February 18, 2007
Tom, Dick, and Harry
Q: I heard you suggest on WNYC that no one knows the origin of the expression "Tom, Dick, and Harry." I do! It's from a Thomas Hardy novel, Far From the Madding Crowd.
A: Thanks for your comments, but I'm afraid the expression "Tom, Dick, and Harry" predates Thomas Hardy. His novel Far From the Madding Crowd was published in 1874, but the earliest published reference to the generic male trio occurred more than 200 years years earlier.
Pairs of common male names, particularly Jack and Tom, Dick and Tom, or Tom and Tib, were often used generically in Elizabethan times. Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part II has a reference to "Tom, Dicke, and Francis."
The earliest citation for "Tom, Dick, and Harry" in the Oxford English Dictionary dates from 1734: "Farewell, Tom, Dick, and Harry, Farewell, Moll, Nell, and Sue." (It appears to be from a song lyric.) The OED and A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English by Eric Partridge have a half-dozen other references that predate the Hardy novel.
But a reader of the blog has found an even earlier citation for "Tom, Dick, and Harry" than the one in the OED. The English theologian John Owen used the expression in 1657, according to God's Statesman, a 1971 biography of Owen by Peter Toon.
Owen told a governing body at Oxford University that "our critical situation and our common interests were discussed out of journals and newspapers by every Tom, Dick and Harry."
Interestingly, the reference in Far From the Madding Crowdis to "Dick, Tom and Harry," not to "Tom, Dick, and Harry." But we won't hold that against Hardy
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Tom Bradney in 1927
Beefmasters were originated in Falfurrias, Texas by a man named Tom Lasater. They were recognized as a breed by the Federation of Agriculture in 1954.
One of the most important military historians in modern times. He currently works at the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies.
Livy wanted to teach his readers that you don't have to be as popular as Tom Cruise to be a dictator.Who ever wrote this is stupid and never go on anything with "Wiki" in the name you will get an "F" on any assignment.
Tom, Dick and Harry
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Tom Dick and Harry - 1960 TV was released on: USA: 20 September 1960
Every Tom, Dick, and Harry: every person possible, especially very ordinary people
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me and harrys party i think Tom & Dick's party Harry's and my party. Those are technically the proper terms, but I personally would not give a party, which is an event, a possessive form. I would say "a party for Tom & Harry," or for whom or what the party is thrown, or "a party that Tom, Harry, and/or I threw for [person or event/occasion."
Tom Dick and Harry - 1941 is rated/received certificates of: Argentina:Atp Australia:G Finland:S Sweden:Btl USA:Approved (PCA #7136)
tom dick and harry
Alcoa Theatre - 1957 Tom Dick and Harry 3-7 was released on: USA: 26 October 1959
Tom, Dick & Harry represent any 3 various unknown persons. It is a way of saying anyone without being specific. It is an example of any various people who are unspecified.
John Doe, who was tired of every Tom, Dick and Harry using his name to refer to someone else who's name couldn't be recalled.