Doakes
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 in this field?
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.
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.
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]
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
verbSee 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.
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.
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.