man on the Clapham omnibus
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]First put to legal use in a reported judgement by Sir Richard Henn Collins MR in the 1903 English Court of Appeal libel case, McQuire v. Western Morning News, who attributed it to Lord Bowen.
Noun
[edit]man on the Clapham omnibus (plural (rare) men on the Clapham omnibus)
- (UK, law) Any hypothetical reasonable person used by the Courts in considering questions of reasonableness; an everyman.
- Coordinate terms: moron in a hurry; person having ordinary skill in the art
- Near-synonyms: man on the Bondi tram, man on the Shau Kei Wan tram, reasonable person
- (UK, by extension) Any ordinary person; everyman.
- Synonym: man on the street
- Coordinate terms: woman on the street, Mrs Miggins