Joe Shmoe (also spelled Joe Schmoe and Joe Schmo; for which Joe Blow is sometimes substituted), meaning "Joe Anybody", or no one in particular, is a commonly used fictional name in American English. 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, "sale, schmale" (thus denying that the sale is worthwhile).
While "schmo" ("schmoo", "schmoe") is thought by some linguists to be a clipping of Yiddish שמאָק "schmuck",[25] that derivation is disputed.[26] The earliest known use of the phrase is the 1940s.[27]
36 Comments
lookitsjustin@lemmy.ca · 36 pts · 28d
Guys I’m concerned about Lisa
NoSpotOfGround@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 28d
Let Lisa live like Lisa likes, lookitsjustin!
GreenShimada@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 28d
Lisa gonna get them monster shits
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 28d
look shes fine
gmtom@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 28d
Why do Americans consider it important to remember the names of these lakes?
beegnyoshi@lemmy.zip · 19 pts · 28d
Geography and common knowledge? I also had to learn the major rivers in my country as a kid
lobut@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 28d
I need to feel smart when watching Only Connect!
wieson@feddit.org · 4 pts · 28d
Yeah but your country is probably cooler
QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 28d
only people living near the lakes would have them memorized, can't remember the last time I even thought about them lol
also worth mentioning it's a shitpost too
zikzak025@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 26d
Do you not learn the names of your country's geography?
gmtom@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 26d
Not rote memorisation of the names of things, no.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 28d
that one's george, that one's john, that one's paul, that one's ringo, and that one's pete
Danarchy@lemmy.nz · 8 pts · 28d
I learnt it using the last letters of each lake
Ryan
Nice
Ned’s
Erie
O
Dultas@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 28d
Licking lettuce right now really is a shit post.
scytale@piefed.zip · 7 pts · 28d
L H E D
Lisa has explosive diarrhea.
einlander@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 28d
Taylor Farms lettuce?
hakunawazo@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 28d
Hmm... SM HOE... can't think of a nice mnemonic here.
tetris11@feddit.uk · 10 pts · 28d
Shmoe. It's a japanese sub-culture about embracing cute things but they have to shut up about it
CorrenteAlternata@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 28d
if the order is not important, you can also do SHEMO which in Italian it sounds like the word for "dumb" (scemo).
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 28d
goldfndr@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 28d
The simpler HOMES would like to weigh in.
CorrenteAlternata@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 28d
mind = blown
frog@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 28d
That's interesting. I wonder if that's related to the term "Joe Shmoe" in the US. The term is used for an average person.
CorrenteAlternata@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 28d
According to Wikipedia (may it live forever!):
frog@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 28d
Well if we are talking about Japanese culture I'd like to throw in:
MOSHE
As in mochi. 😋
betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 28d
Wish I'd known this one back in grade school.
Snapz@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 28d
ICEBERG, DEAD AHEAD!!!
ThisSeriesIsFalse@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 28d
We... are in a plane.
HotsauceHurricane@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 28d
So
Many
Hockey-Players
Eat
Onions
sam_the_tech@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 28d
Suck My Huge Erect Ontario!
Jyek@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 28d
Some Men Have Erectile Overfunction
theacharnian@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 28d
The one Thunder Bay is on. The one that has nice beaches. The one in the south. The one Toronto is on.
Oh, yes, and the American one.
adarza@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 28d
the 'american' (michigan) one you could very well just ignore, if you just go off the fact that hydrologically, that one and lake huron are one lake.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Michigan%E2%80%93Huron
TargaryenTKE@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 28d
I'd Love to Lick a Lemon Lollipop in Lillehammer
TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 28d
LetS LooM LiquorisH LyceE LimbO
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 28d
if you look very closely at lake michigan you can see the lettuce