Joe Shmoe (also spelled Joe Schmoe and Joe Schmo), meaning "Joe Anybody", or no one in particular, is a commonly used fictional name in
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...
.
Adding a "Shm" to the beginning of a word is meant to diminish, negate, or dismiss an argument (for instance, "Rain, shmain, we've got a game to play"). It can also indicate that the speaker is being ironic or
sarcastic. This process was adapted in English from the use of the "schm" prefix in
Yiddish to dismiss something; as in, "Fancy, schmancy" (thus denying the claim that something is fancy). While "
schmo" ("schmoo", "schmoe") is thought by some linguists to be a clipping of Yiddish
שמוק "schmuck", that derivation is disputed.
See also
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Average Joe
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Joe Bloggs
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John Doe
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John Q. Public
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Placeholder name
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Tom, Dick and Harry
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Zé Povinho
References
Anonymity pseudonyms
Placeholder names
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