Is there a female version of “Tom Dick & Harry”?
No there is no female version – The phrase “Tom, Dick and Harry” is a placeholder for multiple unspecified people; “Tom, Dick or Harry” plays the same role for one unspecified person. The phrase most commonly occurs as “every Tom, Dick and Harry”, meaning everyone, and “any Tom, Dick or Harry”, meaning anyone. The masculine names in these phrases do not in themselves imply the exclusion of females, but the use of either version when the context implies necessarily being female.
4 comments On The Female version of “Tom, Dick and Harry”
Why as a man are you “CLAIMING” the female version of anything? Not helpful, thanks.
Thanks for pointing out the “CLAIMING” part, as this was written many years ago and was forgotten. I agree that the last paragraph does not go well in the current time. I have updated the post to remove the claim.
According to various online sources, the phrase comes from an 18th century song, which contains these lines:
Farewell, Tom, Dick and Harry.
Farewell, Moll, Nell and Sue.
Thus the female equivalent is Moll, Nell and Sue.
Thanks – for the clarification