Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also mahomet) a low-class prostitute.

1594		Nashe Unfortunate Traveller in Works V (1883–4) 80: She was a Turke and an infidell, & had more doinges than all her neighbours besides.
1605		Marston Dutch Curtezan I ii: Vat sal become of mine poore flesh now, mine boddy must turne Turke for 2.d.
1607		Tourneur Revenger’s Tragedy (1967) II ii: A right good woman in these days is changed Into white money with less labour far – Many a maid has turned to Mahomet With easier working.
a.1661		‘The Committee of Safety’ Rump Poems and Songs (1662) II 100: And under the arm of that masked Turk / Little Bennet creeps in to help on the good work.
1681		Otway Soldier’s Fortune II i: The trade of whore and nowhore, caterwauling in jest, putting out Christian Colours, when she’s a Turk under deck.

2. a boorish, unpleasant person [prob. underpinned by Irish torc, a boar or hog].

1608		Dekker Honest Whore Pt 2 (1630) IV ii: He’s a Turke that makes any woman a Whore.
1613		Rowlands ‘A Reprobate Pirat’ Knaves of Spades and Diamonds 86: Thou Hellish Beast, That hast liu’d cursed Thiefe vpon the Seas, And now a Turke on shore dost take thine ease.
c.1620		Fletcher Women Pleased II vi: penurio: He loves not any thing but what is traffique: I have heard him sweare he would sell ye to the grand Signior. isabella: The Turk. penurio: The very Turke, and how they would use ye —.
1672		J. Phillips Maronides (1678) V 60: But see how fate can prove a Turk!
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Turk any cruel hard-hearted Man.
a.1713		H. Carey ‘Sally in our Alley’ [song] My master comes, like any Turk, And bangs me most severely.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1751		Smollett Peregrine Pickle (1964) 323: And you yourself are a Goth, and a Turk, and a Tartar, and an impudent pretending jackanapes.
1779		J. Wilde ‘The Birks of Invermay’ Songs and Verses 16: One night we met some noisy Turks.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1797		‘T.B. Jr’ Pettyfogger Dramatized II iv: Ferret, you are a terrible Turk.
1803		Derby Mercury 11 Aug. 4/1: Then he swore like a Turk, / He’d make terrible Work, / When his Army of England got over.
1810		J.B. Burges Riches I iii: And do you think, / Thus like the Turk to throw your handkerchief, / And thus grace submissive beauty by your choice?
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1835		‘A Blow-Out Among The Blowen’ Secret Songster 16: For they volf’d, and they savaged it all up like Turks.
1844		Thackeray Barry Lyndon (1905) 37: ‘He is a devil of a fellow – isn’t he, Fagan?’ ‘A regular Turk,’ answered Fagan.
1858		Huddersfield Chron. 29 May 3/1: ‘Ye infarnal oul Turk, ye’.
1870		‘Ta-Ra-Ra Boom Dee-Ay’ in Lingenfelter et al. Songs of the Amer. West (1968) 494: You Turk; I’ll bet you are an I Won’t Work.
1876		F.W. Green ‘Naughty Young Man’ 🎵 They call me a terrible turk.
1886		Stephens & Yardley Little Jack Sheppard 32: 🎵 I was call’d by my mother ‘a terrible Turk’ But you mustn’t believe all you hear.
1896		G.F. Northall Warwickshire Word-Book 251: Turk. [...] A hard taskmaster is called a ‘Turk’; so is an unruly, troublesome, or exacting child.
1902		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 16: Why the old turk wouldn’t have had a bean if I let half the creditors in.
1905		T.W. Connor [perf. Dan Crawley] ‘Father Keeps On Doing It’ 🎵 My mother lets him live with us, tho’ he's a lazy turk, / And gives him money every day to go and look for work.
1910		P.W. Joyce Eng. As We Speak It In Ireland.
1914		Sport (Adelaide) 13 Nov. 5/6: Joe S., the square-headed Turk, ought to wash his socks.
1929		P. Sturges Strictly Dishonorable Act I: That old ... Turk isn’t going to drive me away!
1933		G. Milburn ‘A Pretty Cute Little Stunt’ in Brookhouser These Were Our Years (1959) 162: This bum, just as ragged and dirty as a Turk, stood up.
1960		W. Styron Set This House on Fire 242: He got up [...] swearing like a Turk.
1967–8		Baker et al. CUSS 214: Turk A person who always does the wrong thing.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 393: Turk. (1) A wild fierce person.

3. (gay) one who enjoys anal intercourse.

[1604		Newes from Graues-end D2v: With Spaniards, shee’s an Indianist, With barbarous Turks a Sodomist].
c.1720		‘The Masquerade Ball’ in Farmer Merry Songs and Ballads (1897) III 234: There’s Running Footmen Plenty, / Who do their Ladies Work, / And if you are for changing, / You’ll find an able Turk.
1934		J.L. Kuethe ‘Prison Parlance’ in AS IX:1 28: turk. A degenerate; a sodomite.
1941		G. Legman ‘Lang. of Homosexuality’ Appendix VII in Henry Sex Variants.
1951		D.W. Cory Homosexual in America 105: One of the many underworld synonyms for an active pederast is turk.
1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1978		Maledicta II:1+2 (Summer/Winter) 172: Turk Any male who behaves as Turks allegedly do – copulating indiscriminately, usually violently, without discernible preference for female vaginas or other males’ anuses.
1979		Maledicta III:2 218: Americans slur the Turks: turk is used to mean bugger; stud; top man; active fucker.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 393: Turk. [...] (2) A pederast.

4. (US) an Irish immigrant.

1871		Galveston News 4 May n.p.: As I left the cars, an imp with smutty face, / Said: Shine? – Nay, I’ll not shine, I said, except with inward grace. / Is inward grace a liquid or a paste? asked this young Turk, / Hi, Daddy! What is inward grace? How does the old thing work?
1896		F. Hutcheson Barkeep Stories 26: ‘A guy’d oughter have better sense den t’ ask a turk like you dat never seen no sleighs in Ireland an’ ain’t been t’inkin’ of nothin’ else [...] only how t’ git plenty o’ corn beef an’ cabbage free times a day’.
1914		Ade ‘The New Fable of Susan and the Daughter’ Ade’s Fables 228: A rubber-tired Victoria, drawn by two expensive Bang-Tails [...] and surmounted by important Turks in overwhelming Livery.
1918		H. Simon ‘Prison Dict.’ in AS VIII:3 (1933) 32/2: TURK. 1. Irishman.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 393: Turk. (1) A wild fierce person; specifically, an Irishman.

5. (US prison) a ‘masculine’, predatory prison homosexual.

1918		H. Simon ‘Prison Dict.’ in AS VIII:3 (1933) 32/2: TURK. [...] 2. Active pederast.
1927		Immortalia 159: There was a young fellow named Buckingham, Wrote a pamphlet on women and fucking-ham; But a clever young turk Eclipsed this great work, With a volume on assholes and suckingham.
1934		Weseen Dict. Amer. Sl. 42: Turk A degenerate.
1941		G. Legman ‘Lang. of Homosexuality’ Appendix VII in Henry Sex Variants II 1178: Turk.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 228/1: Turk. (P) An active pederast.
1953		T. Runyon In For Life 99: The perennial bachelor [...] gained a certain amount of prestige in certain circles [...] from being known as a wolf, or a jocker, or a Turk.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 61: Wolf A bisexual or dominant homosexual partner. (Archaic: turk).

6. a sexually active man.

1915		Sport (Adelaide) 21 May 3/7: Charlie J is a bit of a Turk, / The man who runs Bob's servant girl. / To see him cut the dash / Would really make your hair curl.
1970		A. Sillitoe Start in Life (1979) 141: He said [...] ‘Myself, I sometimes have two girls. Better.’ ‘I always thought you were a bit of a Turk,’ I said.
1984		G. Tate ‘Stagolee Versus the Proper Negro’ in Flyboy in the Buttermilk (1992) 52: Our young turks lead you to wonder [...] whether their talent lies in making sociocultural breakthroughs equal to the aesthetic ones of their mentors.
1997		L. Davies Candy 39: Candy was being chatted up by some young turks.

7. (US) a girl, a young woman.

1938

Newark Advocate (OH) 2 Sept. 12/6: The Turk went over the laced boots of the other lease breakers.