Joe College

noun

1. a personification of a typical male U.S. college student, especially in the 1930s.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Joe College¹

First recorded in 1935–40; modeled on Joe Blow

Example Sentences

“Looking like an American Joe College in sports clothes and a porkpie hat,” according to an Associated Press story.

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He previously worked at St. Joe College in Rensselaer before it closed following last school year.

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Some of his earliest works, like “Bad Haircut” and “Joe College,” were semi-autobiographical coming-of-age stories about suburban boys on the cusp of adulthood.

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Thematically, “Mrs. Fletcher” overlaps with his earlier works, including “Little Children,” “The Abstinence Teacher” and “Joe College,” which take place on school campuses and in suburban neighborhoods, and often explore the culture wars and the friction that arises when the gap between people’s public and private selves is exposed.

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As he demonstrated in “Joe College” and “Election,” he knows how to capture the hilarious contradictions of teenagers.

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