person from Porlock
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Someone who interrupts or disrupts a creative process
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
người làm gián đoạn hoặc phá vỡ quá trình sáng tạo
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: a person from the town of Porlock
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The person from Porlock knocked on the door, ending my writing session
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “person from Porlock” mean?
Someone who interrupts or disrupts a creative process Literally: a person from the town of Porlock
Is “person from Porlock” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.