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What's the "Joe Shmoe" of different cultures? Or the "John/Jane Smith"? (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago by ech@lemm.ee to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

84 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Explanations/etymology also appreciated!

For Joe Shmoe, it means a very average or below average person. It's a derivation of the practice of using "shm-" to dismiss something (eg "Practice shmactice. We're already perfect").

And "John Smith" is meant to be the most average name or person imaginable, so they have the "most common" (citation needed) first and last name as well.

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[–] Tschuuuls@feddit.de 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

In German there are also derogatory uses for the forenames "Kevin" and "Otto" for example. Often used to depict not well educated persons that have made extremely stupid decisions/choices.

[–] ndguardian@lemmy.studio 14 points 1 year ago

As someone with a brother named Kevin, I can confirm he’s doing his part to uphold that depiction.

[–] dreadgoat@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think this one is pretty confined to my region (southwestern USA) but we use Otto as the moniker of a generic stupid person too, but probably for a different reason: Otto is Oblivious to the Obvious