# What Does the "Q" in John Q. Public Stand For? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 12, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549 "2002-07-12T03:14:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/1 "2002-07-12T03:14:55Z")
What does the _“Q”_ in John _Q._ Public stand for? Is it the same “Q” in John Q. Anonymous? Just wondering… ---
**Author:** ![Maxxxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Maxxxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maxxxie)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/2 "2002-07-12T03:53:32Z")
Beats me… while we’re at it, what does the H in Jesus H. Christ stand for?? 😛 Max ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/3 "2002-07-12T04:13:32Z")
Here’s the scoop on [the H.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_033.html) from the Master hisse’f Happy ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/4 "2002-07-12T04:18:39Z")
Here’s the scoop on [the H.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_033.html) from the Master hisse’f Happy ---
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/5 "2002-07-12T04:58:59Z")
It stands for Q-Bert, the lovable video game creature with no arms and a big nose. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/6 "2002-07-12T05:20:29Z")
Somebody may appear with a more reliable source, but after a search, I think it stands for Quincy. Possibly coming from the time of John Quincy Adams. A credit report site has this hint on how to check for reports: > [@](#): > > 1. Consistent Styling of Applicant’s (& Spouse’s) Name(s): in areas listed. Note: John Q. Public, not Jonathan Quincy Public. Can not find more now. The Merriam Webster site reports: > [@](#): > > Everyman is not the only term for “a typical or ordinary person.” In the U.S., the names John Doe and Joe Blow are popular, while the British version of the ordinary joe is Joe Bloggs. A typical American is sometimes called John Q. Public; the typical Englishman is known as John Bull; and the typical Frenchman is Johnny Crapaud. It’s easy to see how John Q. Public was coined, and the name John Bull comes from The History of John Bull, an 18th century satire by Scotsman John Arbuthnot. But the origin of Crapaud? Crapaud means “toad” in French, and the French are famous for eating frogs. Not very helpful in our “Q” question, but my guess is that Quincy was a more common American name when the “John Public” moniker came into use and Quincy was added just to make that fictitious name even more common. I wonder what middle name is more common now in the USA, maybe that “common” name needs to be updated. ---
**Author:** ![Satyagrahi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Satyagrahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satyagrahi)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/7 "2002-07-12T11:25:00Z")
Actually the “Q” is derived from the classic novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Since the common man of the masses was assumed to be fairly ugly, it became an “in” joke among police and reporters, etc., to think of him as Quasimodo. I’ll provide a cite as soon as I can put together a plausible web page proving it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/8 "2002-07-12T14:02:29Z")
I think its more because Quincy sounds like a dull, middle-class name that middle-class moms with big asirations give their kids to sound more important (read: snobbish) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/9 "2002-07-13T02:10:59Z")
Considering that the term **John Q. Public** first appears in print in English in 1937, one assumes that Pres. John Adams wasn’t the inspiration. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/10 "2002-07-13T03:03:44Z")
[Ye Olde English Sayings](http://www.obcgs.com/sayings.htm) > [@](#): > > John Q. Public – 1) a member of the public or the community : person, citizen 2) the public or the community personified. When John Q. Public made his print debut in the late 1930s, he joined a long line of generic “Johns” in English. About 10 years earlier, “John Citizen” had started appearing in British texts as a nickname for the average joe. Messrs. Public and Citizen are linguistic youngsters compared to “John Doe”; that term has been used for an anonymous or average man since the mid-1600s. Initially, such generic terms were predominantly male, but that changed with the arrival of “Jane Doe” in the 1930s. “Joan Citizen” debuted in the 1940s, but “Jane Q. Public” didn’t find her way into English texts until the mid-1980s. By the way, some think the “Q” was inspired by John Quincy Adams ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/11 "2002-07-13T03:23:30Z")
While the info from the link provided by **dantheman** is generally reliable about the phrase in question, **PLEASE, PLEASE** don’t buy in to the _Life in the 1500’s_ crap. ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/12 "2002-07-13T03:24:17Z")
Qwerty, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/13 "2002-07-13T03:29:40Z")
😕 What “Life in the 1500’s crap”? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/14 "2002-07-13T03:53:20Z")
**dantheman**. Nothing personal. When I punch up the cite you provided, the first thing I see is the e-mail forward about LIfe in the 1500’s. It’s a fun read, but has been debunked at snopes and here, I believe. That’s all I meant. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/15 "2002-07-13T04:04:36Z")
Oh, no offense taken - was thinking you were referring to the quoted portion. I’m sure there’s a better answer out there, but I checked Google, Dogpile, and Teoma, and no dice. Drat. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/16 "2002-07-13T04:23:07Z")
There are, indeed, cites from the **OED** that **John Citizen** was used in the 1920’s and early 1930 in Britain in advance of the earliest cite for the US’ **John Q. Public**. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-q-in-john-q-public-stand-for/118549/17 "2002-07-13T04:25:01Z")
I also looked on Bartleby’s, Word Detective, alt.usage.english…