johnson, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

johnson n.

also Johnson

[analogous with jock n.¹ (1) or jack n.³ (1); later use ? link to boxing champion Jack Johnson (1878–1946)]

1. (also Johnny Johnson) the penis (later usage esp. US black).

1863		W. Cheadle Journal (1931) 2 Feb. 107: Bitterly cold; neck frozen. Face ditto; thighs ditto; Johnson ditto, & sphincture vesicae partially paralysed.
1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1974		N. Heard Cold Fire Burning 16: [She] feels his johnson getting hard against her thigh.
1977		J.L. Dillard Lex. Black Eng. 33: Other Black terms for the penis include arm [...] swipe, private, Jones, pecker, stallion, Mister Tom and Johnson.
1989		M. Amis London Fields 294: I look at you, and I see a man [...] who’d be proud to die with his Johnson in his hand.
1999		Guardian Guide 24–30 July 98: Prolonged exposure [...] may induce in the male viewer the momentary urge to lop his johnson off.
2002		J. Lerner You Got Nothing Coming 194: He’s sitting butt-naked on his tray, one hand clutching his johnson.
2006		G. Pelecanos Night Gardener 21: [Her eyes] said, I’m hungry for Johnny Johnson.
2013		J. Stahl Bad Sex on Speed 97: Week-long sessions [of masturbation] left you with a brush-burned Johnson, a sore wrist.
2016		M. Rowson Guardian 30 June [cartoon text] My Johnson’s bigger than your Johnson.

2. a pimp; a man living off a prostitute’s earnings.

1954		R. Fabian London After Dark 54: Many men in London live upon the immoral earnings of prostitutes. The name for such men is ‘Ponces’ or ‘Johnsons’.
1959		F. Norman in Encounter n.d. in Norman’s London (1969) 65: Never mind, you can always find yourself another Johnson, darling, there’s always plenty around.
1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1970		R. Fabian Anatomy of Crime 193: Johnson: Prostitute’s bully.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.

3. (US) a dildo.

1975

Harrell & Bishop Orderly House 48: The girl would shove the Johnson up his ass [HDAS].

4. (US) a thing.

1981		oral testimony in Lighter HDAS II.
1985		Spears Sl. and Jargon of Drugs and Drink (1986) 290: Johnson...An underworld term meaning thing.

5. in US drugs uses.

(a) marijuana, a marijuana cigarette.

1966		H.L. Foster ‘Cant of the Disadvantaged, Socially Maladjusted, Secondary School Child’ in Urban Education Jan. 108: johnson: reefer.
1970		Current Sl. V:2.
1976		R. Sabbag Snowblind (1978) 242: A Johnson – A pound of marijuana; by way of LBJ, or Lb/J – a pound of joints.

(b) crack cocaine.

2001

ONDCP Street Terms 13: Johnson — Crack Cocaine.

6. the buttocks.

1986

Z. Steinberg Boss’s Wife [film script] He can kiss my johnson.