A. N. Other
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A. N. Other is either a placeholder name or a pseudonym used by a person wishing to remain anonymous, the former being more commonly encountered. It is most used in the United Kingdom, and as such is often written in the common British English style as AN Other without punctuation or spacing between the initials. Occasionally it may be abbreviated to ANO, or — in cases where an explicitly female name is acceptable — rendered as Ann(e) Other.
A. N. Other's address is often listed as "Any Street, Anytown" or similar, although it is also common for a well-known large city such as London to be used. If a generic credit card number is required for Other, it is sometimes listed as beginning with "1234", since this prefix is not used by any of the major card companies. (e.g. for a 16-digit Visa card number: "1234 5678 9012 3456".)
As a placeholder name, A. N. Other is commonly encountered in lists of sporting squads where not all the names are known or have yet been announced. This is particularly widely used in cricket, where players' names are traditionally listed as initials and surname (eg I. T. Botham), but is not uncommon in other sports. (e.g. "Additional players: A. W. Smith, J. C. Taylor and A. N. Other.")
The Formula One racing driver Jackie Stewart raced as "A.N. Other" early in his career, supposedly because his mother would worry if she knew he was racing cars.[citation needed]
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[edit] External links
- Johnson carves some turkey - Cricinfo article referring to "AN Other", 16 September 2006.