Using the Word Joes

Could you give us the context you learned it in? Do you mean the plural of Joe?

Are you asking about the word "Joes"? That would only be a word in that you could have multiple people named Joe. I doubt that's what you mean. Trying to guess what you might mean ... * Joe's = The possessive form of the "Joe." Used when a person named Joe owns something. * Jones = Most often a common last name. Also can mean to have a craving for something: "He's really jonesing for a juicy burger tonight." If it's not one of those, it's either a word that isn't really used where I'm from, or it's some sort of slang I'm probably too old to understand.

It sounds like you didn't really learn it, but you learned of it maybe, or learned something about it.  I'm thinking you mean it in the context of ordinary people, usually in the phrase "regular Joes." For example, the reporter interviewed a few regular Joes on Main Street. 

A joe is just a guy, a person, probably (but not necessarily) male. Usually the word is coupled with “regular” or “ordinary” or “average” to indicate that the word us not being used as a name, and to underscore its usual meaning that the person being discussed is merely typical, not remarkable in any particular way.

In the Army, "Joe" is slang for a lower enlisted soldier, who is generally considered to be replaceable/interchangeable. "I need four Joes to help fill up these sandbags!"

“Average joe” is a common term meaning an ordinary man. I think even “ordinary joe” sounds weird.

It's a less-common, slang word you'd use in place of "guys" or "dudes" or "men". Almost always used in conjunction with "ordinary" or "regular" to emphasize how normal and everyday the men are. Can apply to mixed-gender groups, too - replacing "people" or "folks". Can also be singular. *The guys I play basketball with are just ordinary joes.* *Us regular joes aren't getting a good deal with this new union contract.* *Bill is a famous rocket scientist, but his brother Bob is just a regular joe who manages a shoe store.*

John Doe, Joe Blow, Joe Schmo, Regular Joe, Ordinary Joe. But not G.I. Joe. He’s neither regular nor ordinary.

Others have covered Joe in the context you asked about -but did you know that Joe is an old slang word for coffee? It isn’t really common but it would be understood by most Americans at least if you invited someone to “grab a cup of Joe” after the presentation ended.

Joes is just the plural of the name "Joe". And it's part of a phrase. An "ordinary Joe" or "regular Joe" means a normal person. You can use "Jane" instead for women. So "two ordinary Joes" means two regular men, or in this case, people, because the grouping of people included different genders. These phrases make sense because Joe and Jane are two of the most common names in English.

I differ a bit with some of the previous responses because to me "joe" itself carries the meaning of "average," "ordinary," etc., so while the adjectives can be useful in making the meaning clear they aren't strictly necessary and I wouldn't call them fixed phrases. Capitalization is not necessary unless used as part of a name or title, as in "G.I. Joe" (in the original usage of the term). Although - like many of the best English words and phrases - it has an old-fashioned ring to it, it's not archaic. In the Apple TV espionage series *Slow Horses*, Jackson Lamb refers to the people who work for him as his "joes" more than once.

Joes is used heavily in the U.S. Army to describe lower enlisted who are not noncommissioned officers. “We have a couple of Joes out filling sandbags”