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Marketing - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / US vs. UK expressions | | English term or phrase: just another John Doe | This is moreso a copywriting/comparative literature query.
"To the general public, he's just another John Doe; but in the world of classical music, he can't take a whizz without someone wanting to shake his hand."
Trying to convert this colorful US expression into something a bit more British-sounding. The two things that are questionable are "John Doe" and "take a whizz", which I'm doubtful are used as often in the commonwealth as they are in the USA.
Any thoughts? |
|  Bryan CrumplerKudoZ activityQuestions: 82 (none open) ( 4 without valid answers) ( 5 closed without grading) Answers: 375
United States
| | Local time: 21:10
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| | English translation:Just another Joe Bloggs | Explanation:
Another of the common ones. Failing that, if you want an older one, there's "the man on the Clapham omnibus". |
| Selected response from:
kmtext
Local time: 02:10
| Grading comment Hmm... this was a tough one to dish out points for. "John Smith", while equally a viable solution, feels to me to indicate the "average" person, while "John Doe" is more or less someone who is "unknown" altogether. Even a great pianist can be "unknown" (lack of publicity, opportunities etc); but anyone, regardless of his or her expertise or experience with classical music, that might ever see or hear said pianist perform would surely be able to gather that he is not exactly the "average" pianist. So, this slight nuance is more or less the first thing that swayed my decision. The other is that it was easier to cross reference information on my own about "Joe Bloggs" that was relevant. "John Smith" seems to get buried in cross-fire with history on the explorer - which I anticipated - and is something I'd prefer to avoid. Thanks everyone so much for the helpful contributions.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +5
