▪ I. joe, n.1
(dʒəʊ)
Also 8 jo.
Abbreviation of Joannes or Johannes, a Portuguese gold coin.
| 1772 in F. Chase Hist. Dartmouth College (1891) I. 262 note, Let Mr. Ripley have a guinea, half a jo, and 9 coppers. 1783 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Odes R. Academ. vii. Wks. 1790 I. 75 Or Sol's bright orb—be sure to make him glow Precisely like a guinea, or a jo. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxi, I think they were half a joe, or eight dollars each. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg., Hand of Glory vii, The fair rose-noble, the bright moidore, And the broad Double-Joe from ayont the sea. |
▪ II. joe, n.3 U.S. colloq.
(dʒəʊ)
[Origin unknown.]
Coffee.
| 1941 J. Smiley Hash House Lingo 34 Joe, coffee. 1944 K. D. McCracken Baby Flat-Top 87 Quartermasters..are inexhaustible in furnishing the Officer of the Deck with anything from the true wind and the relative humidity to a flashlight and a pot of Joe. 1953 C. M. Kornbluth Syndic (1964) viii. 80 Get me a mug of joe, sailor... Go get the coffee. 1963 ‘E. McBain’ Ten plus One (1964) v. 48 ‘Would you like some coffee?’ Carella asked. ‘Is there some?’ ‘Sure... Can we get two cups of joe?’ |
▪ III. joe
variant of jo Sc., darling, sweetheart.