honest John

noun

noun

Idiomatic An ordinary, honest, member of the public

The high street was a place of utility once, with concentrated amenities. It was a place of wildly fluctuating codes of behaviour and scruples. Particular smells. Finicky proprietors. Honest johns. Crooks.2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.