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Stuart Berg Flexner and Harold Wentworth ’s ''Dictionary of American Slang'' ( 1960 ) uses the term kadigin to describe this class of words. They define it merely as a synonym for '''''thingamajig'''''; if so, then ''kadigin'' is itself a kadigin. The term may have originated with Willard Richardson 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 Irish Surname ''Cadigan''. KADIGANS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FOR INANIMATE OBJECTS Common kadigans in the English Language include:
Items which have been or could conceivably be described with a kadigan are Torque Wrench es, Sewing Machine Bobbin s, Nail Puller s, Crochet hooks, Dongle s, and other objects which are gender or trade specific. They are typically smaller than a Breadbox . ''Thingamajigs'' are typically specialized devices which have a limited number of uses or a single specific use. The term is typically employed by one whose experience with the use of the object is nonexistent or very limited. Regular users of such devices would never refer to them as ''thingamajigs'' or any of the related terms listed below. A thingamajig is different from a Widget , in that a widget is an actual, but not yet named or constructed, mechanical component. It is also different from a Gadget , in that “gadget” is the generic term for a superfluously useful device, such as a remote garage door opener, whose name is easily remembered. Thingamajigs are of such a nature that they are also typically referred to by location: “The doofunny on the kitchen counter”, “the geemie beside the couch”, or “that thing on top of the fridge”. It is assumed by the listener that anything else on top of the fridge, such as the box of tissues, the pictures of the kids, or the can of air freshener, which are more ordinary and thus more nameable than the “thing” for which one is looking, are not the requested object. Where one might request a hammer with no reference to location, one would not similarly request a doohickey. Even among the world of otherwise nameless things referred to by kadigans, there is a hierarchy of specificity. "Thing", as its name implies, is universally applicable. It is likely, however, that a "gizmo" involves some minor degree of technological sophistication, connoting as it does some mechanical or electronic aspect. "Crap", "stuff", "junk", and "shit" are Mass Noun kadigans in English. Most of these words exist in the less formal . These words have been in regular use since at least the nineteenth century. Edgar Allan Poe wrote a short story entitled ''The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq.'', showing that particular form to be in familiar use in the United States Of America in the 1840s . In Gilbert And Sullivan ’s '' The Mikado '', W. S. Gilbert makes the Lord High Executioner sing of a “little list” which includes: ''. . . apologetic statesmen of a compromising kind, The need for such words increases as ''. Kadigans in computing In Computing , kadigans also exist.
Hacker Slang includes a number of placeholders, such as ''frob'', which may stand for any small piece of equipment. ''To frob'', likewise, means to adjust (a device) in an aimless way, or to toggle a value between alternate states. Other words used as kadigans Other words that may have specific technical meanings are occasionally used as kadigans as well. Some words that are so used in English include:
Vulgar placeholder names Any number of English Swear Word s can be used as placeholders. The word '' Fuck '' is noted for being used in many roles and parts of speech, both with and without derogatory intent: a ''fucker'' may be any thing or person whatsoever, while ''fucking with'' something is equivalent to ''fooling with'' or ''messing with'' it and denotes no particular action. English is hardly unique in this regard; see below for similar uses in Russian and Spanish. The words '' Shit '' and, more rarely, ''crap'' are used as Mass Noun placeholders, cruder equivalents to '' Stuff ''. KADIGANS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FOR PEOPLE Kadigan-like expressions can refer to people as well. Among words or phrases used in English to refer to people of unknown or irrelevant name are:
Certain fixed expressions are used as placeholder names in a number of specialized contexts. In formal Legal contexts, John Doe s are sometimes mentioned; in more informal English, people sometimes need to speak of ''Old So-and-so'' or ''What’s-’is-name'' or ''What’s-’is-face'' (cruder) or ''Miss Thing''. Tommy Atkins is a mythical Briton who filled out all his forms correctly, and as such lent his name to British soldiers generally. John Smith , often from “ Anytown, U.S.A. ,” and John Q. Public are also used as placeholder names for unnamed citizens, and similarly in Britain one might refer to Joe or Fred Bloggs . In Australia , the name John Citizen is used in a similar capacity on samples of forms or cards. In America, Joe Or Jane Sixpack refers to the perceived average Middle or Lower Class person. In Theatre , Television and Motion Picture s, the great Actor s Walter Plinge , David Agnew , and George Spelvin are Pseudonym s used for cast members who prefer to go unnamed. The name Alan Smithee is similarly used by film directors who wish to remain anonymous (often because their film did not turn out well). Conversely, placeholders can be used to conceal identity, as seen in the above Gilbert and Sullivan lyrics. The Newfoundland entertainer "Buddy Whasisname" derives his stage name a common local usage (combining two terms) describing an unknown male. Movies and theatre also give rise to another specific type of kadigan, the MacGuffin . This is any object or person used to drive a plot or as the goal of a Quest , but which otherwise has no relevance to the action, and thus could be replaced in the script with another similar item with no loss of sense. A Foozle is a generic enemy or group of enemies that must be defeated for the plot to move on in a game. KADIGANS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FOR PLACES In some forms of English, kadigans exist to represent places, particularly the stereotypical backward, insignificant or isolated town in the middle of nowhere. These include:
Common components of placeholders for places are -town, -ville, -hampton (in the United Kingdom ), -vale, Big-, Mid-, Middle-, Little-, Small-, Bally- (in Ireland ), and Any-. The National Health Service of the UK, as well as the Department For Transport , use a large variety of placeholders as examples, including:
KADIGANS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FOR NUMBERS English employs a number of kadigans to refer to unspecified quantity:
The following particles likewise refer to unspecified quantity, but are not placeholder names as defined in this article:
KADIGANS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FOR DATES
KADIGANS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FOR TIMES
KADIGANS IN OTHER LANGUAGES Most other languages have kadigans of some sort in their vocabulary. Arabic Arabic uses ''Fulan'' / ''Fulana فلان / فلانة and when a last name is needed it becomes ''Fulan AlFulani'' / ''Fulana[h AlFulaniyya فلان الفلاني / فلانة الفلانية. When a second person is needed, ''ʿillan'' / ''ʿillana[h '' علان / علانة is used. The use of ''Fulan'' has been borrowed into Spanish and Portuguese as shown below. Chinese In : 什麼什麼) (literally, "what what"), an unspecified location is ''nali'' (哪里) , literally "where," an unspecified person ''shei'' (谁), literally "who," and so on. Esperanto Esperanto has an all-purpose kadigan suffix ''um'', which has no fixed meaning and simply tells that an object or action has something to do with some purpose or object, for instance ''butonumi'' (“to button up” or “to press a button”). It can be used as a root and inflected in various forms, ''umi, umilo, umecaĵo'' etc. It has acquired a specific meaning in some compounds, like ''brakumi'', "to embrace", from ''brako'', "arm". French Things In French , an unspecified artifact can be:
Quebec French also has ''patente'', ''gogosse'' and such (most of which have verb forms meaning “to fiddle with”). Places In France :
In French-speaking or even Outsiplou-les-Bains-de-Pieds (Outsiplou-the-footbath) is used for a generic village of Wallonia (there is an actual but little known village named Hout-si-Plout, whose name means "Listen whether it rains" in Walloon). Among French people of North African origin (''“pieds-noirs”''), Foun-Tataouine is the generic village, although a small village by that name actually does exist in Tunisia, lending its name. In Québec,''St-clinclin'' and ''Diable au vert'' are both used to distuish far away rural places. People Common kadigans for people are
German German also sports a variety of kadigans; some, as in English, contain the element ''Dings'', ''Dingens'' (also ''Dingenskirchen''), ''Dingsda'', ''Dingsbums'' (sometimes even ''Dingsdabumsda''), Cognate with English '' Thing ''. Also, ''Krimskrams'' suggests a random heap of small items, e.g. an unsorted drawerful of memorabilia or souvenirs. In a slightly higher register, ''Gerät'' represents a miscellaneous artifact or utensil, or, in casual German, may also refer to an item of remarkable size. The use of the word ''Teil'' (part) is a relatively recent kadigan in German that has gained great popularity since the late 1980s . Initially a very generic kadigan, it has obtained specific meaning in certain contexts. For example, to buy Ecstasy customers usually simply ask for parts (''Teile'') without danger of ambiguation. ''Zeug'' oder ''Zeugs'' (compare ''Dings'', can be loosely translated as ''stuff'') usually refers to either a heap of random items that is a nuisance to the user of the kadigan, or an uncountable substance or material, often a Drug . Finally, ''Sache'', as a placeholder, loosely corresponding to Latin ''res'', describes an event or a condition. Recently, the kadigan ''Nupsi'' for something small protruding from something larger has become somewhat popular (via TV comedy, it is believed). The German equivalent to the English ''John Doe'' for males and ''Jane Doe'' for females would be ''Hans Mustermann'' and ''Erika Mustermann'', respectively. For many years, , ''Max Mustermann'' is used instead. In Cologne , ''Otto'' (which can also refer to a Gadget ) and ''Gerdi'' are popular used names for men/boys and women/girls with unknown firstname. ''Bert'' also had some popularity as a placeholder for names in the past. For remote or exotic locations, the Germans also use ''Timbuktu'', as is common in the English language; for towns or villages in the German-speaking world, ''Kleinkleckersdorf'' or ''Kuhdorf'' (lit. ''cow village'') is in usage. Other kadigans such as ''Bad Sonstwo a der Irgend'' have been suggested. ''Otto Normalverbraucher'' ("Otto Average-Consumer"; this is taken from bureaucratic jargon of post-WW2 food rationing via the name of a 1948 film character played by Gert Fröbe ) corresponds to the American "The Joneses", or John Sixpack. Greek In greek mostly two "official" cadigans are used, ''tade'' (original meaning was 'these here') and ''deina''. Eg. 'If Tade comes and asks me, I know what to say'. There is also the name Foufoutos used more jokingly. Unofficially, most cadigans are improvisional, derived from pronouns, such as tetoios, apotetoios, apaftos, o etsi etc Hebrew In Hebrew , the most popular personal name placeholders are ''מֹשֶׁה'' (''Moshe'' = '' Moses '') and ''יוֹסִי'' (''Yossi'', Diminutive form of '' Joseph '') for first name, and ''כֹהֵן'' ('' Cohen '', the most popular last name in Israel ) for last name. However, in ID and credit card samples, the usual name is ''Israel Israeli'' for a man and ''Israela Israeli'' for a woman (these are actual first and last names). The traditional terms are Ploni פלוני and his party Almoni אלמוני. A vulgar kadigan for a place mostly popular in the Army is ''פִיזְדֶלוֹך'' (''pizdelokh'', formed from the Russian ''pizda'', '' Pussy '', and the German and Yiddish ''Loch'' = ''hole''). Also quite common is ''תיז (א)נביא'' (''Tiz (e) Nabi'' “the prophet’s ass”, from Arabic), and again ''Timbuktu''. A kadigan for a time in the far past is ''תרפפ"ו'' (pronounced ''Tarapapu'', which somewhat resembles a year in the Hebrew Calendar but is not quite one). Hungarian In ''izé'' and its verbal and nominal derivatives often take on sexual meanings). In addition to its placeholder function, ''izé'' is an all-purpose Hesitation Word , like ''ah,'' ''er,'' ''um'' in English. Italian In Italian the standard kadigan is ''roba'', stuff; the word ''coso'' is used, apparently related to ''cosa'', "thing". The word ''affare'' (business/thing) has almost the same meaning. Also there are specific kadigans (from ancient Roman typical male names) for three unnamed people: Tizio, Caio and Sempronio. One typical expression for a time very late in the night is ''alle mille di notte'' (at one thousand o'clock); Japanese In Japanese , ''naninani'' (なになに, a doubled form of the word ''nani'', meaning ''what'') is often used as a kadigan. It does not necessarily mean a physical object; for example, it is often used to stand in for an omitted word when discussing grammar. A similar phrase is ''nantoka nantoka.'' ''Hoge'' (ほげ, no literal meaning) has been gaining popularity in the computing world, where it is used much like ''foo'' and ''bar''. Latin In Latin the word ''res'' (thing) is used. Some Latin legal writers used the name Numerius Negidius as a John Doe placeholder name; this name was chosen in part because it shares its initials with the Latin phrases (often abbreviated in manuscripts to ''NN'') '' Nomen Nescio '', “I don’t know the name”; ''nomen nominandum'', “name to be named” (used when the name of an appointee was as yet unknown); and ''non nominatus/nominata'', “not named”. Malay In Malay the word ''anu'' which may be prefixed with ''si'' can be used to refer to a person whose name has eluded the speaker. It can also be used for a generic person as in ''Mr/Ms So-and-so''. Maori In Maori the word ''taru'', literally meaning “long grass” or “weeds” is used. Polish In Polish most popular kadigans are ''dynks'' (see German ''Dings'') and ''wihajster'' (equals to German ''wie heisst er?'' - ''how do you call this?''). Others like ''elemelek'' or ''pipsztok'' are probably not so well known. Also used are ''dzyngiel'' (equivalent to dynks) and ''knefel'' (similar to frob, unknown object that can be adjusted or manipulated). Portuguese In Portuguese , common kadigans are ''treco'' and ''negócio'', among others. Kadigans for people are usually ''Fulano''/''Fulana'' (optionally surnamed ''de Tal''), ''Sicrano''/''Sicrana'' and ''Beltrano''/''Beltrana''. ''João das Couves'' or ''José da Silva'' are also used. Quechua In Quechua , there is a noun radical ''na'' (''whatever'') to which verbal (''nay = to do whatever''), agentive (''naq = the doer of whatever''), or affective (''nacha = cute little thing'') suffixes may be added. Russian In Russian , among the common kadigans are ''это самое'' (''this particular {Link without Title} ''), ''штука'' (''thing;'' diminutive forms also exist), ''ботва''(''leafy tops of root vegetables''),''фигня''(crud) and ''хуйня'' (in Mat slang; roughly translatable as ''something Dick ish'') together with its minced forms such as ''хрен'' ('' Horseradish ''). A kadigan for something awkward, bulky and useless is ''бандура'' ('' Bandura '', an old Ukrainian Musical Instrument , big and inconvenient to carry). A kadigan for a monetary unit is ''тугрик'' ('' Tugrik '', the Monetary Unit of Mongolia ; as is the case with ''Timbucktoo'', most speakers are unaware of its actual existence). A placeholder name for obscure and remote places is ''Тьмутаракань'' ( Tmutarakan , an ancient Crimea n city). Mukhosransk is a derogatory kadigan for a remote and uninteresting town. Duduevo and Novoyebenyovo (obscene) are sometimes used for a remote village or a suburban settlement. Kadigans for personal names include variations on names Иван (Ivan), Пётр (Pyotr/Peter), and Сидор (Sidor), such as ''Иван Петрович Сидоров'' (Ivan Petrovich Sidorov) for a full name, or ''Иванов'' (Ivanov) for a last name. ''Василий Пупкин'' (Vasiliy Pupkin) is also (jokingly) used as a generic name. Spanish , and borrow ''quídam'' as a word for something or another. ''Chisme'', ''chirimbolo'', ''cacharro'' are generally used for any object or device. Mexican Spanish adds ''chingadera'' ("fucker"), not to be used in polite circumstances. Kadigans for unspecified persons include '' Don Fulano''/''Doña Fulana'' from Arabic (see above) and ''Fulano/Fulana de Tal'' (''Fulana'' should be used with care as it has acquired the Euphemistic meaning of "prostitute", it may be defanged with the diminutive ''Fulanita''; if a second or third person is needed, they are ''Mengano'' and ''Zutano''. Further less used names are ''Perengano'' and in Cuba ''Esperancejo''. '' Pepe '' ("Joe") is used as a generic person name and metasyntactic variable. For numbers, ''veinticatorce'' ("twenty-fourteen") or ''cuarentiquince'' ("forty-fifteen") for small numbers and ''tropecientos'' ("trope hundred") for big numbers are used. The actress Lina Morgan used to answer with ''taytantos'' ("ty-something") when asked about her age. Swedish Swedish has a large, but fairly unimaginative vocabulary of kadigans: ''Sak'', ''grej'', ''pryl'', ''mojäng''/''moj'' (from French ''moyen'') and ''grunka'' are the neutral words for thing. “Pryl” is also a small sharp tool used to make holes in tough materials, but this usage is less common. An older word for thing is ''ting'', which is common in idioms, and a pretty much obsolete one is ''tingest''. Some plural nouns are ''grejsimojs'', ''grunkimojs'', ''grejs'' and ''tjofräs'', which correspond to thingamabob, and the youth loan word ''stuff'', which is pronounced with the Swedish u. ''Apparat'' (or, more slangy, ''mackapär'') more specifically refers to a complex appliance of some kind, much like the German ''Gerät''. More familiarly or when openly expressing low interest, people use ''tjafs'' or ''trams'' (drivel) and ''skräp'' or ''krams'' (rubbish). Like in English, various words for feces can be used: ''skit'' (shit) and ''bajs'' (poop - often anglified by youth into ''bice'') are standard, well known local variations are ''mög'', ''bös'' and ''dret''. ''Vadhannuhette'' and ''vaddetnuhette'' correspond to ''whatshisname'' and ''whatchamacallit'' respectively, except that they use the past tense. ''Det där du vet'' means "that thing you know". ''Den och den'' (that and that) corresponds to ''so and so''. ''Gunk'' may refer to any fairly large quantity of unwanted substance or objects of varied or indeterminate identity, much like the English "junk". Place names in Swedish are more colorful: Someplace far away can be called ''Tjotaheiti'' (which is derived from "to Tahiti") or ''Långtbortistan'', ''Farawaystan'', a play on names like Pakistan. ''Häcklefjäll'' is a commonly used as a name for a generic remote village, which is actually a synonym for the Icelandic volcano Hekla . Common names used as placeholders are Anna and Maria for women, Johan and Anders for men and Svensson, Karlsson and Andersson for surnames (Svensson is a common Swedish surname, and is often used to express genericness or mundaneness). Turkish Turkish has many colorful kadigans. "Falan" seems to be borrowed from Arabic, and comes in variations like "filanca" (what’s his name) and "falan filan" (stuff, etc.). "Ivir zivir" is a common kadigan for "various stuff". Kadigans for persons exist in abundance, one example being "Sari Cizmeli Mehmet Aga" ("Mehmet Aga with yellow boots") which generally is used to mean "unknown person". Vietnamese In Vietnamese , ''Nguyễn Văn A'' and ''Nguyễn Thị B'' are usually used as placeholder names for a male and female, respectively, due to the ubiquity of the family name Nguyễn and middle names Văn And Thị in Vietnamese. Welsh In Welsh , the word ''bechingalw'' has been used, literally ''whatdyoucallit''. Ubykh One of the kadigans in Ubykh , zamsjada, may be related to another word meaning ''useless''. Yiddish In Yiddish , ''der zach'' is often used, similar to the German ''die Sache'' above. Stand-up Comic David Steinberg did a Routine about his attempt to identify an object, based only on his father’s description of it as “In Yiddish, we used to call it ‘Der zach’”. Yoruba In Yoruba , Lagbaja and Temedu are the most common placeholder names. SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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