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

submitted 10 months 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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[-] cypherpunks@lemmy.ml 82 points 10 months ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_placeholder_names_by_language

[-] ALERT@sh.itjust.works 28 points 10 months ago

spoiled all the fun :)

this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023

192 points (99.0% liked)

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