Placeholder name: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:07, 7 February 2005

Revision as of 17:09, 7 February 2005

Line 85:

*''Miss Thing'' (cf. French ''Petit Chose'')

Certain fixed expressions are used as placeholder names in a number of specialized contexts. In formal [[law|legal]] contexts, [[John Doe]]s are sometimes mentioned; in more informal English, people sometimes need to speak of ''Old So-and-so'' or ''What's-'is-name'' or ''Miss Thing''. [[Tommy Atkins]] is a mythical Briton who filled out all his forms correctly, and as such lent his name to British soldiers generally. [[John Smith]], often from "Anytown, U.S.A.," and [[John Q. Public]] are also used as placeholder names for unnamed citizens, and similarly in Britain one might refer to Joe or [[Fred [[Bloggs]]. In [[theatre]], [[television]] and [[motion picture]]s, the great [[actor]]s [[Walter Plinge]], [[David Agnew]], and [[George Spelvin]] are [[pseudonym]]s used for cast members who prefer to go unnamed. The name [[Alan Smithee]] is similarly used by film directors who wish to remain anonymous.

Movies and theatre also give rise to another specific type of kadigan, the [[MacGuffin]]. This is any object or person used to drive a plot, but which otherwise has no relevance to the action, and thus could be replaced in the script with another similar item with no loss of sense.