Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(Can./US black) a short fat person.

1944

19501960197019801990

1995

1944		D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 33: I want my banter to really canter, she must be five by five.
1953		W. Eyster Far from the Customary Skies 324: You, a date? Wad yuh know. What is she, a five-by-five?
1961		W. Brown Girls on the Rampage 35: He’s short and fat, a real Mr. Five-by-five.
1962		(con. WWII) J.O. Killens And Then We Heard The Thunder (1964) 302: Solly could have kissed the five-by-five Bookworm.
1977		A. Brooke Last Toke 66: Folks had called him ‘five-by-five’ until he broke someone’s jaw.
1995		Jimmy Rushing [album title] Mr. Five-by-Five.