Martha nominates another Word of the Year candidate: Joe the, as in “Joe the Plumber,” and subsequent variations on the “X the Y” formula arising from a certain drain-fixer’s quarter-hour of fame. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Joe the Plumber”
Martha, what’s your word of the year nomination?
Well, it’s a phrase, or maybe the word is just one word, Joe the.
Joe the?
Yeah, like Joe the plumber or Joe the financial advisor.
Joe the florist.
With Joe the plumber making such a big appearance in the election this year, I think that’s going to stick around for a while, contrived or not, don’t you?
Well, it’s got a long history in politics anyway.
Joe Lunchbox, Joe Lunchpail, Joe Sixpack, Joe…
There’s a lot of these different political expressions that have always referred to the blue-collar worker, and they start with Joe, and they follow with something else.
So I would nominate Joe the…
Joe the… Joe the… Okay, yeah, I can see that.
I can see how that might work.
If you’d like to nominate your Word of the Year, send us an email to words@waywordradio.org or call us with any of your questions about language to 1-877-929-9673.
