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Have a read of:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Doe#Origin
Why do Americans refer to people with no identity as John Doe or Jane Doe. I understand the John/Jane bit but why DOE?
Quote from: Make it Lady on 23/08/2010 20:59:59Why do Americans refer to people with no identity as John Doe or Jane Doe. I understand the John/Jane bit but why DOE?Shhh, Make it Lady, it's a Department Of Energy secret! Classified!
John Doe was the name given to a hypothetical land owner and Richard Doe the name of his hypothetical tenant in a legal paper dating from the reign of Edward III in the 14th C.The actual name John Doe has no relevance to the hypothetical case in question, which became quite famous in it's day.I have often wondered if the name 'Doe' now has some relevance to the fact that this name is invariably used in the case of an unidentified corpse, hence it could be an acronym. John or Jane used to identify the gender while Doe could be Dead On Examination.If this is not the case, then to my mind, it should be and I hereby lay claim to this conception.
What do the British call them?
Quote from: Carolyn on 30/08/2010 05:05:53What do the British call them?Stiffs.