Doakes

Joe Blow

The average man or person. Primarily heard in US. Obviously this issue is going to resonate with some special interest groups, but do you really think Joe Blow will care? We can't hire any Joe Blow as our spokesperson. We need someone recognizable, who the public already likes.

Joe Doakes

An average guy. ("Joe Blow" is more commonly used to mean the same.) Why would they send me to some Joe Doakes who isn't even licensed as a psychologist?

John Doe

A man whose identity is unknown or being protected, as in legal proceedings. The victim is a John Doe—the paramedics didn't find any identification on him. The case was brought by a John Doe, so we don't know the true identity of the man suing us.

See also: doe, john

John Doe

1. Also, John Q. Public; Joe Blow; Joe Doakes; Joe Zilch. An average undistinguished man; also, the average citizen. For example, This television show is just right for a John Doe, or It's up to John Q. Public to go to the polls and vote. Originally used from the 13th century on legal documents as an alias to protect a witness, John Doe acquired the sense of "ordinary person" in the 1800s. The variants date from the 1900s. Also see Joe six-pack.

2. Also, Jane Doe. An unknown individual, as in The police found a John Doe lying on the street last night, or The judge issued a warrant for the arrest of the perpetrators, Jane Doe no. 1 and Jane Doe no. 2 . [Second half of 1900s]

See also: doe, john

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Joe Blow

and Joe Doakes (ˈdʒo ˈblo and ˈdʒo ˈdoks)

n. a typical or average male American citizen. What do you think Joe Blow really thinks about all this? Joe Doakes thinks the government ought to pay for all medical care.

Joe Doakes

verb

See Joe Blow

John Doe

and Jane Doe (ˈdʒɑn ˈdo)

n. a name used for a person whose real name is unknown. The tag on the corpse said Jane Doe, since no one had identified her. John Doe was the name at the bottom of the check.

See also: doe, john

John Doe

The average person. This appellation actually dates from the thirteenth century, when it was used in legal documents to disguise the identity of witnesses; the tenant plaintiff was called John Doe and the landlord defendant Richard Roe. In the nineteenth century the name acquired the present meaning of ordinary person. A book, The O’Hara Family (1825), included “Tales, Containing . . . John Doe,” and almost a century later a movie starring Gary Cooper was entitled Meet John Doe (1941). Similar appellations include Joe Blow, first recorded in 1867; Joe Doakes, from the 1920s; and John Q. Public, coined by the writer William Allen White in 1937. John Doe has outlived them all.

See also: doe, john

Joe Blow

An ordinary person. That phrase meant just an average guy—any old Joe (“Joe Doakes” was a variation). It was the predecessor of “Joe Sixpack.” In fact, “Joe” was such a common first name (or nickname) that it became a slang word for coffee, which was also found everywhere.