John Doe

John Doe

A man whose identity is unknown or being protected, as in legal proceedings. The victim is a John Doe—the paramedics didn't find any identification on him. The case was brought by a John Doe, so we don't know the true identity of the man suing us.
See also: doe, john
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

John Doe

1. Also, John Q. Public; Joe Blow; Joe Doakes; Joe Zilch. An average undistinguished man; also, the average citizen. For example, This television show is just right for a John Doe, or It's up to John Q. Public to go to the polls and vote. Originally used from the 13th century on legal documents as an alias to protect a witness, John Doe acquired the sense of "ordinary person" in the 1800s. The variants date from the 1900s. Also see Joe six-pack.
2. Also, Jane Doe. An unknown individual, as in The police found a John Doe lying on the street last night, or The judge issued a warrant for the arrest of the perpetrators, Jane Doe no. 1 and Jane Doe no. 2 . [Second half of 1900s]
See also: doe, john
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

John Doe

and Jane Doe (ˈdʒɑn ˈdo)
n. a name used for a person whose real name is unknown. The tag on the corpse said Jane Doe, since no one had identified her. John Doe was the name at the bottom of the check.
See also: doe, john
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

John Doe

The average person. This appellation actually dates from the thirteenth century, when it was used in legal documents to disguise the identity of witnesses; the tenant plaintiff was called John Doe and the landlord defendant Richard Roe. In the nineteenth century the name acquired the present meaning of ordinary person. A book, The O’Hara Family (1825), included “Tales, Containing . . . John Doe,” and almost a century later a movie starring Gary Cooper was entitled Meet John Doe (1941). Similar appellations include Joe Blow, first recorded in 1867; Joe Doakes, from the 1920s; and John Q. Public, coined by the writer William Allen White in 1937. John Doe has outlived them all.
See also: doe, john
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • zilch
  • doe
  • Jane Doe
  • Fred Nerk
  • Richard Roe
  • VSA
  • beyond a reasonable doubt
  • reasonable
  • get proofed
  • sue (someone or something) out of (something)
References in periodicals archive
A "John Doe lawsuit" usually intends to uncover the identity of the fictitious defendant by using the court to ultimately uncover Doe's name and location.
Mining Rig Maker Bitmain Files 'John Doe' Lawsuit
The party upon whom a John Doe summons is issued has no chance to contest the summons prior to its issuance; rather, that party must fail to comply and await the IRS's enforcement action in order to seek review before a court.
Digital currency: taxation, enforcement, and the John Doe Summons
Although he declined to address the student's contention that UO officials had violated his constitutional due process rights, the judge ruled that the university had disregarded its own procedures before it concluded that John Doe had committed a sexual assault.
Student sues UO after reaching settlement over suspension
In American Vision, a study of Capra's work, the critic Ray Carney describes Meet John Doe as a postmodern landscape where "there are no realities outside of media events, advertising splashes, public relations blitzes, and image-building appearances"--a world of "fictions within fictions without end." Mitchell and Doe may think they are in control of their environments, he writes, but they aren't: The two cons "are not the masterful, poised, independent performers they fancy themselves to be but are actually puppets in Norton's scheme to advance his political career."
Seeing Trump on the silver screen: what 'A Face in the Crowd' and 'Meet John Doe' tell us about populism, pop culture, and fear
[401.18] The issues you must decide on John Doe's claim against Rachel Rowe are whether Rachel Rowe was negligent in the operation of her vehicle, and, if so, whether that negligence was a legal cause of the loss, injury, or damage to John Doe.
Amendments to jury instructions in civil cases
In October 2013, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed the second John Doe investigation.
Too close for comfort: can Scott Walker keep one step ahead of the scandal that's been nipping at his heels?
Michael Clarkin: What inspired the story of John Doe: Vigilante, and can you tell me about the script-development process?
Speaking for the dead: an interview with Stephen Coates and Kelly Dolen
THE 3RD CIRCUIT'S DECISION IN IN RE: GRAND JURY JOHN DOE 1; John Doe 2; ABC Corp.
Reasonable suspicion of crime enough to overcome attorney-client privilege
The main criticisms typically aimed at John Doe DNA indictments focus on the perceived deficiencies of DNA evidence, which can be exacerbated by the gap in time between the collection of a sample and the location of a match.
Waiting for John Doe: the practical and constitutional implications of DNA indictments
Which American film features a villain called John Doe? 8.
Quick Quiz
Work preparatory to redrafting the Oxford English Dictionary' entry for the name John has turned up three hitherto unpublished references to John Doe. (1) The earliest of these dates from 1599, 170 years before Blackstone's celebrated comment on this legal fiction, long viewed as the first written attestation.
The ancestry of John Doe: a Squib
John Doe is the person who blogs anonymously on the Internet and infringes upon your client's legal rights.
Tracking down anonymous internet abusers: who is John Doe?
Neither John Doe nor Vance and Ertel were ever charged with a crime, though John Doe remains on a blacklist for U.S.
Courts advance cases for U.S. torture victims: two Americans were tortured by U.S. officials after they became FBI informants and blew the whistle on illegal sales of U.S. munitions Iraqi rebels. Now they want justice
District Court judge recently denied the United States' Petition for Leave to Serve "John Doe" Summons.
Estate planning/taxation