Joe Miller
English
Etymology
After Joe Miller (actor) (1684–1738), the namesake of the 18th-century joke book Joe Miller's Jests.
Noun
Joe Miller (plural Joe Millers)
- (colloquial, dated) A stale jest; a worn-out joke.
- 1874, William Pole, The Theory of the Modern Scientific Game of Whist
- It is an old Joe Miller in whist circles, that there are only two reasons that can justify you in not returning trumps to your partner's lead; i.e., first, sudden illness; secondly, having none.
- 1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], volume (please specify the volume), Shammar edition, [London]: […] Burton Club […], OCLC 939632161:
- There is a venerable Joe Miller about a schoolmaster who, wishing to singe his long beard short, burnt it off and his face to boot:--which reminded him of the saying.
- 1874, William Pole, The Theory of the Modern Scientific Game of Whist
Synonyms
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