation)
• Hebrew: כָּל דִּכְפִין (he) (kol dichfín, literally “all the hungry”)
• Hindi: ऐरा-ग़ैरा नत्थू ख़ैरा (airā-ġairā natthū xairā), फ़लाना-ढिमाका (falānā-ḍhimākā), रमदू फट्टू (ramdū phaṭṭū)
• Hungarian: boldog-boldogtalan (hu), mindenki (hu), bárki (hu), akárki (hu)
• Italian: Tizio, Caio e Sempronio m
• Japanese: 猫も杓子も (ja) (ねこもしゃくしも, neko mo shakushi mo, literally “cats and ladles”)
• Korean: 개나 소나 (gae-na so-na, literally “dogs or cows”)
• Macedonian: Петко, Трајко и Круме (Petko, Trajko i Krume)
• Maltese: Cikku l-Poplu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Gud og hvermann, Per, Pål og Askeladden

• Persian: اره و اوره و شمسی کوره (âre o ure o šamsi kure)
• Portuguese: Fulano, Beltrano e Cicrano m pl, Fulano, Sicrano e Beltrano m pl
• Russian: ка́ждый встре́чный и попере́чный (káždyj vstréčnyj i poperéčnyj), Ивано́в, Петро́в, Си́доров (Ivanóv, Petróv, Sídorov)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Пера, Мика, Лаза, Марко и Трајко, И Кунто и Панто

  Roman: Pera, Mika, Laza, Marko i Trajko, I Kunto i Panto

• Slovak: Joži or Džony
• Spanish: Fulano, Mengano y Sotano m, cualquiera (es), Fulano, Zutano, Mengano y Perengano/Perensejo (usually the first three only), cada hijo de vecino
• Swedish: Andersson, Pettersson och Lundström, kreti och pleti (sv)
• Tamil: குப்பனோ சுப்பனோ (kuppaṉō cuppaṉō)
• Telugu: అప్పారావు, సుబ్బారావు (appārāvu, subbārāvu)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: Ali Veli, Ahmet, Mehmet
• Urdu: ایراغیرہ نتھو خیرا (era ġera, nathu, khera)
• Volapük: lusogem
• Welsh: Twm, Dic neu Harri

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Assamese: ^{(please verify)} [script needed] (nodaai bhodaai)
• Punjabi: ^{(please verify)} [script needed] (phalana dhingra)