so-and-so

[ soh-uhn-soh ]
See synonyms for: so-and-soso-and-sos on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural so-and-sos.
  1. someone or something not definitely named: to gossip about so-and-so.

  2. a bastard; son of a bitch (used as a euphemism): Tell the old so-and-so to mind his own business.

Origin of so-and-so

1
First recorded in 1590–1600

Words Nearby so-and-so

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use so-and-so in a sentence

  • Well, is it not wise to take what one can get—the little glory of being the property of Mr. so-and-so?

  • Now, if you are dying and call in some Dr. so-and-so, you may find him a young fellow of three or four and twenty.

  • Sometimes he would come to the very verge of committing himself by adding, "From so-and-so."

    Mushroom Town | Oliver Onions
  • I tried to remember whether I had been introduced to her as a Miss or Mrs. so-and-so, but without success.

    The Talking Horse | F. Anstey
  • The point of interest to the statesman is that it didn't for a moment occur to us to do so-and-so when the time for doing it came.

    The New Machiavelli | Herbert George Wells

British Dictionary definitions for so-and-so

so-and-so

nounplural so-and-sos informal
  1. a person whose name is forgotten or ignored: so-and-so came to see me

  2. euphemistic a person or thing regarded as unpleasant or difficult: which so-and-so broke my razor?

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012