Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun US, informal The typical, everyday person who does not have any special status, frequently in contrast to some group.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Derivative of Joe (as in average Joe). Adding a schm- or shm- to the beginning of a word is meant to diminish, negate, or dismiss an argument (for instance, "rain, schmain, we've got a game to play"). This process was adapted in English from the use of the "shm" prefix in Yiddish to dismiss something; as in, "fancy, schmancy." While "Schmoe" (and alternate spellings) are thought by some linguists to be a clipping of Yiddish schmuck ("penis") but not universally accepted.

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