Tom, Dick and Harry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
"Tom, Dick and Harry" is a placeholder phrase referring to several randomly-selected people, not necessarily three and not necessarily all men. "Every Tom, Dick and Harry" can refer to the general public.
The expression appears in cartoons of the 1930s and 1940s, much of whose humor dates to at least the vaudeville era.
[edit] In popular culture
Tom (Tommy), Dick and Harry are the first names chosen by three of the main characters in the show 3rd Rock From The Sun. The names are the aliens' obvious attempt to make themselves seem "normal" or to "fit in", a recurring (and frequently unsuccessful) plotline in the series.
It is also a mnemonic used by medical students to remember the order of the three tendons in the flexor retinaculum in the distal lower limb (Tibialis posterior, Flexor digitorum longus and Flexor hallucis longus). The "A" of and refers to the posterior tibial artery, and the "N" of and refers to the tibial nerve. The order is: Tibialis posterior, flexor digitorum longus, Posterior tibial artery, tibial nerve, Flexor hallucis longus.
[edit] See also
- Tom, Dick, and Harry — 2006 Bollywood film.
- Tom, Dick and Harry (1941 film)
- Tom, Dick and Sally — British comic strip.
- Zhang San, Li Si and Wang Wu — Chinese placeholder names.
- 3rd Rock from the Sun — the three main male characters were named Tom, Dick and Harry Solomon. (The female was named Sally, perhaps in reference to the comic strip.)
- Stalag Luft III as characterized in film as The Great Escape — The three tunnels were named Tom, Dick, and Harry.
- Tom, Dick, and Harry are the names of three mountain peaks in the Cascade Range in Oregon, U.S.A.
- Tom, Dick, and Harry were also the names given to three Galapagos Island tortoises brought back to England aboard the HMS Beagle by Charles Darwin as documented in his book, The Voyage of the Beagle.
- Uncle Tom Cobley — another placeholder phrase, in this case used to indicate a long list of people.
