Etymology of _John_ 'Prostitute's Client'

[Jonathan Lighter]

I've seen or thought nothing new about this since 1998.

JL

On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 10:00 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Etymology of _John_ 'Prostitute's Client'
>
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>
> I have been asked about why the word _john_ is used to denote a
> prostitute'=
> s client.  It seems obvious to me that the name John, because of its
> common=
> ness, became a generic term for men, perhaps with the implication that
> pros=
> titute's clients don't give their real names.  But can anyone point me to
> a=
> ny  discussions, in dictionaries or scholarly books or articles, of the
> der=
> ivation of this usage?  I have looked at the OED, HDAS, Green, and Dalzell
> =
> already.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
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