“Peter Collins” was a
circus and
theatrical colloquialism
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
in
British and
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, designating an
imaginary or
nonexistent
Existence is the ability of an entity to interact with reality. In philosophy, it refers to the ontological property of being.
Etymology
The term ''existence'' comes from Old French ''existence'', from Medieval Latin ''existentia/exsistentia'' ...
person to whom a
newcomer or beginner was sent on a silly errand as a kind of
initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...
(e.g., “Go ask Peter Collins for a left-handed screwdriver”). In underworld slang, it had the additional meaning of “nobody” or “no one.”. In this latter sense, the term was the basis for the pen name “Peter Collinson” (i.e., Peter Collins's son) used at the very beginning of his writing career by
Dashiell Hammett, who later authored ''
The Maltese Falcon'' and other famous works.
[MysteryNet.com, s.v. Dashiel Hammett, http://www.mysterynet.com/hammett/]
References
{{Reflist
British slang
American slang