Placeholder names are words that refer to objects or people whose names are either irrelevant or unknown in the context which it is being discussed. "Whatchamacallit" (for objects) and "Whatshisname" or "Whatshername" (for men and women, respectively) are defining examples. Look up Context in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Linguistic role

These placeholders typically function grammatically as nouns, and can be used for people (e.g. John Doe), objects (e.g. Widget), or places (e.g. Timbuktu). They share a property with pronouns because their referents must be supplied by context. For the World of Warcraft ex-NPC, see Captain Placeholder. ... Grammar is the study of rules governing the use of language. ... A noun, or noun substantive, is a part of speech which can co-occur with (in)definite articles and attributive adjectives, and function as the head of a noun phrase. ... In the United States, the name John Doe is typically used as a placeholder name for a male party in a legal action or legal discussion whose true identity is unknown or is intended to be anonymous. ... Widget is a general-purpose term, or placeholder name, for any unspecified device, including those that have not yet been invented. ... The city of Timbuktu ( Archaic English: Timbuctoo, Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu, French: Tombouctou) is a city in Mali, West Africa. ... In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun phrase. ... In general, a reference is something that refers or points to something else, or acts as a connection or a link between two things. ...

Many placeholder names are synecdoches, that is, linguistic metaphors where a part of something is used for the whole or vice versa. "Average Joe" is an example of this as not all men are named Joe. Other placeholder names, such as "MacGuffin" or "whatchamacallit" have no identity beyond their use as placeholder names and are not synecdoches. Look up synecdoche in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Broadly conceived, linguistics is the study of human language, and a linguist is someone who engages in this study. ... In language, a metaphor (from the Greek: metapherin rhetorical trope) is defined as a direct comparison between two or more seemingly unrelated subjects. ... A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or Maguffin) is a plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story. ...

Stuart Berg Flexner and Harold Wentworth’s Dictionary of American Slang (1960) uses the term kadigin to describe placeholder words. They define kadigan merely as a synonym for thingamajig; if so, then kadigan is itself a kadigan. The term may have originated with Willard Richardson Espy, though others such as David Annis also used it (or cadigans) in their writing. Its etymology is obscure—Flexner and Wentworth related it to the generic word gin for engine (as in the cotton gin). It may also relate to the Irish surname Cadigan. Stuart Berg Flexner is a lexicographer, editor and author, noted for his books on the origins of American words and expressions, including I Hear America Talking and Listening to America; as co-editor of the Dictionary of American Slang; and as chief editor of the Random House Dictionary, Second Edition. ... Willard Richardson Espy (11 December 1910–20 February 1999) was a U.S. editor, language author, philologist, writer, and poet. ... Not to be confused with Entomology, the study of insects. ... An engine is something that produces some effect from a given input. ... Cotton gin A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates the cotton fibers from the seedpods and the sometimes sticky seeds. ... A family name, or surname, is that part of a persons name that indicates to what family he or she belongs. ...

Words describing generic categories may also be used in this function of a placeholder (e.g., "flower" for tulips and roses), but they are not considered to be cadigans. Species See text Tulip (Tulipa) is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Liliaceae. ... Species Between 100 and 150, see list A rose is a flowering shrub of the genus Rosa, and the flower of this shrub. ...

Connotation

Especially when used to refer to people, some placeholder names can have a connotation, usually negataive. See "Whatshisname" for an example. For the more specialised meaning of Connotation in semiotics, see connotation (semiotics). ...

Placeholder names in the English language for inanimate objects

Common placeholders in the English language include:^{[citation needed]} The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Thingamajigs are typically specialized devices which have a limited number of uses or a single specific use. The term is typically employed by one whose experience with the use of the object is nonexistent or very limited. Regular users of such devices would never refer to them as thingamajigs or any of the related terms listed below. Gizmo is a placeholder name for any small technological item. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots 2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I... This article is about the plot device. ... Widget is a general-purpose term, or placeholder name, for any unspecified device, including those that have not yet been invented. ...

A thingamajig is different from a widget, in that a widget is an actual, but not yet named or constructed, mechanical component. It is also different from a gadget, in that “gadget” is the generic term for a superfluously useful device, such as a remote garage door opener, whose name is easily remembered. Widget is a general-purpose term, or placeholder name, for any unspecified device, including those that have not yet been invented. ... An Apple iPod, a popular gadget A gadget or gazza is a device that has a useful specific practical purpose and function. ...

Even among the world of otherwise nameless things referred to by placeholder names, there is a hierarchy of specificity. "Thing", as its name implies, is universally applicable. It is likely, however, that a "gizmo" involves some minor degree of technological sophistication, connoting as it does some mechanical or electronic aspect.

Most of these words exist in the less formal register of the English language. In more formal speech and writing, words like accessory, paraphernalia, artifact, instrument, or utensil are called into play; these words also refer to things made by human hands without getting specific about their form or function. These words also differ slightly in usage: artifacts are usually found objects of indeterminate age and purpose, while utensil suggests cutlery. In linguistics, a register is a subset of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. ... A cultural artifact is an man-made object which gives information about the culture of its creator and users. ... Intended for a purpose other than mechanical work, in particular a refined one. ... ... Starch-polyester disposable cutlery Cutlery refers to any hand utensil used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food. ...

These words have been in regular use since at least the nineteenth century. Edgar Allan Poe wrote a short story entitled The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq., showing that particular form to be in familiar use in the United States in the 1840s. In Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, W. S. Gilbert makes the Lord High Executioner sing of a "little list" which includes: Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, editor, critic and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... W. S. Gilbert Sir Arthur Sullivan Librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) collaborated on a series of fourteen comic operas in Victorian England between 1871 and 1896. ... The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. ... Sir William Schwenck Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (November 18, 1836 – May 29, 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist and illustrator best known for the fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. ...

. . . apologetic statesmen of a compromising kind,
Such as--What d’ye call him--Thing’em-bob, and likewise--Never-mind,
and ’St--’st--’st-- and What’s-his-name, and also You-know-who--
The task of filling up the blanks I’d rather leave to you.

Placeholder names in computing

In computing, placeholders also exist. Originally, the word computing was synonymous with counting and calculating, and a science and technology that deals with the original sense of computing mathematical calculations. ...

• Foo and bar (see Metasyntactic variable) are commonly used as placeholders for file, function, and variable names. The frequent form foobar may have come from the military acronym FUBAR, although the Jargon File makes a reasonably good case ^[1] that foo predates fubar.

Hacker slang includes a number of placeholders, such as frob, which may stand for any small piece of equipment. To frob, likewise, means to adjust (a device) in an aimless way, or to toggle a value between alternate states. A metasyntactic variable is either a placeholder name (a kind of alias term, commonly used to denote the subject matter under discussion), or a random member of a class of things under discussion. ... File has several meanings: Computer file File (tool) file (Unix), a program used to determine file types. ... In computer science, a subroutine (function, procedure, or subprogram) is a sequence of code which performs a specific task, as part of a larger program, and is grouped as one, or more, statement blocks; such code is sometimes collected into software libraries. ... In computer science and mathematics, a variable (sometimes called a pronumeral) is a symbol denoting a quantity or symbolic representation. ... Look up FUBAR in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Jargon File is a glossary of hacker slang. ... The Jargon File is a glossary of hacker slang. ...

Other words used as placeholder names

Other words that may have specific technical meanings are occasionally used as placeholders as well. Some words that are so used in English include:

• flange (sometimes with the specific meaning removed by spelling it as phlange)
• kedge
• sprocket
• wicket
• widget

Look up flange in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings: // Meanings of wicket Each wicket consists of three stumps, upright wooden poles that are hammered into the ground, topped with two wooden crosspieces, known as the bails. ... Widget is a general-purpose term, or placeholder name, for any unspecified device, including those that have not yet been invented. ...

Placeholder names in the English language for people

Kadigan-like expressions can refer to people as well. Among words or phrases used in English to refer to people of unknown or irrelevant name are:

• Tom, Dick and Harry, for a series of three specific unnamed people; or for any quantity of unknown people, usually with the term "every", for example: "Every Tom, Dick and Harry showed up to the party."
• So-and-so; also often used as a euphemism for a stronger, possibly vulgar epithet, for example, "that stupid...so-and-so!"
• Buddy (Newfoundland English), any male of unknown identity, often used in conjunction with "Whasisname".
• Joe Bloggs (British male, referring to anyone of unknown identity)
• Fred Bloggs (British male, referring to a subsequent unknown person)
• Joe Public (British English, refers to an average person in the street)
• "Officer Polaski" (Primarily American, pejorative for a police officer, after a corrupt officer in the Grand Theft Auto Series)
• Joe Blow (average male person - North America)
• The Joneses (used as a placeholder for the typical average family)
• Mrs Kafoops (Australian, slightly derogatory)
• Dat fella (Malaysian/Singaporean, for "that fellow")
• Yer man (Irish male)
• Yer one (Irish female. Unlike the male form, sometimes used to connote contempt)
• Himself/Herself (Irish male/female)
• Lord/Lady Muck (Male/Female who is acting as if others are their servants)
• Frick and Frack (Indistinguishable Male pair)
• Grandma (a usually older adult lacking technical knowledge)

Certain fixed expressions are used as placeholder names in a number of specialized contexts. In formal legal contexts, John Does are sometimes mentioned; in more informal English, people sometimes need to speak of Old So-and-so or What’s-’is-name or What’s-’is-face (cruder) or Miss Thing. Tommy Atkins is a mythical Briton who filled out all his forms correctly, and as such lent his name to British soldiers generally; his Canadian counterpart is "Corporal (or some other rank) Bloggins". John Smith, often from “Anytown, U.S.A.,” and John Q. Public are also used as placeholder names for unnamed citizens, and similarly in Britain one might refer to Joe or Fred Bloggs. "Joe Random" or "Joe Average" are also referred to, sometimes more specifically as "Joe Average Voter" or "Joe Random Customer". In Australia, the name John Citizen is used in a similar capacity on samples of forms or cards. In America, Joe or Jane Sixpack refers to the perceived average middle or lower class person. In theatre, television and motion pictures, the great actors Walter Plinge, David Agnew, and George Spelvin are pseudonyms used for cast members who prefer to go unnamed. The name Alan Smithee is similarly used by film directors who wish to remain anonymous (often because their film did not turn out well). Conversely, placeholders can be used to conceal identity, as seen in the above Gilbert and Sullivan lyrics. The Newfoundland entertainer "Buddy Whasisname" derives his stage name a common local usage (combining two terms) describing an unknown male. Look up Tom, Dick and Harry in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The surname Bloggs or the full name Joe Bloggs is a commonly used placeholder name in United Kingdom teaching, programming, and other thinking and writing. ... // Balancing scales are symbolic of how law mediates peoples interests For other senses of this word, see Law (disambiguation). ... In the United States, the name John Doe is typically used as a placeholder name for a male party in a legal action or legal discussion whose true identity is unknown or is intended to be anonymous. ... Tommies from the Royal Irish Rifles in the trenches during the First World War. ... John Smith is often regarded as the most common personal name in the United Kingdom and in some other English-speaking countries, with John being the most common First Name in the U.K. and Smith being the most common Surname. ... The name John Q. Public is used on a sample Social Security card John Q. Public is a generic name in the United States to denote a hypothetical member of society deemed a common man. ... The surname Bloggs or the full name Joe Bloggs or Jo Bloggs is a commonly used placeholder name in United Kingdom teaching, programming, and other thinking and writing. ... The name John Q. Public is used on a sample Social Security card John Q. Public is a generic name in the United States to denote a hypothetical member of society deemed a common man. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... A social class is, at its most basic, a group of people that have similar social status. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Walter Plinge is a pseudonym, traditionally used in London theatres. ... David Agnew is a pseudonym that was traditionally used on BBC television drama programmes in the 1970s where a writers name could not be used for contractual reasons, for example where a script editor had written an episode of his or her own programme, or when a writer had... George Spelvin and Georgina Spelvin are the traditional pseudonyms used in programs in American theatre by actors who dont want to be credited or whose names would otherwise appear twice because they are playing more than one role in a production. ... A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ... Alan Smithee, Allen Smithee, Alan Smythee, and Adam Smithee are pseudonyms used between 1968 and 1999 by Hollywood film directors who wanted to be dissociated from a film for which they no longer wanted credit. ...

Movies and theatre also give rise to another specific type of kadigan, the MacGuffin. This is any object or person used to drive a plot or as the goal of a quest, but which otherwise has no relevance to the action, and thus could be replaced in the script with another similar item with no loss of sense. A foozle is a generic enemy or group of enemies that must be defeated for the plot to move on in a game. A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or Maguffin) is a plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story. ... This article is about the word, for other meanings see Quest (disambiguation) A quest is a journey towards a goal with great meaning and is used in mythology and literature as a plot device. ...

Cryptographers conventionally use a fixed cast of characters when describing their systems in general terms. For example, the quintessential cryptographic system has Alice wanting to send a message to Bob without Eve being able to eavesdrop on them. These are even used in formal, peer-reviewed papers in the field. Pre-19th century Leone Battista Alberti, polymath/universal genius, inventor of polyalphabetic substitution (see frequency analysis for the significance of this -- missed by most for a long time and dumbed down in the Vigenère cipher), and what may have been the first mechanical encryption aid. ... The names Alice and Bob are commonly used placeholders for archetypal characters in fields such as cryptography and physics. ...

Placeholder names as a form of address

Some placeholders are used in second-person to address another, usually — but not always — because the second party's name is unknown.

Sir or Ma'am. In English-speaking society, the most universally-accepted forms of address to another person, known or unknown, and regardless of station, are "Sir" (to men) and "Ma'am" (to women). "Sir" and "Ma'am", for example, are considered acceptable forms of address for most of the world's heads of state, including royalty.

Friend. "Friend" or other synonyms of amity may be used in its literal sense, but is often used ironically to indicate displeasure or hostility.

Terms of endearment. Words such as "honey" or "sweetie" are generally perceived as affectionate between friends, family or intimates. Outside this group, or in more formal or professional settings, the use of these words becomes more problematic. Their use by a person to a member of the opposite sex may be seen as forward or presumptuous, or even patronizing and demeaning (especially when used by a man to a woman). When used by a woman to address another woman, the sense may be friendly or hostile (see Friend, above); when used by a man to another man, it is generally perceived to have homosexual overtones (i.e., suggesting that either the speaker or the addressee — or both — is homosexual).

Second-person kadigans include:

• Baby or Babe
• Bloke (Man, British English)
• Boss
• Brother or Bro (man); also a normal form of address for a members of various fraternal or monastic groups
• Buddy or Bud ("Buddy" is especially common in Newfoundland English)
• B'y: Newfoundland pronunciation of "Boy", used as a general form of address primarily to a male but now increasingly to females. It does not hold any of the derogatory meaning that the term "Boy" does in standard English, especially when directed at minorities
• Chief
• Chum or Chummie/Chummy
• Darling
• Dear or Dearie
• Dude (man or woman)
• Ducks or Ducky
• Friend
• Geezer (Man, British English)
• Grandpa, Grampa, or Gramps, often a disrespectful address for an older man
• Honey or Hon
• Jack (man), generally in an unfriendly sense
• Lady (woman)
• Love (uk)
• Ma'am, Madam, or Madame (woman)
• Mac (man)
• Man (to a man). It may also be used as an interjection, not addressed to anyone in particular, in which case it is not truly a kadigan ("Aw, man!").
• Mate (UK, man)
• Miss, generally addressed to a young woman or girl. In some dialects, it is a form of address for a female teacher, regardless of her marital status.
• Missus, Newfoundland English term of respect or affection for a mature woman
• Neighbour
• Pal or Pally
• Padre, from the Spanish word for "father", a military kadigan for any man of the cloth, regardless of denomination
• Pop or Pops, often a disrespectful term for an older man
• Sir (man)
• Sister (woman)
• Skipper, Newfoundland English term of respect or affection for a mature man
• Son: generally used by an older man to one at least a generation youger; or by a man who, by virtue of rank or position, has charge or authority over the other, such as a drill sergeant over a private soldier. In the latter instance, it may be in a highly hostile context: "Son, you'd best move your ass before you find my foot up it!"
• Sweetheart or Sweetie

Placeholder names in the English language for locations

In some forms of English, placeholder names exist to represent locations, particularly the stereotypical backward, insignificant or isolated town in the middle of nowhere. These include:

• Anytown, USA and Dullsville in the USA
• Auchterturra in Scotland
• (East/West) Bum(ble)fuck in the USA (somewhat impolite)
• Dog River, Armpit or Moose Fuck in Canada
• Sainte-Clotilde-de-Rubber-Boot in Quebec
• Loamshire for a rural county in England (and the Loamshires for a regiment based in that county)
• Podunk in the USA
• Woop Woop in Australia and New Zealand (often 'out Woop Woop' as in, 'they live out Woop Woop somewhere,' and used when referring to people who live in a country area unfamiliar to the speaker).
• Waikikamukau (pronounced ‘Why kick a moo-cow’) in New Zealand
• Black Stump in Australia and New Zealand (“Beyond Black Stump” indicates an extremely remote location).
• Timbucktoo is still commonly used to refer to an unspecified but remote place.
• Blackacre, Whiteacre, and Greenacre are widely used in law courses to represent hypothetical estates in land.
• Joe's Diner is used to refer to a typical restaurant run as a small business.
• Bumfuk, Egypt, usually abbreviated BFE, refers to somewhere undesirable you have to travel to (usually on foot) that is far away (e.g. Man, you parked way the hell out in BFE) or the many extremely remote and inhospitable military outposts where U.S service men or women are assigned to serve, especially any Middle East tour of duty.
• Bally-Go-Backwards in Ireland (unspecified remote small country town)
• Oxbridge in the UK (a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, locations of the two most prestigious universities)

Common components of placeholders for places are -town, -ville, -hampton (in the United Kingdom), -vale, Big-, Mid-, Middle-, Little-, Small-, Bally- (in Ireland), and Any-. The National Health Service of the UK, as well as the Department for Transport, use a large variety of placeholders as examples, including: Anytown, USA is a generic term for a fictional setting that has no definite location. ... Auchterturra is a fictitious town created by the Scottish comedy team Scotland the What. ... A regiment is a military unit, consisting of a group of battalions, usually four and commanded by a colonel. ... In American English, Podunk, or Podunk Hollow has come to denote something, usually a place, of small size and is often used in a context of dismissing significance or importance. ... Waikikamukau, (pronounced as if saying Why kick a moo-cow?), is an imaginary small rural town or locality in New Zealand. ... The city of Timbuktu ( Archaic English: Timbuctoo, Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu, French: Tombouctou) is a city in Mali, West Africa. ... Blackacre, Whiteacre, Greenacre, and variations thereof are the placeholder names of fictitious estates in land universally used by professors of law in common law jurisdictions, particularly in the area of real property, to discuss the rights of various parties to a piece of land. ... Oxbridge is a name used to refer to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest in the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the city of Oxford in England. ... Shown within Cambridgeshire Geography Status: City (1951) Region: East of England Admin. ... The logo of the NHS for England. ... In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the transport network. ...

• Axtley
• Port Lever
• Lampton
• Middlehampton
• Anyshire
• Eastern Vale

Placeholder names in the English language for numbers

English employs a number of kadigans to refer to unspecified quantity (see Indefinite and fictitious large numbers): By analogy to the names billion, trillion, and so forth for large powers of ten, words such as zillion[1] and bazillion[2] are often used as fictitious names for an unspecified, large number of indefinite size, or as part of a large, indefinite measurement. ...

• squillion (hence squillionaire = multi-millionaire), bajillion, buhmillion, frillion, gazillion, jillion, kajillion, schmillion, zillion and many others — these usually refer to large numbers that would be impractical to count;
• “eleventy -”; eg “eleventy-four”. (Occasionally used in jocose literal sense “one hundred and ten”, as in The Lord of the Rings: Bilbo Baggins’ eleventy-first birthday was his one hundred and eleventh);
• mumblety, used specifically to conceal one’s advanced age, as in ‘I shall be mumblety this year’;
• umpteen;
• oodles;
• tons;
• scads;
• buckets;
• some-odd;
• a couple (although this can also have the specific value 2);
• a couple-few (in some dialects);
• bunch, as in "a whole bunch of..."
• -something (for example twenty something]) as exemplified by the name of the television series thirtysomething

The following particles likewise refer to unspecified quantity, but are not placeholder names as defined in this article: The term zillions can seriously mean all the possible -illions, as in million, billion, trillion, etc. ... Large numbers are numbers that are significantly larger than those ordinarily used in everyday life, for instance in simple counting or in monetary transactions. ... The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by English academic J. R. R. Tolkien. ... Bilbo Baggins is the central character in the J. R. R. Tolkien novel The Hobbit, and a minor character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings. ... 111 is the natural number following 110 and preceding 112. ... Umpteen is a slang term for an unspecified but large number, used in a humorous fashion or to imply that it is not worth the effort to pin down the actual figure. ... A twenty-something is a person in the age group 20 to 29. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... thirtysomething (1987 – 1991) was a ground-breaking and award-winning American evening television drama, of the type popularly labeled a soap opera when broadcast during the daytime. ...

• a few
• several
• lots
• loads
• many

Placeholder names in the English language for dates

• Composite names such as "Juvember" (combining June and November), "Febtober" (February and October), and "Decemuary" (December and January) are sometimes used to refer to an indeterminate month.
• Nonexistent days, such as February 31.
• "Tib's Eve", named for the nonexistent Saint Tib, is a date which does not exist.
• Saint's days of saints with obscure or odd-sounding names, such as Saint Swithin's Day.

The only day that this day existed was in 1977. ... St. ...

Placeholder names in the English language for times

• "Two hairs past a freckle", (or "a freckle past a hair") said when one is asked the time but is not wearing a watch
• "God-thirty in the morning," "silly o'clock", referring to a time very early in the morning
• "Oh-dark thirty" or "Oh-dark hundred," also referring to some time early in the morning (before the sun rises); usage is derived from military parlance, where 4:00 a.m. is referred to as "oh-four-hundred"
• "Dark plus thirty" meaning (loosely) just after dawn in Rainbow Gathering or Deadhead (or other festival) vernacular, meaning or thirty minutes after sundown, or more humorously, in at some indeterminate time after dark, Rainbow Gatherings tending not to happen according to any sort of schedule.
• "Dark o' clock" may mean early or late.
• "Beer thirty" means it's time for the first beer in a beer-drinking session. Alternatively, beer thirty means an unspecified time during a long bout of drinking.
• "Yonks" is used in British English to mean a long but indefinite duration; it is conjectured to derive either from "donkey's years" or from "years, months and weeks". This has been going on for donkey's yonks.

Dawn or civil dawn is the time at which the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon in the morning. ... Welcome home and We love you are common greetings at the Rainbow Gathering. ... A black-and-white photo of the above symbol was featured inside the album jacket of the self-titled Grateful Dead album along with the address below. ...

Placeholder names in other languages

Most other languages have placeholders of some sort in their vocabulary.

Arabic

Arabic uses Fulan / Fulana[h] فلان / فلانة and when a last name is needed it becomes Fulan AlFulani / Fulana[h] AlFulaniyya[h] فلان الفلاني / فلانة الفلانية. When a second person is needed, ʿillan / ʿillana[h] علان / علانة is used. The use of Fulan has been borrowed into Spanish and Portuguese as shown below. Arabic ( or just ), is the largest member of the family of Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic. ...

Catalan

Catalan uses the names daixonses and dallonses to refer to any object or person. d'això and d'allò are also used with the same purpose. Catalan IPA: (català IPA: or []) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra and co-official in the Spanish autonomous communities of Balearic Islands, Valencia (under the name Valencian) and Catalonia. ...

Chinese

See also: Zhang San

In Chinese, question words are used as placeholders. An unspecified object is shénme or shénme shénme (Simplified Chinese: 什么什么; Traditional Chinese: 什麼什麼) (literally, "what what"), an unspecified location is nǎlǐ (哪里) , literally "where," an unspecified person mǒu (某), literally "someone," and so on. Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiǎntǐzì; also called 简化字/簡化字, jiǎnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ...

Dutch

In Dutch the primary placeholder is dinges (derived from ding, "thing"), used for both objects and persons. The diminutive of ding, dingetje (lit. "little thing" or "thingy") serves as a kadigan for objects when used with an article, and for persons without. The equivalent of John Doe for an unspecified (but not an unidentified) person is Jan Jansen ("Jansen" being one of the most common Dutch surnames) while Jan Modaal ("John Average") is the average consumer and Jan Publiek ("John Public") the man in the street. Obscure, faraway places are Timboektoe and Verweggistan (lit. "Farawayistan"); the archetypal small village is Nergenshuizen ("Nowhereville"). The nonsense word hutsefluts is used as a placeholder for just about any proper name.

Esperanto

Esperanto has an all-purpose placeholder suffix um, which has no fixed meaning and simply tells that an object or action has something to do with some purpose or object, for instance butonumi (“to button up” or “to press a button”). It has acquired a specific meaning in some compounds, like brakumi, "to embrace", from brako, "arm".

The placeholder suffix was originally devised as a catch-all derivation affix. Once affixes became routinely used as roots and inflected, um became a placeholder lexeme, which would take affixes of its own: umi "to thingummy", umilo "a thingummy tool", umado "thingummying" etc. The affix-turned-lexeme aĵo "thing" is also arguably a place holder, since it is less specific than the older lexeme objekto. afero "business" is a lexeme used as an astract placeholder.

The particle "ajn" (= "any") can also be used as a placeholder. A generic object may be referred as «io ajn» (anything, some thing), or «ajno» (informal); the forms "ajna" and "ajne" ("any kind of" and "in any way") are acceptable colloquial synthetic variants of the longer and more formal "ia ajn" and "iel ajn".

Finnish

Sampo can be considered the oldest placeholder word in the Finnish language. In folk mythology and in the Kalevala, it refers to a mystical object which was a source of immeasurable wealth and whose exact nature remains a mystery. The word is still in use – in particular, it can be found in expressions such as rahasampo ("a cornucopia of money"). In Finnish mythology, the Sampo was a magical artifact constructed by Ilmarinen that brought good fortune to its holder; nobody knows exactly what it was supposed to be. ... Finnish ( ) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92%[2] as mother tongue) and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. ... The Kalevala is an epic poem which Elias Lönnrot compiled from Finnish folk lore in the 19th century. ... For other uses, see Cornucopia (disambiguation). ...

Hilavitkutin is one of the most common Finnish placeholder words for objects. It refers to "a device for vitkuttaa-ing a lattice". The ordinary meaning of the verb vitkuttaa is nonsensical in this context, as it means "to do something slowly in order to delay it". Arguably, vitkuttaa can also evoke associations of oscillation, "shaking back and forth", in native speakers of Finnish. A device which clearly has a function but which appears unidentifiable or obscure, is called mikätin. This is a word derivation of interrogative pronoun mikä (what) and suffix -tin, referring to a tool or device. It basically denotes the same as English whatsit. The ordinary meaning of lattice is the basis for several technical usages A cherry lattice pastry A mathematical lattice that is a type of partially ordered set. ... Oscillation is the variation, typically in time, of some measure as seen, for example, in a swinging pendulum. ... Whatsit may refer to: Waterman Whatsit, an aeroplane designed by Waldo Waterman Mrs. ...

An idiosyncratically Finnish placeholder word is mikälie or mikä lie, literally "whatever (it) may be". It utilizes the Finnish verb form lie or lienee, meaning "(it) probably is" – i.e., "to be" in the potential mood. This inflected word form is quite rare in everyday speech, which has resulted in its grammatical function being (mis)interpreted by native speakers as a grammatical particle instead of a verb. This, in turn, has given rise to constructions such as mikälie. In linguistics, many grammars have the concept of grammatical mood, which describes the relationship of a verb with reality and intent. ... In linguistics, the term particle is often employed as a useful catch-all lacking a strict definition. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Other generic placeholder words in colloquial use include systeemi ("system"), and juttu, jutska, homma and hommeli ("thing", "thingy"). Stiiknafuulia was introduced by the author Teuvo Pakkala in 1895 and has more or less fallen out of use. Tilpehööri derives phonetically from the swedish language "tillbehörig" (that which is included), and can refer especially to very small items, often found in small plastic bags, needed to put together furniture (say from IKEA) or other kits (model planes for example). Tilpehööri is always clearly useful and needed to something; unnecessary, unneeded or obscure small items are called höhä or sälä. Map showing the Swedish speaking area Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language (also called Scandinavian languages) spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Ã…land islands, by more than nine million people. ... IKEA is a privately held international low cost home furnishings retailer. ...

The most common placeholder name for a remote location or a "backwater town" is Takahikiä. Actual locations in Finland that have acquired a similar status include Peräseinäjoki and, to some extent, Pihtipudas, though the latter is mostly associated with the proverbial Pihtiputaan mummo ("the grandmother from Pihtipudas"). They are usually spelled with a small initial letter when they are used as placeholder names. A faraway place can be found in Pippurlandia, which translates as "pepper-land"; "as far as the pepper grows". Other places, whose actual coordinates are unknown and obscure, but which clearly are far away, are Hornantuutti (chute of Hell), Huitsin-Nevada and Vinku-Intia. Peräseinäjoki is a municipality of Finland. ... Pihtipudas is a municipality of Finland. ... Look up pepper in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Medieval illustration of Hell in the Hortus deliciarum manuscript of Herrad of Landsberg (about 1180) Hell, according to many religious beliefs, is a place or a state of pain and suffering. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Obscurity in time can be expressed as viidestoista päivä (fifteenth day) or if it happened long ago, as annodazumal (Latin language anno, year, and German language dazumal (back then)). Tuohikuussa pukinpäivän aikaan refers to an obscure future date (literally at Buck's day on Barkember). Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ...

Placeholders for people include the ubiquitous Matti Meikäläinen (male) and Maija Meikäläinen (female), and the relatively less common Anna Malli (literally Anna the Model, but can also be understood as "Give me an example"), Tauno Tavallinen ("Tauno the Ordinary") or Veijo Luuseri ("Veijo the Luser"). In official contexts, the initials N.N. are used. Placeholders for large numbers include ziljoona and biljardi. The latter is a portmanteau of miljardi (10⁹) and biljoona (10¹², see billion). It has an intentional double meaning, as the word also means "billiards", and can also mean 10¹⁵. SVenssons ITS on KLH-10      Welcome to SV! SV ITS.1648. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Billion may mean: 1,000,000,000 (one thousand million; ), used by most English-speaking countries (American and usual modern British meaning) 1,000,000,000,000 (one million million; ), used by most other countries outside Asia (older British meaning). ... This article is about the various cue sports. ...

In Finnish military slang, tsydeemi has traditionally been used to refer to a special type of socks worn during wintertime. However, it has become a common generic placeholder word outside the military, possibly due to its phonetic similarity to the aforementioned systeemi. The military itself is referred as intti (intendenture, compare GI), firma (corporation), Suomen raskas (Finnish heavy) or, as it is based on conscription, larppi (LARP). In the Finnish Defence Forces, placeholder names for soldiers include Nönnönnöö (no meaning, derived from N.N.), Senjanen (rendered from genetive Senjasen expanding into sen-ja-sen (this-and-that), Omanimi ("Private His-name") and Te ("Private You"). Any weapon, device or piece of equipment is called vekotin. This has actually pointed to the abbreviation VKT, Valtion Kivääritehdas (State Rifle Factory), and referred to pikakivääri (rapid fire rifle) VKT23, which originally was called vekotin. GI or G.I. is a term describing a US soldier or an item of their equipment. ... A corporation is a legal person which, while being composed of natural persons, exists completely separately from them. ... A live action role-playing game, or LARP as it is commonly known, is a form of role-playing game where the participants perform some or all of the physical actions of the characters they play the role of. ... The Finnish Defence Forces (Finnish Puolustusvoimat; Swedish Försvarsmakten) is a cadre army of 16500, of which 8700 professional soldiers (officers), with a standard readiness strength of 34,700 people in uniform (27,300 army, 3,000 navy, and 4,400 air force). ...

In information technology, a small program which is supposed to do one thing well, is called kilke. This word has a connotation of "makeshift". Välppä is software which is clearly designed for one single purpose. A software consisting of several kilke and välppä may be called tsydeemi (system). A system consisting of many tsydeemis, kilkes and välppäs is called judanssi.

French

Things

In French, an unspecified artifact can be:

• bidule (n.m.); this is from military slang for something in disarray;
• machin (n.m.), derived from machine
• truc (n.m.), whose primary meaning is trick
• chose (n.f.), thing

Quebec French also has patente, gogosse, cossin and such (most of which have verb forms meaning “to fiddle with”). Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ... This article is about devices that perform tasks. ... The word trick has several meanings in English: Confidence trick Magic trick Trick or treat A trick in a card game A trick can be a feat requiring some dexterity or ingenuity performed to amuse or as part of a game, such as a Skateboarding trick. ... Look up thing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... There are various lexical differences between Quebec French and Metropolitan French in France. ...

Places

In France:

• Trifouillis-les-Oies (small village)
• Perpète, Perpète-les-Oies or Diable vauvert (for a place that is far away)

In French-speaking Belgium, Outsiplou or even Outsiplou-les-Bains-de-Pieds (Outsiplou-the-footbath) is used for a generic village of Wallonia (there is an actual but little known village named Hout-si-Plout, whose name means "Listen whether it rains" in Walloon). FR, Fr or fr may stand for: Franc France (ISO country code, FR) Francium (Fr) symbol for the chemical element Frame Relay network technology French language (ISO 639 alpha-2, fr) Fribourg, canton of Switzerland FR layout--front engine, rear drive The FR Fireball fighter aircraft of the US Navy... Wallonia (French: Wallonie, German: Wallonien, Walloon: Walonreye, Dutch: Wallonië) or the Walloon Region (French: Région Wallonne, Dutch: Waals Gewest) is the predominantly French-speaking region that constitutes one of the three federal regions of Belgium, with its capital at Namur. ...

Among French people of North African origin (“pieds-noirs”), Foun-Tataouine is the generic village, although a small village by that name actually does exist in Tunisia, lending its name.

In Québec: During the 1960s, a terrorist group known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices. ...

Far away rural places:

• St-Clinclin, St-Meumeu (far away rural region)
• Îles Moukmouk (Moukmouk Islands, some far away islands)

People

Common placeholder names for people are

• In slang: Tartampion, Machin, Machin-chose, Trucmuche, Chose-binne, Toto.
• In proceedings and other more formal settings: "X" (Monsieur X), "Y" etc.

In Québec, Pierre-Jean-Jacques is used to designate anyone and everyone at the same time, in the third person, in an informal context.

German

German also sports a variety of placeholders; some, as in English, contain the element Dings, Dingens (also Dingenskirchen), Dingsda, Dingsbums (sometimes even Dingsdabumsda), cognate with English thing. Also, Krimskrams suggests a random heap of small items, e.g. an unsorted drawerful of memorabilia or souvenirs. In a slightly higher register, Gerät represents a miscellaneous artifact or utensil, or, in casual German, may also refer to an item of remarkable size. The use of the word Teil (part) is a relatively recent placeholder in German that has gained great popularity since the late 1980s. Initially a very generic term, it has obtained specific meaning in certain contexts. For example, to buy ecstasy customers usually simply ask for parts (Teile) without danger of ambiguation. Zeug or Zeugs (compare Dings, can be loosely translated as stuff) usually refers to either a heap of random items that is a nuisance to the speaker, or an uncountable substance or material, often a drug. Finally, Sache, as a placeholder, loosely corresponding to Latin res, describes an event or a condition. Recently, the placeholder Nupsi for something small protruding from something larger has become somewhat popular (via TV comedy, it is believed). Cognate (Latin: cognatus co+gnatus, ie. ... Look up thing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ... MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), most commonly known by the street names ecstasy or XTC (for more names see the full list), is a synthetic entactogen of the phenethylamine family, whose primary effect is believed to be the stimulation of secretion as well as inhibition of re-uptake of large amounts... Oral medication A medication is a licenced drug taken to cure or reduce symptoms of an illness or medical condition. ...

The German equivalent to the English John Doe for males and Jane Doe for females would be Hans Mustermann and Erika Mustermann, respectively. For many years, Erika Mustermann was used on the sample picture of German id-cards (“Personalausweis”).^[2] In Austria, Max Mustermann is used instead. In Cologne, Otto (which can also refer to a gadget) and Gerdi are popular used names for men/boys and women/girls with unknown firstname. Bert also had some popularity as a placeholder for names in the past. For remote or exotic locations, the Germans also use Timbuktu, as is common in the English language; for towns or villages in the German-speaking world, Kuhdorf (lit. cow village, somewhat derogatory) and Kleinkleckersdorf or Kleinsiehstenich (lit. Small-can't-see) are in usage. Herr X. aus Y. an der Z., which derives from usage in newspapers, is being used occasionally. Other kadigans such as Bad Sonstwo an der Irgend have been suggested. Otto Normalverbraucher ("Otto Average-Consumer"; this is taken from bureaucratic jargon of post-WW2 food rationing via the name of a 1948 film character played by Gert Fröbe) corresponds to the American "The Joneses", or John Sixpack. For other uses, see Cologne (disambiguation). ... An Apple iPod, a popular gadget A gadget or gazza is a device that has a useful specific practical purpose and function. ... Gert Fröbe playing Auric Goldfinger The title of this article contains the character ö. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Gert Froebe. ...

Greek

In Greek mostly two "official" placeholders for people are used, tade (original meaning was 'these here') and deina (which has been a placeholder since antiquity). Eg. 'If Tade comes and asks me, I know what to say'. There is also the name Foufoutos used more jokingly. Unofficially, most cadigans are improvised, derived from pronouns, such as tetoios "such", apotetoios "the from-such", apaftos, o aftos "the that" or o etsi "the like-that". For locations, stou diaolou ti mana "at the devil's mother" serves as a placeholder for a distant place.

Hebrew

In Hebrew, the word זה (zeh, meaning 'this') is a placeholder used in place of any noun. The most popular personal name placeholders are מה-שמו (mahshmo) or 'whatsisname' (thus: 'Tell mahshmo to put the zeh on the zeh'), מֹשֶׁה (Moshe = Moses) and יוֹסִי (Yossi, diminutive form of Joseph) for first name, and כֹהֵן (Cohen, the most popular last name in Israel) for last name. However, in ID and credit card samples, the usual name is Israel Israeli for a man and Israela Israeli for a woman (these are actual first and last names). The traditional terms are Ploni פלוני and his party Almoni אלמוני. A vulgar term for an unspecified place mostly popular in the army is פִיזְדֶלוֹך (pizdelokh, formed from the Russian pizda, pussy, and the German and Yiddish Loch = hole). Also quite common is תיז (א)נביא (Tiz (e) Nabi “the prophet’s ass”, from Arabic), and again Timbuktu. A kadigan for a time in the far past is תרפפ"ו (pronounced Tarapapu, which somewhat resembles a year in the Hebrew calendar but is not quite one). Hebrew redirects here. ... Moses with the Tablets, 1659, by Rembrandt Moses or Mosheh (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה Standard Tiberian ; Arabic: موسى, ; Geez: ሙሴ Musse) was an early Biblical Hebrew religious leader, lawgiver, prophet, and historian. ... A diminutive is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment. ... Yosef is a given name originating from Hebrew, recorded in the Hebrew Bible, as יוֹסֵף, Standard Hebrew Yosef, Tiberian Hebrew and Aramaic YôsÄ“pÌ„. In Arabic, including in the Quran, the name is spelt يوسف or YÅ«suf. ... // Cohen (Hebrew: kōhÄ“n, means: A Priest) is a Jewish surname of biblical origins (see: Kohen). ... to be merged with IDF (disambiguation) IDF may stand for: intermediate distribution frame (in telephony) Iceland Defense Force Irish Defence Forces Israel Defense Forces The AIDC F-CK Indigenous Defence Fighter This page disambiguates a three-character combination which might be any or all of an abbreviation, an acronym, an... // Pussy can mean:- With the u pronounced as in book: see below:- An affectionate term for a cat, and used to call a cat. ... Yiddish (ייִדיש, Jiddisch) is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. ... The Hebrew calendar (Hebrew: ) or Jewish calendar is the annual calendar used in Judaism. ...

Especially older Ashkenazi speakers often employ the Yiddish placeholders "Chaim Yankel" and "Moishe Zugmir". Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, Aškanazi,Aškanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAškănāzî, ʾAškănāzîm, pronounced sing. ...

Buzaglo (a typical Moroccan-Jewish last name) is a placeholder for a simple lower-class citizen. The term Buzaglo test was coined by then-Attorney General Aharon Barak in the 1970s to denote the criterion that a law should apply with equal leniency (or severity) to a senior public official and to the simplest ordinary citizen. Aharon Barak (Hebrew: אהרן ברק) (born September 16, 1936) is a professor of law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and President of the Supreme Court of Israel since 1995. ...

Hungarian

In Hungarian the word izé (a stem of ancient Finno-Ugric heritage) is used, referring primarily to inanimate objects but sometimes also to people, places, concepts, or even adjectives. Hungarian is very hospitable to derivational processes and the izé- stem can be further extended to fit virtually any grammatical category, naturally forming a rich family of derivatives: e.g. izé whatchamacallit (noun), izés whatchamacallit-ish (adjective), izébb or izésebb more whatchamacallit(ish) (comparative adjective), izésen in a whatchamacallitish manner (adverb), izél to whatchamacallit (often meaning: screw up) something (transitive verb), izéltet to cause someone to whatchamacallit (transitive verb), izélget to whatchamacallit continually (often meaning: pester, bother -- frequentative verb), izélődik to whatchamacallit (fool, mess) around (durative verb). (In slang izé and its verbal and nominal derivatives often take on sexual meanings). In addition to its placeholder function, izé is an all-purpose hesitation word, like ah, er, um in English. Geographical distribution of Finno-Ugric (Finno-Permic in blue, Ugric in green). ... In linguistics, derivation is the process of creating new lexemes from other lexemes, for example, by adding a derivational affix. ... Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ... Speech disfluencies are parts of speech which are not generally recognized as purposeful or containing formal meaning, usually expressed as pauses such as uh or er, but also extending to repairs (He was wearing bla—uh, blue pants), and articulation problems such as stuttering. ...

To name things, Hungarians also use micsoda (whatisit), hogyhívják or hogyishívják (whatitscalled), miafene (whatdaheck), bigyó (thingie), miafasz (whatdafuck).

John Smith (US: John Doe) is the same in Hungarian; Kovács János or Kovács István (John Smith or Steve Smith).

Place names: Mucsaröcsöge (ending sounds similar to röfög - to grunt) or Bivalybasznád (literally: buffaloyouwouldfuck): little village or boonies far out in the countryside, Piripócs: νillage or small town somewhere in the countryside

Irish

In Irish, the common male name "Tadhg" is part of the the very old phrase "Tadhg an dá thaobh" (Tadhg of the street) which combines features of the English-languages phrases "average Joe" and "man on the street".^[3] Tadhg is an Irish name that was very common in the past, especially in the 17th century, but had become extremely rare by the 20th century. ...

This same placeholder name, trasnfered to English-language useage and now usually rendered as Taig, became and remains a vitriolic derogatory term for an Irish Catholic and has been used by Unionists in Northern Ireland in such bloodthirsty slogans as "If guns are made for shooting, then skulls are made to crack. You’ve never seen a better Taig than with a bullet in his back" ^[4] and "Don’t be vague, kill a Taig".^[5] Taig (also Teague) is a slang term used by some in Scotland and Northern Ireland to refer to Irish Roman Catholics. ... Irish Catholics are persons of predominantly Irish descent who adhere to the Roman Catholic faith. ... SO THE DUCK GOES INTO THE BAR AND SAYS WHERES MY MARGIRITA! AND THE BARTENDER SAYS ITS ON FIRE! LOLUnionism, in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom based on the structures of the Act of Union... Motto: (Latin for Who would separate us?)[1] Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official language(s) English (de facto), Irish, Ulster Scots 3, NI Sign Language Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony...

Unlike Paddy, another derogatory placeholder name for an Irish person, lack the sharpness of Taig is often used in a jocular context or incorporated into mournful pro-Irish sentiment (i.e. the songs Poor Paddy On The Railway and Paddy's Lament), the term Taig remains a slur in almost every context. "Biddy" (from the name "Bridget") is a female equivilent placeholder name for Irish females. Paddy has these meanings:- A paddy field, a field for cultivating rice or other semi-aquatic crops. ... The Irish are a European ethnic group who originated in Ireland, in north western Europe. ... Bridget can mean: Another spelling of Brigid from Irish mythology. ...

Also note that the Hiberno-English placeholder names noted above (Yer man, Yer one and Himself/Herself) are long-established idioms derived from the syntax of the Irish language. Yer man and "yer one" are a half-translation of a parallel Irish-language phrase, mo dhuine, literally "my person". Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Irish syntax is rather different from that of most Indo-European languages, notably because of its VSO word order. ...

Italian

In Italian the standard placeholders for inanimate objects are roba (literally "stuff"), coso (related to cosa, thing), affare (literally "business"), and aggeggio (literally "device", "gadget").

For people, common words are tizio, tipo (literally, "type", in slang), and uno (literally, "one"). The latter is not accompanied by an article, and disappears in presence of a demonstrative (e.g. a guy is un tipo or uno, that guy is quel tipo or just quello). The feminine versions are, respectively, tizia, tipa (in slang), una. // Demonstratives are deictic words (they depend on an external frame of reference) that indicate which entities a speaker refers to, and distinguishes those entities from others. ...

Also there are specific terms (from ancient Roman typical male names) for six unnamed people, coming from the bureaucratic and jurisprudential texts: Tizio, Caio, Sempronio, Mevio, Filano and Calpurnio; but only the first three are used in current speech. They are always used in that order and with that priority (i.e., one person is always Tizio, two people are always Tizio and Caio).

One typical expression for a time very late in the night is alle mille di notte (at one thousand o'clock); fare le ore piccole (to do the little hours) is used when you stay up very late in the night. Alla buon'ora (at the good time) means very early in the morning or, in a laughing tone, the contrary.

Alle calende greche (on Greek kalendae), domani (tomorrow) or similar expressions mean "never". Ad ogni morte di papa (on every death of a pope) means "rarely".

For numbers are used cinquantaquattro (54), cinquantaquattromila (54000), diecimila (10000)... For age is used anta (from the final of quaranta (40), cinquanta (50), sessanta (60), settanta (70), ottanta (80), novanta (90)) to mean this band of age: essere sugli anta (to be about ...ty years old) is used.

Often, Canicattì is used to refer to a place far away and diffcult to reach (even though that's the name of a real town in Sicily). Also, mainly in Sicily, one can say: dove ha perso le scarpe il Signore (where Our Lord lost his shoes) or dove ha perso la camicia Cristo (where Christ lost his shirt). Sicily (Sicilia in Italian, Sicilian and Spanish, Σικελία in Greek) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 km² and 5 million inhabitants. ...

Japanese

In Japanese, naninani (なになに, a doubled form of the word nani, meaning what) is often used as a placeholder. It does not necessarily mean a physical object; for example, it is often used to stand in for an omitted word when discussing grammar. Similarily, daredare (だれだれ, doubled form of who) can be used for people, and nantoka nantoka (なんとかなんとか, doubled form of something) as a variant for things. Hoge (ほげ, no literal meaning) has been gaining popularity in the computing world, where it is used much like foo and bar.

nyoro nyoro (literally "tilde tilde") is also a popular placeholder name.

Latin

In Latin the word res (thing) is used. Some Latin legal writers used the name Numerius Negidius as a John Doe placeholder name; this name was chosen in part because it shares its initials with the Latin phrases (often abbreviated in manuscripts to NN) nomen nescio, “I don’t know the name”; nomen nominandum, “name to be named” (used when the name of an appointee was as yet unknown); and non nominatus/nominata, “not named”. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Name used in jurisprudence in ancient Rome based on a play on words: Numerius Negidius means one who denies (negat) that he should pay (numerare), and was used specifically to refer to the defendant in a hypothetical lawsuit. ... Nomen nescio, abbreviated to N.N., is used to signify an anonymous or non-specific person. ...

As educated Dutch and Belgian people of an older generation commonly learned Latin in school, formal writing in (especially older) Dutch uses almost as much Latin as the lawyer's English, and, for instance, "N.N." was and is commonly used as a "John Doe" placeholder in class schedules, grant proposals, etc.

Emperor Justinian's codification of Roman law follows the custom of using "Titius" and "Seius" as names for Roman citizens, and "Stichus" and "Pamphilus" as names for slaves^[6]. Justinian may refer to: Justinian I, a Roman Emperor; Justinian II, a Byzantine Emperor; Justinian, a storeship sent to the convict settlement at New South Wales in 1790. ... Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome. ...

Malay

In Malay the word anu which may be prefixed with si can be used to refer to a person whose name has eluded the speaker. It can also be used for a generic person as in Mr/Ms So-and-so. The Malay language, also known locally as Bahasa Melayu, is an Austronesian language spoken by the Malay people who reside in the Malay Peninsula, southern Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, central eastern Sumatra, the Riau islands, and parts of the coast of Borneo. ...

Maori

In Maori the word taru, literally meaning “long grass” or “weeds” is used. Māori (or Maori) is a language spoken by the native peoples of New Zealand and the Cook Islands. ...

Marathi

In Marathi the complete generic name (First Middle Surname) for a male is 'Aamajee Gomaajee Kaapse' (आमाजी गोमाजी कापसे) like 'John Doe' in English. The other generic first names for men include 'Somya-Gomya' (सोम्या-गोम्या) like 'Tom-Dick-Harry' in English. Marathi (मराठी ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western India (Maharshtrians). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Norwegian

In Norwegian the placeholder names for people are Ola and Kari Nordmann (male and female, respectively). Ola Nordmann is a national personification of Norway, much like Uncle Sam in the US, Britannia of UK. Ola Nordmann is often used by people and media to personify a typical norwegian citizen. ...

Polish

In Polish, the most popular placeholders are to coś (meaning this something), cudo (miracle), dynks (from the German Ding) and wihajster (from the German wie heisst er? - what's its name?). There are also other terms, such as elemelek, pipsztok or psztymulec, but they are much less common. Also used are dzyngiel (equivalent to dynks) and knefel (similar to frob, unknown object that can be adjusted or manipulated).

The generic name for a village or a remote small town is Pipidówka, or its more derogatory version Pipidówa. A vulgar, but frequently used term to describe a small and dull place is Zadupie which is an equivalent of English shithole.

A universal placeholder name for a person is Jan Kowalski (for a man) and Janina Kowalska (for a woman; used less often, sometimes with a different first name). A second unspecified person would be called Nowak, choice of first name being left to the author’s imagination, often also Jan for a man; this surname is unisex. Jan is the most popular male first name in Polish, Kowalski and Nowak are the most popular Polish surnames. In logical puzzles fictious surnames frequently follow a uniform pattern: they start with consecutive letters of Latin alphabet and are followed by identical root: Abacki, Babacki, Cabacki etc. for men, Abacka, Babacka, Cabacka etc. for women. In official documents however, an unidentified person’s name is entered as NN (abbreviation of Nazwisko Nieznane – name unknown).

Portuguese

Common placeholders for objects in Brazilian Portuguese are treco, lance, coisa and negócio, among others. In European Portuguese coiso or cena are often used. Placeholder names for people are usually Fulano (optionally surnamed de Tal), Ciclano and Beltrano, and the corresponding feminines (Fulana, Ciclana, Beltrana). Gajo is also used. João das Couves, José dos Anzóis or José da Silva are also used, the feminine being Maria (instead of José, which is also often abbreviated to Zé). João Ninguém or Zé Ninguém are used for someone who is unimportant. Cascos-de-rolha (cork hooves) is used to designate a remote and uninteresting location. Onde o diabo perdeu as botas (where the Devil lost his boots) is a very far away place. Also, like English fuck described above, Brazilian Portuguese has the offensive general-purpose porra, being a placeholder for objects, actions, adjectives and other. This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... Portuguese ( , also língua portuguesa) is a Romance language originated in what is today Galicia (Spain) and northern Portugal. ...

Quechua

In Quechua, there is a noun radical na (whatever) to which verbal (nay = to do whatever), agentive (naq = the doer of whatever), or affective (nacha = cute little thing) suffixes may be added. Quechua (Runa Simi; Kichwa in Ecuador) is a Native American language of South America. ...

Romanian

In Romanian, chestie is used for objects and concepts, cutare for both persons and things. Cutărică, tip (masculine) or tipă (feminine) are sometimes used for persons. Drăcie ("devilish thing") is a derogative placeholder name for objects.

Other expressions used include cum-îi-zice / cum-se-cheamă ("what's-it-called"), nu-ştiu-cum ("I-don't-know-how"), nu-ştiu-ce ("I-don't-know-what"), nu-ştiu-care ("I-don't-know-who"), un din-ăla (masculine) or o-din-aia (feminine) ("one of those things").

Placeholders for numbers include zeci de mii ("tens of thousands"), often contracted to j'de mii; and also mii şi mii ("thousands and thousands").

Cucuieţii-din-Deal is a name for obscure and remote places. La mama dracului ("at the devil's mother") also means very remote place.

Russian

In Russian, among the common placeholder names are это самое (this particular [object]), штука (thing; diminutive forms also exist), ботва(leafy tops of root vegetables),фигня(crud) and хуйня (in mat slang; roughly translatable as something dickish) together with its minced forms such as хрен (horseradish). A term for something awkward, bulky and useless is бандура (bandura, an old Ukrainian musical instrument, big and inconvenient to carry). A kadigan for a monetary unit is тугрик (tugrik, the monetary unit of Mongolia; as is the case with Timbucktoo, most speakers are unaware of its actual existence). A placeholder name for obscure and remote places is Тьмутаракань (Tmutarakan, an ancient Crimean city). Mukhosransk ("Fly's Shit Town") is a derogatory kadigan for a remote and uninteresting town. Duduevo and Novoyebenyovo (obscene) are sometimes used for a remote village or a suburban settlement. Placeholders for personal names include variations on names Иван (Ivan), Пётр (Pyotr/Peter), and Сидор (Sidor), such as Иван Петрович Сидоров (Ivan Petrovich Sidorov) for a full name, or Иванов (Ivanov) for a last name. Василий Пупкин (Vasiliy Pupkin) is also (jokingly) used as a generic name. Mat (Russian: мат, or ма́терный язы́к) is (Russian sexual slang, based on the use of) specific generally unprintable obscene words. ... Look up dick in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Binomial name Armoracia rusticana P.G. Gaertn. ... A Bandura and a Torban, at the Royal College of Music Julian Kytasty, plays a prima Chernihiv bandura The Experimental Bandura Тrio: Jurij Fedynsky, Julian Kytasty,and Michael Andrec Ken Bloom, plays a Kharkiv bandura Yuri Singalevych(Lviv) playing a diatonic bandura c. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... The Tugrug (төгрөк in Mongolian) (MNT, Tugrik) is the official currency of Mongolia. ... For exchange rates, see here. ... Tmutarakan is an ancient city that controlled the passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. ... Motto: Процветание в единстве - Prosperity in unity Anthem: Нивы и горы твои волшебны, Родина - Your fields and mounts are wonderful, Motherland Capital Simferopol Largest cities Simferopol, Eupatoria, Kerch, Theodosia, Yalta Official language Ukrainian. ...

Spanish

Spanish tends to use fairly self-explanatory phrases as placeholders: el como-se-llama ("what's-it-called"), el que-te-dije ("what-I-said-to-you"), el no-sé-que ("I-don't-know-what") ; they also reach for Latin, and borrow quídam as a word for something or another. Chisme, chirimbolo, cacharro are generally used for any object or device. Mexican Spanish adds chingadera ("fuckery"), not to be used in polite circumstances, also using the word madre which in most of the contexts has the same function as the word 'shit' in English. In Chilean Spanish the word Weon (from Huevón) is often used to speak about any kind of people, from friends, to unknown persons. It can also be considered an insult if used unproperly. The word Wea (from Huevada) is used to refer to anything else where weon cannot be used. Names for unspecified persons include Don Fulano/Doña Fulana from Arabic (see above) and Fulano/Fulana de Tal (Fulana should be used with care as it has acquired the euphemistic meaning of "prostitute", it may be defanged with the diminutive Fulanita; if a second or third person is needed, they are Mengano and Zutano. Also used in dimunitive form, Fulanito, Menganito or Zutanito. Further less used names are Perengano or Perencejito/a and in Cuba Ciclano and Esperancejo. Pepe ("Joe") is used as a generic person name and metasyntactic variable. For numbers, veinticatorce ("twenty-fourteen") or cuarentiquince ("forty-fifteen") for small numbers and tropecientos ("trope hundred") for big numbers are used. For approximations, "pico" can be added for time ("las cuatro y pico" for an undefined time between 4:00 and 5:00) or quantity ("treinta y pico" for thirtysomething). The actress Lina Morgan used to answer with taytantos ("ty-something") when asked about her age. Another number, usually used to express a high speed when driving is "cientoquinientos" (hundred-five hundred). Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... D. (usually preceded in English by the) is the abbreviation for the Spanish and the Portuguese honorific Don, a mark of high esteem for a distinguished Christian hidalgo or nobleman. ... A euphemism is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces, or in the case of doublespeak to make it less troublesome for the speaker. ... Pepe is a nickname for any person called José, but is also often used with different conotations. ...

Swedish

Swedish has a large vocabulary of placeholders: Sak, grej, pryl, mojäng/moj (from French moyen) and grunka are the neutral words for thing. “Pryl” is also a small sharp tool used to make holes in tough materials, but this usage is less common. An older word for thing is ting, which is common in idioms, and a pretty much obsolete one is tingest. Some plural nouns are grejsimojs, grunkimojs, grejs and tjofräs, which correspond to thingamabob, and the youth loan word stuff, which is pronounced with the Swedish u. Apparat (or, more slangy, mackapär) more specifically refers to a complex appliance of some kind, much like the German Gerät. More familiarly or when openly expressing low interest, people use tjafs or trams (drivel) and skräp or krams (rubbish). Like in English, various words for feces can be used: skit (shit) and bajs (poop - often anglified by youth into bice) are standard, well known local variations are mög, bös and dret. Vadhannuhette and vaddetnuhette correspond to whatshisname and whatchamacallit respectively, except that they use the past tense. Det där du vet means "that thing you know". Den och den (that and that) corresponds to so and so. Gunk may refer to any fairly large quantity of unwanted substance or objects of varied or indeterminate identity, much like the English "junk".

Place names in Swedish are colorful: Someplace far away can be called Tjotaheiti (which is derived from "to Tahiti") or Långtbortistan, Farawaystan, a play on -stan. Häcklefjäll is a commonly used as a name for a generic remote village, which is actually a synonym for the Icelandic volcano Hekla. Common names used as placeholders are Kalle for boys and Lisa for girls, Anna and Maria for women, Johan and Anders for men and Svensson (Svensson is a common Swedish surname, which is often used to express genericness or mundaneness). The suffix -stan or -sthan is Persian for land of and Sanskrit for place. It appears in the names of many countries and regions, especially in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent which are the areas where ancient Indo-Iranian people were first established. ... Hekla is a volcano located in the south of Iceland at , with a height of 1,488 m (4,881 ft). ...

Turkish

Turkish has many colorful kadigans. "Falan" seems to be borrowed from Arabic, and comes in variations like "filanca" (what’s his name) and "falan filan" (stuff, etc.). "Ivır zıvır" is a common kadigan for "various stuff". Kadigans for persons exist in abundance, one example being "Sarı Çizmeli Mehmet Ağa" ("Mehmet Aga with yellow boots") which generally is used to mean "unknown person". In addition, otherwise meaningless words such as "zımbırtı" and "zavazingo" are used similarly to the English words "gadget" and "gizmo", but not necessarly related to technology.

Vietnamese

In Vietnamese, Nguyễn Văn A and Trần Thị B are usually used as placeholder names for a male and female, respectively, due to the ubiquity of the family name Nguyễn and personal names Văn and Thị in Vietnamese. Nguyen (Vietnamese: quoc ngu ; chu nom 阮) (pronounced /win/, see below for a full explanation) is the most common Vietnamese family name. ... Vietnamese names generally consist of three parts: a family name, a middle name, and a given name, used in that order. ...

Welsh

In Welsh, the word bechingalw has been used, literally whatdyoucallit. Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ...

Ubykh

One of the kadigans in Ubykh, zams^jada, may be related to another word meaning useless. This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Yiddish

In Yiddish, der zach is often used, similar to the German die Sache above. Stand-up comic David Steinberg did a routine about his attempt to identify an object, based only on his father’s description of it as "In Yiddish, we used to call it der zach". Yiddish (Yid. ... Richard Pryor hits the money line A stand-up comedian or stand-up comic is someone that performs in comedy clubs, usually reciting a fast paced succession of amusing stories, short jokes and one-liners, typically called a monologue. ... David Steinberg (born August 9, 1942) is a Canadian comedian, actor, director, and writer who appeared on Johnny Carsons Tonight Show 140 times, and directed episodes of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Mad About You, and Friends. ... Richard Pryor hits the money line A stand-up comedian or stand-up comic is someone that performs in comedy clubs, usually reciting a fast paced succession of amusing stories, short jokes and one-liners, typically called a monologue. ...

The Talmudic placeholder names Ploni and Almoni (see under Hebrew) are also used; more specifically Yiddish placeholder names are Chaim Yankel (Yankel is the Yiddish diminutive of Jacob/Yaaqov) and Moishe Zugmir (literally: Moses Tell-Me).

Yoruba

In Yoruba, Lagbaja and Temedu are the most common placeholder names. Yoruba (native name ede Yorùbá, the Yoruba language) is a dialect continuum of West Africa with over 22 million speakers. ...

See also

• Metasyntactic variable
• Sampo
• John Doe
• Generic you

A metasyntactic variable is either a placeholder name (a kind of alias term, commonly used to denote the subject matter under discussion), or a random member of a class of things under discussion. ... In Finnish mythology, the Sampo was a magical artifact constructed by Ilmarinen that brought good fortune to its holder; nobody knows exactly what it was supposed to be. ... In the United States, the name John Doe is typically used as a placeholder name for a male party in a legal action or legal discussion whose true identity is unknown or is intended to be anonymous. ... In casual English, the second person pronoun you often takes on the additional role of a generic pronoun. ...

References

1. ^ "For, it seems, the word 'foo' itself had an immediate prewar history in comic strips and cartoons. The earliest documented uses were in the Smokey Stover comic strip published from about 1930 to about 1952. Bill Holman, the author of the strip, filled it with odd jokes and personal contrivances, including other nonsense phrases such as "Notary Sojac" and "1506 nix nix". The word "foo" frequently appeared on license plates of cars, in nonsense sayings in the background of some frames (such as "He who foos last foos best" or "Many smoke but foo men chew"), and Holman had Smokey say "Where there's foo, there's fire"." foo
2. ^ "In 1987/88, Bundesdruckerei launched the central personalisation of identity cards and passports. This innovation gave us the first Ms Mustermann: Erika Mustermann, née Gabler, advertised the new ID and passport card from 1987 to 1997. The lady with the blond fringe, photographed in plain black-and-white, was Germany's first fictitious model citizen. A large fan club grew during this Ms Mustermann's long term of office, and they still sing her praises today on a special homepage created in her honour." The changing ms Mustermann over the years
3. ^ Double Tongued Dictionary
4. ^ "In Belfast, Joblessness And a Poisonous Mood" by Bernard Wienraub
   New York Times, 2 June 1971
5. ^ "On Belfast’s Walls, Hatred Rules" by Paul Majendie
   Sydney Morning Herald, 29 November 1986
6. ^ Justinian, The Digest of Roman Law ISBN 0140443436 p.188

• Espy, W., An Almanac of Words at Play (Clarkson Potter, 1979) ISBN 0-517-52090-7
• Flexner, S. B. and Wentworth, H., A Dictionary of American Slang; (Macmillan, 1960) ISBN 9998065100