jumbo, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

jumbo n.

[? Mumbo-Jumbo, a West African (Mandingo) deity. Popular ety. links the term to Jumbo, the celebrated elephant of the Regent’s Park Zoo, sold to Barnum and Bailey’s Circus in 1881. However, the Zoo opened in 1828 and Jumbo and a female, Alice, did not arrive until 1863; note also chronology: the term was initially applied to people rather than, as is assumed, vice versa]

1. a large and clumsy person.

1818		W. Perry London Guide 40: If a row is begun, you join in the phrases used, as ‘go it;’ [...] ‘now, d — n his eyes;’ [...] ‘go it my jumbo,’ or whatever may be said upon the occasion.
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 107: Jumbo a clumsy or unwieldy fellow. ‘Go it, my jumbo,’ said to an ugly wallupping chap. Watermen to hackney-coaches, market-porters and others, who wear heavy patched-up habiliments are addressed with ‘My Jumbo.’.
1890		M. Williams Leaves of a Life 45: Jumbo and I, after going to the theatre, had supper.
1898		J.D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 215: ‘Wot cher, Jumbo!’ ‘Wot cher, Fatty! Seed Cocky Brown lately?’.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 9 Jun. 24/1: It has been customary for jocks – some of them jumbos – to get on the scale, show that they weigh over (say) 10st., and then hop off without declaring how much they are over the required weight.
1914		E. O’Neill Abortion in Ten ‘Lost’ Plays (1995) 164: Come on, Jumbo.
1938		(con. c.1910s) S.H. Holbrook Holy Old Mackinaw 198: He came face to face with the mountainous Jumbo.
1949		A. Hynd We Are the Public Enemies 95: Chief of Police Carl Galliher – a big jumbo of a man.
1997		H.R.F. Keating Soft Detective 56: Jumbo heaved himself to his feet.

2. the Elephant and Castle public house in south London.

1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.
1936		J. Curtis Gilt Kid 98: Got to go over to the Jumbo to see a bloke.

3. (Aus.) as an affectionate term of address.

1919		E. Dyson ‘Hello, Soldier!’ in ‘Hello, Soldier!’ 85: ‘Cri, it jumbo.’ ‘Have a beer.’ / ‘Wot-o, Anzac; you’re a dear.’.
1966		(ref. to 1890s) J. Holledge Great Aust. Gamble 120: Back in the 1890’s a prominent sportsman and gambler [...] boasted the merits of his trotter Darktown to Sydney Paddock bookmaker ‘Jumbo’ Barnett.

4. (N.Z.) the buttocks, the posterior.

1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 64/1: jumbo backside, c.1945.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].

5. a fool, simpleton.

1970

G.F. Newman Sir, You Bastard 98: Don’t want no jumbos stealing my glory.

6. in drug or drink use.

(a) (US drugs) a large capsule of heroin.

1953

W. Brown Monkey On My Back (1954) 19: They found two jumbos – large capsules of heroin – in his trousers pocket.

(b) one ounce of heroin.

2012

G. Pelecanos (con. 1972) What It Was 45: He was the nighbourhood heroin dealer [...] He copped ounces, called ‘jumbos’.

1987		Masters of Ceremony ‘Cracked Out’ 🎵 ‘I got the Jumbo’ ‘Can I get one on credit’ ‘No chance, home boy, you might as well forget it’.
1989		(con. 1982–6) T. Williams Cocaine Kids (1990) 137: jumbos large vials of crack sold on the streets.
1992		T. Williams Crackhouse 15: They are more likely to be seen loitering on stoops and playing with kids from the projects than they are to be selling ‘jumbo crack’ (large vials of crack) to white boys from across the river.
1995		(con. 1985–90) P. Bourjois In Search of Respect 4: They were ‘bagging’ twenty-one pounds of cocaine into $10 quarter-gram ‘jumbo’ vials of adulterated product worth over $1 million on the street.
1996		R. Rendell Keys to the Street 229: ‘Dig your elephants,’ he said, and then he said, ‘Jumbo, jumbo,’ and started laughing.
2000		P. Beatty Tuff 69: Smoke? Smoke? Red top. Jumbo. Double Up. You straight, man?
2010		Codella and Bennett Alphaville (2011) 189: The price point of a bag of smack made dealers a lot more money a lot more quickly than selling jumbos of rock.

(d) (US) a quart (40-oz.) bottle of beer.

1991

B. Hamper Rivethead (1992) 57: A jumbo of beer certainly wasn’t gonna save anyone’s life, but [...] it would certainly enhance it.