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“Average Joe” is a common expression in America for a hypothetical average male, with similar phrases used for women. Placeholder names like “John Doe” and “Jane Roe” have been used in British legal authorities since the 17th century. In the 20th century, US media began using similar phrases. In England, Australia, and New Zealand, the average Joe is given names like Joe Bloggs and Joe Soap. The average Joe is financially close to the middle class, and many political and commercial campaigns have been geared towards appealing to them. The reality TV series Average Joe and Joe Millionaire used their titles to indicate that their subjects were average Americans.
“Average Joe” is a common American expression that describes a hypothetical average American male. Similar expressions include “John Q. Public”, “Joe Sixpack” and “Joe Bloggs”, the latter of which is commonly used in England and other English-speaking nations. The average American woman is sometimes referred to as the “average Jane” or similar phrases. The phrases are similar to placeholder names like “John Doe,” but with more emphasis on middle class or working class. Many headlines, catchphrases, and jokes have played on the phrase “average Joe.”
Placeholder names such as “John Doe” and “Jane Roe” have been used by British legal authorities since the 17th century. Such names were required by English law when discussing a hypothetical or anonymous subject. In the 20th century, US news and entertainment media began using similar phrases when describing the practices and desires of the typical American. The names “John” and “Joe” were used frequently because they are common and informal, suggesting a friend or neighbor. Names such as “John Q. Public”, “Joe Blow” and “Joe Shmoe” were soon used for this purpose by the general public.
In England, Australia and New Zealand, the average Joe is given names like Joe Bloggs and Joe Soap. “Joe Soap” originates from English rhyming slang, where a word or name is replaced with another word that rhymes with it; only a person who knows the lingo will understand the reference. Joe Soap, which rhymes with drug, originally meant a dull person, but has since become just any average British man. Joe Bloggs was in use in England long before the current meaning of “blog” as a diary on the Internet.
The average Joe will be neither rich nor impoverished, but financially close to the middle class. In America and other nations, there is a certain pride and honor in coming from a working-class or middle-class background. Many political and commercial campaigns have been geared towards appealing to the average Joe. The hypothetical average American woman is often described as “Jane,” likely because of the resemblance to the name “Joe” rather than because it’s particularly common.
During the 2000s, the reality TV series Average Joe and Joe Millionaire used their titles to indicate that their subjects were average Americans rather than models or actual millionaires. In the 2008 US presidential campaign, an activist who calls himself Joe the Plumber sought to establish himself as an archetypal average American. His argument was that if he endorsed his candidate’s policies, other so-called average Americans should do the same. An independent candidate by the name of Joe, meanwhile, campaigned for a presidential nomination in the same election, promoting himself under the slogan “Average Joe.”
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