Why do they call dead unknown bodies John and Jane Doe??
Answer:
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We found the answer to your question at The Word Detective, a treasure trove of etymological explanations written by syndicated columnist Evan Morris. Morris, in turn, says he discovered the origin of "John Doe" in a book called What's in a Name?, by Paul Dickson.
The phrase is older than you might think. "John Doe" dates from the reign of England's King Edward III (1312-1377). A famous legal document from this period labels a hypothetical landowner "John Doe," who leases land to a "Richard Roe," who then claims the land as his own and kicks out poor John.
The names don't have any particular relevance, other than the fact that a doe is a female deer, while a roe is a smaller species of deer. But the land dispute in question became a famous legal debate, and the names survived their circumstances.
The online legal dictionary FindLaw defines John Doe as a "party to legal proceedings (as a suspect) whose true name is unknown or withheld." The female equivalent is Jane Doe or Mary Major. A second male suspect is dubbed Richard Roe, and subsequent ones are referred to as John Stiles and Richard Miles.
What else could they call them? I can't think of anything.
i dont know
What do you think, they should call them; bonnie or clyde?
These names had no particular significance, aside from "Doe" (a female deer) and "Roe" (a small species of deer found in Europe) being commonly known nouns at the time of England's King Edward III.
I don't know why. But with modern tech, there are a lot less "unidentifiable" bodies than there used to be.
It is used as a temporary name where the true identity of a person is unknown, or its to conceal their identity, or because they don't know whether the person actually exists.
Originally, John Doe was used as a fictitious name in regards to property disputes in legal cases (the plaintiff). Richard Roe represented the defendant. This was purely done to avoid unfairly evicting a person.
The women in a property dispute were known as Jane Doe & Jane Roe.
As you can see, the term John/Jane Doe is used more loosely in today's society.
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