square john n.
1. a respectable member of society.
![]() | Und. and Prison Sl. | |
![]() | We Who Are About to Die 195: The square johns don’t know enough to talk nice to the bulls an’ get ’em to listen to reason. | |
![]() | Waterloo (IA) Daily Courier 19 Jan. 35/1: Double-talking in America was spread by cheap vaudevillians trying to gum up Square Johns in small towns. | |
![]() | (con. c.1915) Warden’s Wife 72: Fugitives [...] would [...] forcibly persuade some ‘square John’ into an exchange of clothing. | |
![]() | Get Your Ass in the Water (1974) 85: An old squarejohn seen the play come off and he run and told the men. | |
![]() | (con. 1920s) South of Heaven (1994) 223: A square John going crooked just when a smart sheriff turns stupid! | |
![]() | No Beast So Fierce 92: Woven into my compassion was disgust at Stan’s incompetence. A squarejohn watching Dragnet would avoid Stan’s blunders. | |
![]() | In La-La Land We Trust (1999) 56: I could read inside the heads of all those square johns. | |
![]() | (con. early 1950s) L.A. Confidential 242: Eyewitness accounts: squarejohns at the beach that night. Nice folks. | |
![]() | Dog Eat Dog 150: The old mafioso was a hick about women and wives and shit like that. A snake in business, he was a squarejohn in family values. | |
![]() | (con. 1964–8) Cold Six Thousand 195: We use civilians, exclusive. Squarejohns who owe casino markers. | |
![]() | Bad Sex on Speed 135: The three of us went buzzing out to watch the square-johns come to test their eyes on us. | |
![]() | Widespread Panic 52: I saw three big squarejohns in gray suits. |
2. (US Und.) in criminal terms, a dependable, reliable person.
![]() | Nebraska State Jrnl (Lincoln, NE) 16 Oct. 31/6: He held out his hand, wrung Square John Kelly’s in a hard grip [...] ‘Kelly’s all right [...] Never turns down ol’ friend in hard luck. Square John — betcher life!’. | |
![]() | Man with the Golden Arm 184: Good guys and their true-blue pals, the real sports and square johns. | |
![]() | I Love You Honey, But the Season’s Over 172: Bob became known as ‘Good Smith’ and his brother as ‘Bad Smith.’ Good Smith was a ‘square John’ (hard worker) [...] His brother, Bad, was a self-confessed shirker and crook. |
3. (drugs) one who eschews drugs.
![]() | Und. Speaks n.p.: Square John, a dope peddler who is not addicted. | |
![]() | Opium Addiction in Chicago 173: Their attitudes toward what they call the ‘square Johns’ or non-users. | |
![]() | Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). | |
![]() | Narcotics Lingo and Lore. |
4. (US gay) a heterosexual man who enjoys the company of lesbians.
![]() | Queens’ Vernacular 71: square john (this one, however, doesn’t want to make it with a dyke, he just wants to bar-hop with them.). |