Phrase guide

who shot John

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Long and involved explanation, finger-pointing, or assignment of credit or blame.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable

Examples

  • 1979, Mr. Morris, quoted in Reauthorization of programs under the Justice System Improvement Act of 1979 : hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, United States General Printing Office, page 17, I really do not think it is appropriate to come up here and present to this committee or to the Congress the "who shot John" processes by which the President makes decisions.
  • 1987 May 13, Ms. Gradison, quoted in The Clayton Act Amendments of 1987 (railroad antitrust immunity) : hearing before the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Monopolies, and Business Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, United States General Printing Office, page 88, Senator DeConcini. You may not be able to comment on some pending cases, but I am aware of an Arizona electric case filed in 1981 which is still pending. Ms. Gradision. Yes, sir. And I thought that might come up, so I brought the who-shot-John on it.
  • 2004, Thomas Friedman, quoted in International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East Staff, Role of Civil Society in Promoting a Just And Lasting Peace in the Middle East: An Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue, United Nations Publications, →ISBN, page 67, That was the intervening event. I raise that not to start this whole who-shot-John-first, but to say that if we are going to talk about these events, we have to talk about them in the full and complete context.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Nonsense; rubbish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Something bad; a mess.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Liquor, especially illegally made.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Southern-US, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

First attested in the 1860s as a game among students at British military academies; in later use, chiefly US.