"Plain Jane" & "Joe Schmoe" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 2020-10-08

0:00 - How to Say, “Plain Jane. Joe Schmoe.”
0:22 - Examples of “Plain Jane. Joe Schmoe.”
1:06 - Meaning of “Plain Jane. Joe Schmoe.”
2:07 - Origin of “Plain Jane. Joe Schmoe.”
5:04 - More Examples of “Plain Jane. Joe Schmoe.”
5:47 - Conclusion

“Plain Jane. Joe Schmoe.”

You often hear people being described as either, “plain Jane,” or “Joe Schmoe,” meaning that she or he is quite ordinary, normal, everyday, regular.

“She looks very plain Jane, but if you talk to her, you’ll find out that she’s anything but ordinary,” your friend might be telling you about his new girlfriend.

Maybe you’ve heard that the new boy at school wants to ask you out, “Who? That Joe Schmoe? Tell him I already have a boyfriend!”

“We don’t want anything fancy or complicated, just give us something plain Jane,” your grandparents might say while shopping for a new oven.

As you can tell, both “plain Jane,” and “Joe Schmoe” refer to people who are, or who look, to be nothing special, are commonplace, boring, mundane, unexciting.

“Plain Jane,” is also commonly used to refer to objects or things and not simply human females.

“Joe Schmoe” is the male equivalent, but cannot be used for objects and has a slightly negative connotation, whereas “plain Jane” doesn’t necessarily mean undesirable.

You could also say, “average Jane,” or “average Joe,” in place of either of these adjectives.

“Plain Jane” first came to be used to describe unremarkable, unstylish girls or women at the turn of the 20th century, as early as 1901.

“Joe Schmoe” is a term appearing much later in the American vernacular, with obvious roots in Yiddish and therefore the slang of New York City.

The practice in Yiddish is to use the “schm” prefix to dismiss something; such as in the common phrase, “fancy schmancy”, which indicates that you don’t think it’s fancy or you don’t care.

You may also sometimes hear, “plain Jane vanilla” used to describe simple things, which is our idiom with the addition of “vanilla”.

Though vanilla is actually an exotic flavouring derived from the seed pod of the vanilla orchid, it has become so common in artificial form since the 1970s, that it has come to mean plain, usual, unadorned.

Most people think of themselves as anything but “plain Jane” - they are sure that they’re special, above average, different…

… and the recent phenomena of social media allows people to curate any image of themselves. You’ll have a hard time finding Plain Janes or Joe Schmoes in your social media feed.

Though being average often comes with negative connotations, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it - and often, being average is the ideal way to live a fruitful and satisfying life.

There are always going to be people who are above average, extraordinary, god-like; but you shouldn’t let the pursuit of such status rule your psyche.

Despite perhaps being “plain Jane,” you are certainly special and unique to those who love you, to those whom you’ve helped, shared a moment with or touched in some way.

“Our head scientist looks and acts very plain Jane, but she is a genius when it comes to our work,” your new manager might be telling you.

Perhaps you and a colleague just finished a conversation with someone, “That Joe Schmoe is the CEO? I would’ve never guessed!”

“Let’s just eat a plain Jane breakfast of oatmeal and bananas and hit the road,” your friend might say one morning while on a road trip.

So, the next time you want to describe a person or a thing as ordinary, unremarkable, average, boring, common, etc., be sure to call it, “plain Jane,” or if it’s a guy, “Joe Schmoe.”

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