Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. an affectionate nickname used of ‘a fat woman trying to walk young’ (Ware) [the line ‘Queenie, come back, sweet’, from the 1884 Drury Lane pantomime in which it was addressed to ‘Mr H. Campbell, one of the heaviest men on the stage, and then playing “Eliza” a cook’ (Ware)].

1909

J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 204/2: Queenie (Street). Mock endearing name called after a fat woman trying to walk young. ‘Queenie, come back, sweet’ (Drury Lane Panto., 1884).

2. (US) a derog. name for an effeminate male homosexual [queen n. (2a)].

1915		Sport (Adelaide) 5 Mar. 5/5: Queenie (better known as Bun) / It's with him all women have the fun. / He loves to talk about girls' nice dresses, / [...] / His sister’s hair he does twist and twirl, / I wonder if he’s a girl.
1919		A. Hutton letter in Phillips, Boyack & Malone Great Adventure (1988) 22 Jan. 249: There is a species of male known locally as a ‘Queenie’ who is talking to a Y.M.C.A. girl and making me sick.
1922		‘J.H. Ross’ Mint (1955) 109: The ignorant queenie [...] funks lookin’ at me.
1928		M. West Pleasure Man (1997) II i: I’ll say, ‘Queenie is calling’.
1935		E. Anderson Hungry Men 36: Out of the cigar store [...] came a youth in white linen trousers and a yellow silk polo shirt. Gold Teeth stopped him. ‘How about a cigarette, Queenie?’.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1953		W. Brown Monkey On My Back (1954) 203: Then we came to Queenie’s in the heart of the Village. Queenie’s is probably the most notorious fag bar in the world.
1963		J. Rechy City of Night 171: Whats the matter, queenie? . . . Aint you never seen a man puke?
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.
1978		(con. 1940s) O. Manning Battle Lost and Won 224: We used to call him Queenie. Had a queer way of sitting, Cookson had.

3. (US) a young woman.

1948

J. Archibald ‘Photo Finish for a Dame’ in Popular Detective Mar. 🌐 A cute camera Queenie snapped his pan without first asking him to take a gander at the little birdie.

4. (Aus.) a prostitute.

1955

D. Niland Shiralee 12: Now you’re taking like a King’s Cross queenie.