JOHNNY-COME-LATELY

The phrase Johnny-come-lately refers to a newcomer or a new kid on the block. According to grammarphobia.com, the phrase originated in the 19th-century America and is used for an upstart, a late adherent to a trend or cause, and someone who’s late for an event.

Though the phrase originated in America, it wasn’t restricted to American lexicon. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) cites numerous examples, beginning in 1839, when the phrase seems already established.

The phrase doesn’t necessarily imply that the newcomer is trying to “muscle in”, but rather carries a warning that it would be unseemly of him/ her to do so.

In the British Army a new recruit was known as ‘Johnny Raw’ from the beginning of the 19th century at least till Kipling’s time. During the Napoleonic wars, experienced officers in the Peninsular campaign referred to newlyarrived young officers as ‘Johnny Newcome’.

Urbandictionary.com describes the phrase as “A newcomer to success; being new to wealth, and having relatively little culture, he spends it without caution or prudence, often with a penchant for the very modern or fashionable. Essentially he begins to do all the things he thinks a wealthy person ought to do, and in the process draws a lot of attention to himself.”

One OED citation is from the Christchurch Press in New Zealand, which offered this definition for its readers in 1933: “Johnny-come-lately, nickname for a cowboy or any newlyjoined hand or recent immigrant.”

Finally, this 1972 example is from the former BBC publication The Listener, in a reference to the state of Utah: “Here man himself is a Johnny-come-lately.”