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Reader question: In a speech to Congress on February 24, 2009, Barack Obama said, in part: “That is why I have asked Vice President Biden to lead a tough, unprecedented oversight effort – because nobody messes with Joe.” What is the meaning of “nobody messes with Joe”? My comments: First of all, the Joe Obama was talking about is not Joe Louis the boxing champion, or Joe DiMaggio the baseball great. Nor was he talking about the average Joe, you know, the everyday Joe on the street. The Joe he was addressing instead is none other than Biden the Vice President, Joe being his first name. Now let’s deal with the messing business. If you mess with something, you may, well, mess it up, that is, make a mess of it. The other day, for example, I overheard someone in the office yell: “My, somebody messed with my computer. My files are gone. Heaven’s sakes! Years of work, gone!” If you mess with a person, on the other hand, you confront them, get in their way, argue with them, contradict them or even fistfight them. People are therefore warned not to mess with certain folks who are tough, strong, and generally known to be hard to defeat. If you mess with them, they will beat you up, or, as Americans say, kick your butt. Hence, Obama gave the job to Biden because he knew nobody wants to get in the way of the no-nonsense Senator. Alright, here are some media examples to give you a better idea of how it feels to mess up with someone: | 
