Missed-point dept. (origin of "Joe" (coffee)

[Jonathan Lighter]

The only difficulty with the "old black Joe" derivation is that the evidence
is very late: a 1967 allusion in HDAS, though referring to the U.S. Navy in
WWII.

The printed evidence suggests that "Joe" has always been especially common
in the Navy.

Earliest exx. are Godfrey Irwin's 1930 _American Tramp and Underworld Slang_
and a 1931 navy officers' manual.

In recent years a theory has circulated that "Joe" for coffee originaly
alluded to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, who banned spirituous
liquors from Navy ships beginning in 1914. This is superficially plausible
but also less direct than a pun on the title of Stephen Foster's song.
Perhaps a consilience of "Joes" accounts for the early and notable
popularity of "Joe" in the Navy.

I've found no evidence of the term's existence during WWI.

"Jamoke" appears to date from the 1890s (in form "jimokey").

JL

On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 6:33 AM, paul johnson <paulzjoh at mtnhome.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       paul johnson <paulzjoh at MTNHOME.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Missed-point dept. (origin of "Joe" (coffee)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Paul johnson
> Which came first, Jamoke or Joe?
>
> On 6/19/2011 10:44 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
> > On Sun, Jun 19, 2011 at 9:00 PM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard<gcohen at mst.edu>
>  wrote:
> >> I believe "Joe" (coffee) really does derive from "Old Black Joe" as part
> =
> >> of what's known as hash-house lingo
> > Hmm. That does seem quite sensible!
> >
> > --
> > -Wilson
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