List of placeholder names by language

This article is about placeholder names in languages other than English.

Afrikaans

In Afrikaans, dinges ('thing'), goeters ('things'), watsenaam ('what's its name') are common placeholders.

Persons

Places

A common placeholder name for a semi-mythological place - much the same as Timbuktu - is Pofadder (a real town). A general term for a far away, remote/rural environment is "Boendoe".

Arabic

Arabic uses Fulan / Fulana[h] (فلان / فلانة) and when a last name is needed it becomes Fulan AlFulani / Fulana[h] AlFulaniyya[h] (فلان الفلاني / فلانة الفلانية). When a second person is needed, ʿillan / ʿillana[h] (علان / علانة) is used. The use of Fulan has been borrowed into Spanish, Portuguese, Persian, Turkish and Malay, as shown below.

Bengali

Bengali uses the universal placeholder ইয়ে iay. Its generally placed for a noun which cannot be recalled by the speaker at the time of his/her speech. ইয়ে iay can be used for nouns, adjectives, and verbs (in conjunction with light verbs). অমুক omuk can also be a placeholder for people.