A malegiven name originating from the Bible [in turn from Hebrew]; very popular since the Middle Ages.
1852 August, D. H. Jacques, “A Chapter on Names”, inThe Knickerbocker, or, New-York Monthly Magazine, volume XL, page114:
John is a most excellent name, and Smith is a surname which is worthy of respect and honor, but wo to the man on whom they are conjoined! ForJohn Smith to aspire to senatorial dignities or to the laurel of a poet is simply ridiculous. WhoisJohn Smith? He is lost in the multitude ofJohn Smiths, and individual fame is impossible.
1920, John Collings Squire, “Initials”, inLife and Letters: Essays, Hodder & Stoughton, pages233–235:
The name I refer to isJohn. It has been borne by many illustrious men and an innumerable multitude of the obscure. - - - It is as fixed as the English landscape and the procession of seasons. It never becomes wearisome or tarnished. Nothing affects it; nothing can bring it into contempt; it stands like a rock amid the turbulent waves of human history, as fine and noble a thing now as it was when it first took shape on human lips. It is a name to live up to; but if one who bears it sinks into disrepute it falls not with him, but rather stays in the firmament above him, shining down upon him like a reproachful star.
2025 February 4, Shania Shelton and Morgan Rimmer, “Senate votes to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general”, inCNN[1]:
The vote was 54-46. The vote was mostly along party lines though Democratic Sen.John Fetterman of Pennsylvania joined Republicans in supporting Bondi.
(informal)Used generically for a man whose actual name may not be known.
aJohn Doe murder case; the dreaded DearJohn letter; if we were to askJohn Q. Public his opinion
(name used to address a man whose actual name is not known (standard)):sir
(name used to address a man whose actual name is not known (colloquial or slang)):boy(especially to a younger man),bro(US, New Zealand),govorguv(British),guvnor(British),Mac(US),man(especially US),mate(British, Australian),mister,son(to a younger man),buddy(Canada)
Mandarin:約翰 /约翰(zh)(Yuēhàn)(Protestant),若望(zh)(Ruòwàng)(Catholic, John the Apostle),若翰(zh)(Ruòhàn)(Catholic, John the Baptist),約安 /约安(Orthodox),葉哈雅 /叶哈雅(Yèhāyǎ)(Islam)
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
I and the other "Johns," as I soon discovered all new-comers at Sandhurst were, and are still, styled, although at the time I was unconscious of it, managed to troop in after the A company, but although not two minutes after them, found all the different messes already seated and hard at work.
2017, Verity McInnis,Women of Empire:
To avoid bullying, first-year “Johns” (from Johnny Raw) “fagged” for senior classmen known as “Regs.” Fagging included making beds, running messages, and smuggling contraband.
2005 December 3, 3:53 from the start, inNO JOHNS[2], spoken by John Michael "SOS" Howard, published 6 June 2007 via YouTube, archived fromthe original on24 October 2024:
This is the sound of aJohn. AJohn. He wants to wait.
2009, Daniel O'hair, “A Smashing Experience”, in Jennifer Oato, editor,Klipsun Magazine[3], volume40, number 1, archived fromthe original on20 June 2016, page10:
Bursting from the inaudible chatter of many smiling faces, a thunderous voice emerges, “NoJohns, son!”
2014, 0:47 from the start, inSmash Bros. - Reggie's Message to Fans - Evo 2014[4], spoken by Reggie Fils-Aimé, IGN, via YouTube, archived fromthe original on18 July 2014:
You never know, I might show up to challenge you someday. And if we ever do get to go head to head: Please, noJohns.
2019 September 16, Cecilia D'Anastasio, “How A High School Smash Bros. Joke Became A World-Famous Saying”, inKotaku[5], archived fromthe original on23 November 2019:
I didn’t get any hand warmers. I didn’t warm up properly. I didn’t get enough sleep last night. There’s television lag. These are some of theJohns that [D'ron "D1"] Maingrette says he’s heard over the years.
2020 May, Abbie Rappaport, “"Melee is Broken": Super Smash Bros. Melee: An Interdisciplinary Esports Ethnography”, inspectrum.library.concordia.ca[6], Concordia University, archived fromthe original on24 October 2022:
Some "Johns" have become universal among Smash players. Some prominent "Johns" include: controller issues, not enough sleep, food, or water, a cold venue, or a lack of warmup time.
2024 March 18, ayowitty (@lolwitty1),Twitter[7], archived fromthe original on24 October 2024:
i have a lot of new opinions on the mechanics of the game. I KNOW it sounds like ajohn but ill probably talk about it later
[8] Danskernes Navne: 44 136 males with the given name John (compared to 3 492 named Jon) have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1950s. Accessed on March 20th, 2011.
Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995,→ISBN
[9] Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 20 361 males with the given name John (compared to 16 263 named Jon) alive in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1920s. Accessed on March 29th 2011.
Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996,→ISBN
[10] Statistiska centralbyrån: 66 757 males with the given name John (compared to 5 963 named Jon) alive in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1910s. Accessed on March 29th, 2011.
Gospel of John on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
