# "Little Joe" = four?!?!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-joe-four/8406>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 10, 2000, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-joe-four/8406 "2000-03-10T21:48:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-joe-four/8406/1 "2000-03-10T21:48:00Z")

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This question spawns from the “junion/senior” question also on this forum. In it, as an aside, I asked what a suitable nickname for a IV would be (i.e. Senior, Junior, Trey, \_\_\_\_ ).

Well, I’m at work, and I decided to consult the first source at hand–Corel WP8’s Thesaurus. It offers “Little Joe” as a synonym for “four.”

What the hell is going on here? Does this mean that the number two inheritor of a name can be called “Hoss,” also like in Bonanza? Or is there a more valid explanation for this term?

(And yes, I know I should consult a more comprehensive source. But I’m at work, remember?)

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**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-joe-four/8406/2 "2000-03-10T21:59:00Z")

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Is “Little Joe” slang for four from Craps?  
Like “Snake Eyes” or “Boxcars”?