John Bull
1
9.3
- noun
- Literature
:
John Bull
- In British culture, he is often seen as the embodiment of the typical Englishman, a true John Bull.
- Uncle Sam and John Bull
- Uncle Sam and John Bull
Examples
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During the discussion, they referred to the archetypal John Bull to illustrate the common perceptions of English masculinity.
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You see yourself as the brave John Bull.
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A very solid-looking citizen, at first impression a typical John Bull, waved the Union Jack, the symbol of only one place.
Academic text (1991) -
The character of John Bull is frequently used in literature to represent stubbornness and national pride.
Surface Forms
Morphology
John + bull
The meaning 'personification of England / the typical Englishman' is not transparently derivable from the constituents 'John' (a common male name) and 'bull' (an animal or informal term for a strong man). This is a culturally and historically conventionalized proper-name personification (like 'Uncle Sam'), so a B1 learner who only knows the words would not reliably infer the idiomatic national/personification sense.
Etymology
John Bull may come from an old English story and cartoon where a writer used a plain, strong man called John Bull to stand for the nation. So today John Bull is used as a 'symbol of England' or to mean a 'typical Englishman'.