sixpack

A derogatory phrase meaning not very intelligent or of questionable mental capacity. One of many different forms and variations of the phrase (for example, "a few sandwiches shy of a picnic," "one card shy of a full deck," etc.). Every time Paul tells me about his latest conspiracy theory, I can't help thinking that he's one beer short of a six-pack. He says he's going to start a business selling bees as pets. I think he's one beer short of a six-pack. Anyone who would go out in a blizzard like this is a beer short of a six-pack.

derogatory To be unintelligent or of questionable mental capacity. One of many different forms and variations of the phrase (for example, "a few sandwiches shy of a picnic," "one card shy of a full deck," etc.). Every time Paul tells me about his latest conspiracy theory, I can't help thinking that he's one beer short of a six-pack. He says he's going to start a business selling bees as pets. I think he's one beer short of a six-pack. Anyone who would go out in a blizzard like this is a beer short of a six-pack.

slang An average person, especially a man and typically of the working class. A somewhat condescending allusion to the drinking preferences of the working class. My brother's just your typical guy, a real Joe Six-Pack—you can find him watching a sporting event in a bar after work pretty much any night of the week. If we let Joe Six-Pack decide the policies in our country, we'd still be stuck in the 1800s.

A lower-middle-class male. For example, I don't think opera will appeal to Joe Six-pack; he'd prefer a rock concert. This disparaging term, first recorded in 1977, conjures up the image of a man in undershirt and construction helmet who will down all of a six-pack (six cans or bottles of beer sold in a package) in an evening.

A working-class male. The six-pack in this somewhat derogatory name refers to a half-dozen bottles or cans of beer that are packaged together, to be bought as a unit, and supposedly a workingman’s beverage of choice. Six-pack came into use in the early 1950s, and Joe Six-Pack was first recorded in 1970 and quickly proliferated. Reporter Martin F. Nolan used it in an article about Joe Moakley’s political campaign against Louise Day Hicks for Congress: “Moakley plans to make Mrs. Hicks the major issue in the campaign, talking about issues in the media and shouting in Joe Six-Pack’s ear to wake up and face the unsimplistic facts of life (Boston Globe, August 28, 1970). The Globe headline was “After the Soul of Joe Six-Pack.” See also John Doe.