Placeholder name: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{redirect|Cadigan|people with the surname| Cadigan (surname)}}

{{redirect|You Know Who|the Harry Potter character|Lord Voldemort}}

{{redirect|Thingamabob|the American television series on H2|ThingamaBob}}

{{refimprove|date=February 2012}}

[[File:Contact-new.svg|thumb|Placeholder name on a website]]

'''Placeholder names''' are intentionally overly generic and ambiguous terms referring to things, places, or people, the names of which or of whom do not actually exist; are [[tip of the tongue|temporarily forgotten]], or are unimportant; or in order to avoid [[stigmatization]], or because they are unknowable and/or unpredictable given the context of their discussion; or to de-emphasizedeliberately inexpunge whichdirect eventuse of the precise specification thereof is otherwise impossible, or to deliberately expungename.<ref>[https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/200792 thingummy, n.], [[Oxford_English_Dictionary#Electronic_versions|Oxford English Dictionary]], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2008.</ref>

Placeholder names for people are often [[list of terms referring to an average person|terms referring to an average person]] or a predicted [[persona (user experience)|persona of a typical user]].

== Linguistic role ==

These [[Free variables and bound variables|placeholders]] typically function [[grammar|grammatically]] as [[noun]]s and can be used for people (e.g. ''[[John Doe|John Doe, Jane Doe]]''), objects (e.g. ''[[Widget (economics)|widget]]''), locations ("Main Street"), or places (e.g. ''Anytown, USA''). They share a property with [[pronoun]]s, because their [[reference|referents]] must be supplied by context; but, unlike a pronoun, they may be used with no referent—the important part of the communication is not the thing nominally referred to by the placeholder, but the context in which the placeholder occurs.

In their ''Dictionary of American Slang'' (1960), [[Stuart Berg Flexner]] and Harold Wentworth use the term ''kadigan'' for placeholder words. They define "kadigan" as a synonym for ''thingamajig''. The term may have originated with [[Willard R. Espy]], though others, such as David Annis, also used it (or '''''cadigans''''') in their writing. Its [[etymology]] is obscure—Flexner and Wentworth related it to the generic word ''gin'' for [[engine]] (as in the ''[[cotton gin]]''). It may also relate to the [[Ireland|Irish]] [[surname]] ''Cadigan''.

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=== Companies and organizations ===

* "Ace" and "Acme" were popular in company names as positioning words in alphabetical directories. They were generic, laudatory of whatever products they were used to promote and appeared at the beginning of most alpha-sorted lists. ("Acme" is a regular English word from the [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|ἀκμή}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|akme}} meaning summit, highest point, extremity or peak, and thus sometimes used for "best".) A well-known example of "Acme" as a placeholder name is the [[Acme Corporation]], whose products are often seen in the [[Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner]] cartoons.

* "Mom and Pop" (in the United States) are occasional placeholders for the individual owners of a generic small family-owned business

* [[High Street]] (UK) or [[Main Street]] (US) for the business district of a small town or village, often contrasted as a commercial business entity against [[Threadneedle Street]], [[City of London]] in the UK or [[Wall Street]], [[New York City]] in America.

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* [[Fictional brand]]s such as [[Morley (cigarette)|Morley]] are often used in television and cinema as placeholders to avoid unintended [[product placement]]. "Brand X" has been used in television advertisements as a [[generic brand]] representing any other brand than the one being advertised.

* "XYZ Widget Company" has long been used in business and economics textbooks as a sample company. Also used as engraving text example on items such as plaques, trophy plates, etc. Occasionally appears on customizable promotional materials including stationery templates, business cards, advertising signage, cups, backpacks, and other "swag" samples.

* "Contoso", "Fabrikam", "Wingtip Toys", "Woodgrove Bank", "Litware", and previously "Northwind" are used as fictional businesses in [[Microsoft]]'s training materials and documentation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20061013-05/?p=29393|title=Why do I see the same fake names in Microsoft samples over and over? - The Old New Thing}}</ref>

* "[[Oceanic Airlines]]" is used as a [[fictional]] [[airline]] in several films, TV programmes, and comic books, typically when it is involved in a disaster or another event with which actual airlines would prefer not to be associated.

* "[[Octan]]" is used by [[The Lego Group]] as a fictional oil company. Before 1992, they used real life oil companies [[Shell Oil]], [[Exxon]] and [[Esso]].

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Placeholders such as ''Main Street'', ''Your County'', and ''Anytown'' are often used in sample mailing addresses. ''[[Ruritania]]'' is commonly used as a placeholder country. [[Acacia Avenue]] has been used as shorthand for an average suburban residential street in Britain.

''Something''[[-stan]] and its demonym ''something''-stani, where ''something'' is often [[profanity]], is commonly used as a placeholder for a [[Middle Eastern]] or [[South Asian]] country/people or for a politically disliked portion of one's own country/people. ExampleAs –an example, ''Carjackastan[[Londonistan]]'' foris a placeplaceholder withname highthat ratesevokes the perception of automobile[[London]]'s thefthigh Muslim population.<ref name="After">{{citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/magazine/25london.html |title=After Londonistan |work=The New York Times |date=25 June 2006 |accessdate=12 December 2009 |first=Christopher |last=Caldwell}}</ref>

''[[Timbuktu]]'', which is also a real city in the country of Mali, is often used to mean a place that is far away, in the middle of nowhere, or exotic.

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=== Legal ===

* In [[Roman law|ancient Roman law]], the names ''[[Numerius Negidius|Aulus Agerius]]'' and ''Numerius Negidius]]'' were used to represent the plaintiff and the defendant. The names were both wordplays, respectively meaning "[I] set in motion" and "[I] refuse to pay". The model instruction to judges for civil suits began with ''si paret Numerium Negidium Aulo Agerio sestertium decem milia dare oportere'', meaning "if [it] appears that Numerius Negidius ought to pay Aulus Agerius ten thousand [[Sestertius|sesterces]]...".

*In the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], ''[[John Doe]]'' and the variations ''Jane Doe'' (for females) and ''John Roe'' or ''Richard Roe'' (for a second party): used in legal action and cases when the true identity of a person is unknown or must be withheld for legal reasons. ''Jane Roe'' was used for the then-unidentified plaintiff ([[Norma McCorvey|Norma Leah McCorvey]]) in one of the most famous legal cases in United States history, ''[[Roe v. Wade]]''. These parties also appear in the [[legal fiction]]s of the action in [[ejectment]], which was the usual proceeding to [[quiet title]] to [[real property]] under [[common law pleading]].

* ''[[Mopery]]'': used in informal legal discussions as a placeholder for some infraction, when the exact nature of the infraction is not important.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

* ''[[Blackacre]]'' and its neighbors ''Whiteacre'', ''Greenacre'', ''Brownacre'', ''Greyacre'', ''Pinkacre'', etc. are used as placeholders for parcels of real property, usually on Law School examinations and the several State Bar Exams. They are sometimes located in ''Acre County'' in the fictional [[State of Franklin]].{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}

* <span id="Fnu Lnu"></span>''Fnu Lnu'' is used by authorities to identify unknown suspects, the name being an [[acronym and initialism|acronym]] for ''First Name Unknown, Last Name Unknown''. If a person's first name is known but not the last, or vice versa, they may be called "John''[real name] Lnu"'' or "''Fnu Doe"[real name]'', and an unidentified person may be "''Fnu Lnu"''. For example, a former interpreter for the [[United States]] [[Armed forces|military]] was charged as "FNU LNU",<ref>{{Cite news|first=Shaun |last=Waterman |title=Military interpreter 'used false identity' |url=https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2005/10/24/Military-interpreter-used-false-identity/96581130164601/ |work=UPI Security & Terrorism |date= 2005-10-24 |access-date=2022-03-09}}</ref> and a [[Muteness|mute]] man whose identity could not be determined was arrested and charged with burglary in [[Harris County, Texas]] under the name "FNU-LNU" (charges were later dropped because authorities could not communicate with the man).<ref>{{Cite news|first=John |last=Makeig |title=Mute suspect nabbed, but identity still at large |work=Houston Chronicle |page=29 |date= 1991-12-28}}</ref> ''Fnu-Lnu'' conjunctions may also be used if the person has only a single name, as in [[Indonesian name]]s. The name has been considered a source of humor when "''Fnu Lnu"'' has been mistaken for the actual name of a person.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nash |first=Bruce M. |display-authors=etal |title=The New Lawyer's Wit and Wisdom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mQAKrt8kL7cC&q=%22fnu+lnu%22&pg=PA199 |access-date=2008-01-19 |year=2001 |publisher=Running Press |isbn=0762410639 |page=199}}</ref>

* ''X ben X'' ({{Literally|X, son of X}}, {{Lang-ar|إكس بن إكس}} or {{Lang|ar|سين بن سين}}) is used in [[Morocco]] by health and [[Judiciary of Morocco|judicial authorities]] in cases where an individual's identity cannot be determined. These cases include amnesiacs, suspects, hospital patients, and homeless people.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-09-23 |title=Médecine légale: X Ben X, l'énigme du cadavre anonyme |url=https://www.leconomiste.com/article/1002747-medecine-legale-x-ben-x-l-enigme-du-cadavre-anonyme |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=L'Economiste |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-04-08 |title=حملة أمنية تحصي المتشردين و المتسولين لتحديد هوياتهم ! |trans-title=A security campaign counts the homeless and beggars to determine their identities! |url=https://rue20.com/287593.html |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=Rue20 |language=ar}}</ref> In 2009, 80,000 abandoned orphans had the placeholder name of ''X ben X'' and 100 unidentified bodies are buried each year in Morocco under this status.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Elhor |first=Aziz |date=2012-02-17 |title=حقائق صادمة عن أطفال يحملون اسم «X بن X» |trans-title=Facts about children named "X Ben X" |url=https://www.maghress.com/almassae/150896 |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=al-Massae}}</ref>

* ''[[Ploni]], Almoni,'' or ''Ploni Almoni'' are used in Israel, the names originating in the [[Hebrew Bible]]. ''Israel Israeli'' is a newer variant, used in Israel today.

=== Medicine ===

* St. Elsewhere is often used as a placeholder name for any regional hospital or other care facility from which an admitted patient was referred. The medical slang is honored in the name of the 1980s television show of the [[St. Elsewhere|same name]].

* GOMER (''g'G'''et ''o'O'''ut of ''m'M'''y ''e'E'''mergency ''r'R'''oom) is a name in [[medical slang]] for any patient who continually uses emergency room services for non-emergency conditions; its use is informal and [[pejorative]].

* Element names from the [[periodic table]] are used in some hospitals as a placeholder for patient names, ex. Francium Male.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gnyha.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/MCI_NamingConventions.pdf|title=GNYHA Naming Conventions}}</ref>

=== Military ===

Often used in example names and addresses to indicate to the serviceman where to put his own details.

* ''[[Tommy Atkins]]'', the generic name for a soldier of the British Army. Also, colloquially, ''[[Bill Oddie]]'', [[rhyming slang]] on the nickname 'squaddie'Squaddie''.

* In the US Army and Air Force, ''Private'' (or ''Airman'') ''Tentpeg'' and ''Snuffy'' are commonly used in examples (to explain various procedures) or cautionary tales. In the Marine Corps, ''Lance Corporal Schmuckatelli'' serves the same purpose.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://terminallance.com/2011/03/18/terminal-lance-114-myths-and-legends-iv/|title=Terminal Lance #114 'Myths and Legends IV'|date=March 18, 2011|publisher=Terminal Lance}}</ref>

* In the US Coast Guard, a generic Coast Guardsman is referred to as ''Joe Coastie'' (or ''Jane'').

* In the Coast Guard, Navy, and Marines, a hypothetical member who has his act together is ''A.J. Squared-Away''.

* In the Canadian Armed Forces, the generic name for a soldier is ''Private/'', ''Corporal/'', or any other ''[rank] Bloggins''

* In the [[British Army]], the fictional ''[[Loamshire Regiment]]'' is used as a placeholder to provide examples for its procedures such as addressing mail or [[specimen charges]] for violations of military law.

=== Numbers ===

{{main|indefinite and fictitious numbers}}

* ''Umpteen'' is any annoyingly large number, as in the phrase "for the umpteenth time".

* [[Fictitious telephone number|Placeholder telephone numbers]] are often allocated from ranges such as ''[[555 (telephone number)|555]]'' (where +1-areacode[area code]-555-1212 is reserved in North America for [[directory assistance]] applications) to avoid generating [[wrong number|misdialled calls]] to working numbers. In the United Kingdom, [[Ofcom]] has set aside a range of numbers in larger geographic area codes, as well as fictional area code 01632 (0632 having been the code for [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] until replaced by 091 in the 1980s), for dramatic use.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/numbering/guidance-tele-no/numbers-for-drama |title = Telephone numbers for drama use (TV, Radio etc) |access-date = December 10, 2014}}</ref>

* Common placeholders for [[postcode]]s in Canada include A1A 1A1 (a real postal code for Lower Battery Road, [[St. John's, Newfoundland]]) and K1A 0B2 ([[Canada Post]] Place in [[Ottawa]]). H0H 0H0 is reserved by Canada Post for fictional use (specifically for the mythical [[Santa's workshop]]). In the United States, the [[ZIP Code]] 90210 (from TV series [[Beverly Hills 90210]]) is frequently used. Numeric codes with repeated or sequential digits like 12345 (a [[General Electric]] plant in [[Schenectady, New York]]), or 99999-9999 (unused but in a [[List of ZIP Code prefixes|prefix range]] for the vicinity of [[Ketchikan, Alaska]]) may also appear. 00000, which lies in an unused prefix range, can be used without confusion.

* In computing, some [[Magic number (programming)|magic numbers]] (and other uses of hexadecimal numbers) apply [[hexspeak]] to create memorable hexadecimal values, such as {{mono|0xdeadbeef}}.

=== People ===

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===Science===

In chemistry, tentative or hypothetical elements are assigned provisional names until their existence is confirmed by [[IUPAC]]. Historically, this placeholder name would follow [[Mendeleev's predicted elements#Prefixes|Mendeleev's nomenclature]]; since the [[Transfermium wars]], however, the consensus has been to assign a [[systematic element name]] based on the element's atomic number.<ref>{{cite web |title=Recommendations for the Naming of Elements of Atomic Numbers Greater than 100 |url=https://iupac.qmul.ac.uk/AtWt/element.html |publisher=IUPAC |access-date=1 February 2024}}</ref> Examples of these systems in use would be "ekasilicon" ([[germanium]]) and "ununseptium" ([[tennessine]]) respectively.

In chemistry, tentatively discovered or hypothetical elements were assigned provisional names until their existence confirmed. They were created using the prefix ''eka-'' . For example, eka-[[manganese]] was the placeholder name for [[technetium]], a neighbor of manganese in group 7. See [[Mendeleev's predicted elements]] for details.

Similarly, the name "[[unobtainium]]" is frequently used for a material of highly desired characteristics which does not exist or which would be prohibitively expensive to mine, procure or synthesize.

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* [[Expletive attributive]]

* [[Filler (linguistics)|Filler]]

* [[Generic you|Generic ''you'']]

* [[List of placeholder names by language]]

* [[Mohmil]]

* [[Nonce word]]

* [[Sampo]]