Tom, Dick and Harry

English

Alternative forms

• Tom, Dick or Harry

Pronunciation

Three common first names; many languages have similar formations (see #Translations).

Noun

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, editor, 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 ...

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: فُلَان وَعَلَّان (fulān wa-ʿallān), كُلّ مَن هَبَّ وَدَبَّ (kull man habba wa-dabba)
• Basque: Urlia, Sandia eta Berendia
• Bulgarian: Сульо и Пульо (Suljo i Puljo), ку́цо и сака́то (kúco i sakáto)
• Catalan: en Pau, en Pere i en Berenguera (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 張三李四／张三李四 (zh) (zhāngsān-lǐsì), 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), 阿猫阿狗 (zh) (āmāoāgǒu) (negative connotation)

• Danish: hvermand, gud og hvermand
• Dutch: Jan en Alleman, Jan, Piet & Klaas
• Finnish: mattimeikäläinen
• French: Pierre, Paul ou Jacques m
• German: Hinz und Kunz (de) m, (pejorative) Krethi und Plethi (de), Hans und Franz
• Greek: κάθε καρυδιάς καρύδι (káthe karydiás karýdi) (negative connotation)
• Hindi: ऐरा-ग़ैरा नत्थू ख़ैरा (airā-ġairā natthū xairā), फ़लाना-ढिमाका (falānā-ḍhimākā)
• Hungarian: boldog-boldogtalan, mindenki (hu), bárki (hu), akárki (hu)
• Italian: Tizio, Caio e Sempronio m
• Japanese: 猫も杓子も (ねこもしゃくしも, neko-mo shakushi-mo)
• Korean: 개나 소나 (gaena sona)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maltese: Cikku l-Poplu
• Norwegian: Gud og hvermann, Per, Pål og Askeladden
• Persian: اره و اوره و شمسی کوره (Âre, Ure, 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

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)} ???? (nodaai bhodaai)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Punjabi: ^{(please verify)} ???? (phalana dhingra)