Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(a) a man.

1720		in D’Urfey Pills to Purge Melancholy VI 42: And I was honest Johnny, Johnny pay for all.
c.1755		‘Maiden’s Advice to get Married’ in Holloway & Black I (1975) 165: Johnny’s the man who shall pleasure me.
1864		G.W. Whitman in Civil War Letters 17 Sept. 132: Sometimes the johnies [sic] come out and fire a few shots.
1872		‘We’re All for Horace’ Farmer of Chappaqua Songster 47: Together let the Northern Yank / And Southern Johnny shout.
1888		Hants Teleg. 29 Sept. 11/6: He calls a man a ‘Johnny,’ a battle ‘a blooming slog’.
1890		W. Sickert Pall Mall Gazette 21 July 2: Even the hats of those ‘Johnnies’ in front will be interesting to posterity.
1898–9		(?) H. Lawson ‘The Shearer’s Dream’ in Roderick (1972) 312: They were part of a theatrical company on tour in the Back-Blocks, and some local Johnnies.
1901		Boy’s Own Paper 16 Feb. 314: It’s so beastly caddish, hitting a Johnny when he’s down.
1907		Truth (Perth) 19 Oct. 4/6: The ‘sentence’ for Johnnies who window-panes smash / Is mild magisterial ‘guiver,’ / But a white man resenting a nigger is rash. / And is sure to be ‘sent’ for a fiver .
1916		‘Anzac’ On the Anzac Trail 31: [T]he same johnnies were bossing up a tidy little harem of prime goods.
1919		Marvel 1 Mar. 8: There used to be an Italian johnny who sold ice-cream at Calcroft Town.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 406: Whisper, who the sooty hell’s the johnny in the black duds?
1922		B. Hecht A Thousand and One Afternoons [ebook] Sometimes an old Johnny comes in with a moth-eaten fur collar and blows a dime for a wedding ring.
1925		Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves 202: A most amazing Johnnie who dishes a wicked ragout.
1936		‘Banjo’ Paterson Shearer’s Colt 40: This is better than [...] lying out under a log all night waiting for some of those sheep-stealing johnnies.
1939		Rover 18 Feb. 28: None of the slant-eyed johnnies thought he’d be ‘ass’ enough.
1945		G. Fairlie Capt. Bulldog Drummond 174: Not a very pleasant johnny, I’m forced to gather.
1956		‘Charles Raven’ Und. Nights 129: One of the top johnnys of the underworld.
1963		H.E. Bates Oh! To be in England (1985) 343: Ah! you’re the johnny who buys junk. I’ve heard of you.
1988		A. Hollinghurst Swimming-Pool Library (1998) 223: The advertising johnnies.
1994		J. O’Connor Secret World of the Irish Male (1995) 141: Perhaps Waugh should have a think why all these foreign Johnnies keep strolling away with the loot.
2000		Indep. Rev. 28 Feb. 1: I look at all the corporate johnnies.
2000		M. Amis Experience 310: The speaker, a gruff ‘medical johnny’ named Cliff.
2012		(con. 1943) G.S. Manson Coorparoo Blues [ebook] The johnny at the desk didn’t seem at all perturbed.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 397: Their hierarchy was, in Company jargon: RAF johnnies, beards, double beards, full sets and empty wigs.

(b) used in direct address to any man, name unknown.

1842		E.E. Napier Excursions of the Mediterranean I 226: Addressing us as ‘Johnny’, [they] were very officious in offering their services. [...] ‘Johnny’ is, in this part of the country, the national appellation of an Englishman by the lower orders of Spaniards.
1869		G. Ellington Women of N.Y. 302: They [prostitutes] are bold and openly solicit you, calling every one Johnny.
1889		Sporting Times 3 Aug. 1/1: A straight line is the way you johnnies will go to the canteen when I’ve done with you.
1890		Bird o’ Freedom 15 Jan. 1/4: ‘Johnny,’ said he, ‘in particular I want to impress on your mind the fact that you are never to let any peddlers or book agents into the office.’.
1900		Boy’s Own Paper 15 Dec. 167: ‘English no findee pilong?’ ‘No, Johnnie.’.
1908		‘Old Sleuth’ Dock Rats of N.Y. (2006) 112: See here, Johnny, you’re on some crooked game.
1922		E.E. Cummings Enormous Room (1928) 84: Your friend’s here, Johnny, and wants to see you.
1959		W. Hall Long and the Short and the Tall Act I: Johnee!... Johnee!... British Johnee! We – you – come – to – get.
1967		L. Bruce Essential Lenny Bruce 25: Let’s see that roll of tarpaper you got there. Johnny.
1971		(con. WWII) B. Aldiss Soldier Erect 49: Who’s the pusher. Johnny?
1988		(con. WWII) J. Robinson Jack and Jamie Go to War 153: ‘So long Johnny!’ he shouted to Bobby.

(c) (also johnnie-boy) an idle, vacuous young aristocrat, a smart young man about town; thus johnniedom, the world of such young men.

1843		Whip & Satirist of NY & Brooklyn (NY) 4 Feb. n.p.: A personal friend of mine, surnamed by the johnnies as ‘Fighting Frank’.
1882		Sportsman (Melbourne) 19 July 2/3: [H]e fired one of Gaunt’s best bracelets into the stage door [but] he saw her come out and go off to supper with another Johnny.
1883		‘’Arry on His Critics & Champions’ Punch 14 Apr. 180/1: He says I am ‘fond of a lark’ [...] / And so are the Gaiety Johnnies, and ditto the Varsity Blues.
1890		Bulletin (Sydney) 2 Aug. 9/4: It seems the first time this rather over-fed and over-rated Johnny read the periodical in question he was overwhelmed by its awful ‘disloyalty.’.
1890		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 18 Jan. 2/3: That divided skirt business of theirs has a mysterious fascination for the Johnnies, and Manager Sanger has been obliged to have a special policeman stationed at the stage door to keep the dudes away.
1894		G.A. Sala Things I Have Seen II 78: ‘Johnnies’ and ‘Chappies’ who [...] ‘raise Cain and break things.’.
c.1895		Leighton & LeBrunn [perf. Marie Lloyd] Actions Speak Louder Than Words 🎵 One morning cool in Rotten Row, she’s sitting on a bench / A Johnny passing eyes her, says, ‘By gad, a comely wench’.
1896		H. Lawson ‘The New Chum Jackaroo’ in Roderick (1967–9) I 313: The New Chums fought while eye-glass dudes / And Johnnies led them on.
1899		A. Binstead Gal’s Gossip 60: He jolly well knew that his girl at the Gaiety was being mashed by another Johnnie.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Dec. 12/4: Melbourne johnniedom is sad at heart because of the barbarity of local tailors, who are combining for mutual protection against the masher who dresses ‘on the nod.’.
1900		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 10 Oct. 1/3: Every Johnnie present envied the cut of the sit-em-down end of his pants.
1900		Sporting Times 20 Jan. 1/5: The most frock-struck Johnnie we ever came across was Pitcher before he got married.
1903		A. Binstead Pitcher in Paradise 186: She wanted some betting done, and none of her other ‘johnnies’ possessed a ring-ticket.
1904		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 5 Oct. 2/3: [T]he one who wears petticoats turns somersaults and stands on her hands, quite long enough for bald-headed Johnniedom to count the frills on her unmentionables.
1906		S. Ford Shorty McCabe 133: If it hadn’t been for the Johnnie boys in hot clothes strollin’ around you’d thought a real one-ring wagon-show had struck town.
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 221/2: When the chappies and Johnnies became notorious for frequenting the old Gaiety Theatre stalls (1879–82), they were remarkable for the display of very large, rigid shirt-fronts.
1910		Sun. Times (Perth) 13 Mar. 2nd sect. 9/1: They Say [...] That the purser and steward had strict orders to make madame comfortable. That they were also told to see that the handsome English Johnny didn't poach on preserves.
1911		Kilmore free Press (Perth) 3 May 7/2: A swanky Johnnie swaggered on to the accompaniment of loud applause.
1912		Van Loan ‘Sweeney to Sanguinetti to Schultz’ Ten-Thousand-Dollar Arm 62: They took to the bouquet-carrying act like Forty-second Street Johnnies.
c.1916		Daily Liar 3/1: Johnnies, Chappies, Fatheads and Noodles given away as a bonus, very good at Kissing.
1925		(con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 211: Nut: The latter-day descendant of the ‘Fop’, through the ‘Dandy,’ the ‘Heavy Swell,’ the ‘Masher,’ the ‘Chappy’ and the ‘Johnny’ [...] sometimes written and pronounced ‘K’nut’ to form a species of superlative.
1927		‘J.M. Hall’ Anecdota Americana I 143: Two old Johnnies were discussing a proposed trip abroad. ‘We mustn’t overlook Paris,’ said one.
1932		(con. WWI) L. Mann Flesh in Armour 21: He had read of Johnnies waiting stage doors.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 134: johnnie [...] a lady’s man.

(d) (Aus.) an Englishman.

1904

Truth (Sydney) 20 Nov. 3/6: I do no that English Jonnies, / And them Afrikanders here, / They do hate Australian men, sir.

(e) attrib. use of sense 1c .

1906		‘O. Henry’ ‘By Courier’ Four Million (1915) 234: If yer don’t know de guy, and he’s tryin’ to do de Johnny act, say de word, and I’ll call a cop.
1925		O.O. McIntyre New York Day by Day 1 Oct. [synd. col.] An English Johnny comedian.

(a) (Aus.) a new immigrant from Britain.

1904		Truth (Sydney) 15 May 5/3: ‘Currency lads and lasses’, to use the old phrase, have to give way to any new Johnnie or Janie who leaves hold Hingland for hold Hingland’s good [AND].
1946		G.E.L. Watson But to What Purpose 98: I was still conspicuous of being such a mere ‘Johnnie’, as Englishmen were then called.

(b) an inexperienced youngster, a raw recruit, a new hand.

1895		‘Banjo’ Paterson ‘Old Pardon, the Son of Reprieve’ Man from Snowy River (1902) 10: But maybe you’re only a Johnnie / And don’t know a horse from a hoe?
1898		Regiment 23 Apr. 53/2: O.S.: ‘Sir, he’s a rooky, and— ’ Officer : ‘A what?’ O.S.: ‘A Micky, sir, and— ’ Officer : “A what?’ O.S.: ‘I mean to say he’s a Johnny, sir, and— ’4 : Officer [...] (Calls the sergeant-major and asks him to explain, if possible, what he means [...] ‘Oh, he means he’s a “Raw un” sir’).
1909		Magnet 10 July 6: I wonder what those johnnies would say if they knew.

(a) (US) a Confederate soldier [abbr. Johnny Reb under johnny- pfx; generic (and slightly contemptuous) use of proper name].

1863		T.F. Upson diary 27 July in Winther With Sherman to the Sea (1958) 63: With the rest of the troops we pushed right on after the Johnnys.
1865		G.A. Sala My Diary in America I 235: A regiment of ‘Confeds’ – who are this year called ‘Johnnies:’ they were ‘Rebs’ in 1861, and ‘Greybacks’ in 1862.
1874		D.G. Crotty Four Years Campaigning in the Army of the Potomac 50: They pitch into the Johnnies and give them Hail Columbia.
1888		Century Mag. (N.Y.) July 467/1: He spoke of the Confederate soliders as ‘Johnnies’ [DA].
1895		S. Crane Red Badge of Courage (1964) 88: Jack was a-lookin ahead all th’ time tryin’ t’ see th’ Johnnies comin’.
1927		S.V. Benét John Brown’s Body 257: The Johnnies is there! [DA].
1943		(con. 1860s) B.I. Wiley Life of Johnny Reb 319: At Vicksburg the Federals would yell out, ‘Haven’t you Johnnies got a new general – General Starvation?’.
2000		(ref. to 1861–5) Gettysburg National Military Park Kidzpage 🌐 Union soldiers had several nicknames for Confederates including ‘butternuts’, because of the color of their uniforms, ‘Johnny’ that was short for ‘Johnny Reb’ [etc.].

(b) a Turk.

1854		Spirit of the Times (Ironton, OH) 26 Dec. 2/3: Salutations [...] An English soldier and a French soldier meet [...] the former commences with ‘Bono Francais,’ and the answer is ‘Bono Anglish’. With a Turk it is ‘Bono Johnny’.
1898		Regiment 16 Apr. 37/3: Tewfik [i.e. the Khedive of Egypt] gave a small coin to the sentry. ‘Thank you, Johnny,’ said the soldier.
1916		‘Anzac’ On the Anzac Trail 89: But, alas! the following Sunday found us on the sea, bound for the Dardanelles and Johnnie Turk.
1917		C. Sommers Temporary Crusaders 30 Dec. 🌐 John Turk has ‘imshied’ again all right, and the line is well on ahead of this [...] By dawn there was no sign of Johnny on the ridge.
1921		N&Q 12 Ser. IX 344: Johnny. A Turk.
1925		(con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 132: Johnny: A Turk. (As a Service nickname, dating from the Crimean War).
1929		(con. WWI) R. Graves Goodbye to All That (1960) 155: The Turco used to say: ‘Tommy, give Johnny pozzy’.
1930		(con. 1914–18) Brophy & Partridge Songs and Sl. of the British Soldier.

(c) a soldier in the Indian Army.

1858		Leisure Hour 27 May 326/1: Sepoys [...] known as Johnnys [OED].
1915		C.E.W. Bean Anzac Book 31/1: In the general murmur of voices one noted the broad tones of the British Tommy and the harsher ones of Tommy Kangaroo [...] also the loud-voiced directions of the Indian Tommy, or rather Johnny, who condescended now and then to break into pidgin-English (with a smile). [Ibid.] 50/1: What should we at Anzac have done without ‘Johnnie’ and his sturdy little mules?
1916		J. Hargrave At Suvla Bay Ch. xx: ‘You ever hear of Rabindranarth Tagore, Johnnie?’ I asked him.

(d) see John Chinaman n. (1)

(e) a Gurkha.

1888

Kipling ‘Wee Willie Winkie’ in Wee Willie Winkie (1889) 103: The Highlander [...] turning to a Gurkha, said, ‘Hya, Johnny!’.

(f) a German soldier.

1916		C. Jose letter 16 Nov. in Sebag-Montefiore Somme (2017) 175: Old ‘Johnny’ sniped at me all the way back, but I dodged him by getting into shell holes elettewtc.
1918		E.G. Dodd diary 10 Mar. 🌐 This afternoon Johnny [i.e. the Germans] got a bit vicious and was pounding pretty heavily. The boys seem to think the Bosche is going to bring something off by way of an attack. [Ibid.] 13 Mar. Johnny has been pasting Vermelles and Philosophe with big stuff. Been searching for our batteries I suppose.

(g) an Arab.

1918		Kirkintilloch Gaz. 19 June 1/5: If I want Johnny to show me anything I say ‘Shufti’.
1984		Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 625/2: WW2.