Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

man on the clapham omnibus

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.68 in modern English

Syllables
man on the -clapham om-nibus
IPA
40
Scrabble Score
22
Letters
3
Syllables
14
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any hypothetical reasonable person used by the Courts in considering questions of reasonableness; an everyman.

British usage

noun

Any ordinary person; everyman.

British usage

Example Sentences

Etymology

First put to legal use in a reported judgement by Sir Richard Henn Collins MR in the English Court of Appeal libel case, McQuire v. Western Morning News (1903), who attributed it to Lord Bowen.

Usage

Inflected Forms

men on the Clapham omnibus (plural, rare)

Frequently Paired Words

moron in a hurry person having ordinary skill in the art woman on the street Mrs Miggins

Synonyms

man on the Bondi tram man on the Shau Kei Wan tram reasonable person man on the street

Questions

What does man on the clapham omnibus mean?
Any hypothetical reasonable person used by the Courts in considering questions of reasonableness; an everyman.
Where does man on the clapham omnibus come from?
First put to legal use in a reported judgement by Sir Richard Henn Collins MR in the English Court of Appeal libel case, McQuire v. Western Morning News (1903), who attributed it to Lord Bowen.

How to pronounce man on the clapham omnibus

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “man on the clapham omnibus”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “man on the clapham omnibus”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “man on the clapham omnibus” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.