 What is the first clue that hints at how Venusian culture has absorbed the name Joe?
There were more Joes on Venus than you could shake a ray-gun at. Perhaps there was method in Colonel Walsh's madness—murder-madness—when he ordered Major Polk to scan the planet for a guy named Joe. For example, he could have chosen a Second Looie for the job on Venus. "And this man is on Venus now?" "This man is on Venus." The trip to Venus came off without a hitch. Venus was hotter than I'd expected it to be. "You are Joe, aren't you? They'll ask a native to do something and they'll call him Joe. In fact, he looked as if he were responsible for having put Venus in the heavens in the first place.
 The first Joe who Major Polk meets knows the Terran idiom, “you’ve got the wrong number.”
 The first Joe who Major Polk meets knows the Terran idiom, “stabbed in the back.”  The first Joe who Major Polk meets knows the Terran idiom, “you’ve got the wrong number.”  The first Joe who Major Polk meets knows the Terran idiom, “bite the bullet.”  The first Joe who Major Polk meets knows the Terran idiom, “Joe,” as a way of causally referring to others.