# John Q. Public

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/john-q-public
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen.

## Examples

- Politicians often claim to represent John Q. Public.
- John Q. Public pays his bills and hopes for a quiet life.
- The new tax law will likely affect the wallet of the average John Q. Public.
- The marketing team designed the new app to be simple enough for any John Q. Public to use without reading a manual.
- The local newspaper often runs a column that shares the honest opinions of John Q. Public regarding the city's new construction projects.
- While the elite debated abstract economic theories, the actual concerns of John Q. Public remained largely ignored by the legislative assembly.

## Origin

First use appears c. 1938. John Q. Public was the name of a character created by Vaughn Shoemaker, an editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Daily News from 1922 to 1952; Shoemaker introduced this character in 1922 but is believed to have added the "Q." sometime in the early 1930s.https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/22/obituaries/vaughn-shoemaker-created-john-q-public.html Compare also John Doe. (disputed)

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