Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US, esp. black) a title for a fellow man (usu. black), usu. used as shorthand for making a gesture of friendship.

1899–1900		C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 27: ‘Is there anything ailing you, Jim?’ I asked him.
1914		Bulletin (Sydney) 8 Oct. 44/1: In mild cases (for Jim) the local constable will often give his sister or his sweetheart a hint that there’s a ‘blue paper’ out for him.
1929		Wesley Wilson & Harry McDaniels ‘Our Family Doctor’ 🎵 He’s some vaccinator, yes, he’s a vaccinatin’ hound; / When he sticks his needle into your skin, / You can tell the world it’s too bad, Jim.
1943		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam Star-News 16 Jan. 11: She caters to my every whim, Stud-hoss, I’m really too bad, Jim.
1947		K. Lumpkin Making of a Southerner 155: If I knew their names I at once forgot them, contenting myself with ‘Sally’ or ‘Jim,’ or if they were old, perhaps ‘Uncle’ or ‘Auntie’.
1953		L. Durst Jives of Dr. Hepcat (1989) 4: Guys and gals are represented from all cuts and stems, upstate chicks and real gone Jims.
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 78: Jim [...] The stud’s for real, ain’t he?
a.1963		‘The Fall’ in D. Wepman et al. Life (1976) 81: Jim, the bitch looked at me like a slave set free.
1977		(con. 1969) M. Herr Dispatches 130: Don’t talk to me, Jim.

2. (S.Afr.) a derog. all-purpose generic name for black men; also as v., to address by this name.

1875		in H.A. Roche Trek in the Transvaal (1878) 21: Jim the Kafir, Sam the Coolie, or Tom the little Oomfan, – all equally ‘Boys’.
1890		A.J. Vogan Black Police 103: ‘Now, Jim,’ says the man.
1911		Blackburn & Caddell Secret Service in S. Afr. 51: Today Jim is a standing example to his race of what can be done on the Rand by a native with £2 10s. a month.
1936		Williams & May I Am Black 80: Do you think the white Baases care what your mother and father call you? ... If you have no real name they will make one for you. Otherwise they will call you ‘Jim,’ or ‘boy!’ [DSAE].
1948		O. Walker Kaffirs are Lively 102: ‘Jim Fish’! How many times have I heard the old, old story about the way ‘Jim’ works hard for the European farmer, but when he goes home to his kraal he won’t work for himself.
1959		E. Mphahlele Down Second Avenue 170: I was ‘Jimmed’ and ‘boy-ed’ and ‘John-ed’ by whites.
1969		G. Westwood Bright Wilderness 25: When they came home Mary would have set the table and prepared meals. Jim would polish the floors and mow the lawns.
1982		M.V. Mzamane Children of Soweto 233: His boss came out and [...] shouted after him in Fanakalo: ‘Hey, Jim’ [Ibid.] 246: Everyone in South Africa has his favourite ‘Jim-comes-to-Jo’burg’ story.

3. (Aus.) generic for the average Australian.

1904		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 3 Aug. 2/4: If Jim was there, / Jim with the parted halr, / And visions dim, and figure slim, / And sockless feet, and visage grim; / Jim, who lives down at Millers Point / [...] /He’d hold this mountain, gain that pass, / He’d, make the Japs keep off the grass.
1914		H. Lawson ‘A Few Remarks on Bill and Jim’ in Roderick (1972) 717: In the first place, there isn’t, and never was, any ‘Biljim’. He’s a monster that was invented by some alleged writer who never knew either Bill or Jim, and is equally unknown to them.
[1919		Aussie XII Mar. 11/1: [caption] Two cobbers, Bill and Jim, in normal condition].

4. (US) Jim Beam whiskey.

2022

I. Fitzgerald Dirtbag, Massachusetts 97: Three Wise Men [...] A single huge shot glass, which had three regular-sized shots poured into it: Jack, Jim, and Johnnie.