every Tom, Dick and Harry: o que isso significa?

Imagine you're throwing a VIP party. What does that mean? It means you're so important or think you are that you won't want just anyone turning up at your party. That's why you sent out only very few invitations to very specific people so you can make sure there'll not be ordinary people at your party.

In the middle of your preparations, someone talks to you about your party. He wants to know if there'll be any celebrity around. And here's what you say: Of course. I don't want every Tom, Dick and Harry at my party. Only famous and rich people will show up. So here's what you said again: every Tom, Dick and Harry. Why would you use such names to refer to ordinary people?

If we try to understand the origin of that expression, we'd have to go back to Shakespeare's time, when he made use of very common masculine names in 1 Henry IV. But what we have to keep in mind today is that that expression is widely used as a way to refer to ordinary people in general. Maybe people you're not familiar with sometimes.

For example, you're at home when you notice the curtains are open. Then you ask your son to close them because you don't want every Tom, Dick and Harry picking in the window. So as you can see, that expression alludes to people you don't know or are unimportant in your opinion. That's all for today. Talk to you next time!