Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US campus) used with a suitable n. or v. to denote the best of something, e.g. surfer king, toking king (cf. -queen sfx).

1846		J.G. Saxe Progress (1847) 28: How would she [the Muse] strive, in fitting verse, to sing The wondrous Progress of the Printing King! [DA].
1862		Report Committee Patents 1861: Agriculture 185: He has been called the ‘Strawberry King’ [...] unquestionable pre-eminence in this branch of fruit culture [DA].
1880		Bulletin (Sydney) 14 Aug. 3/2: The Toowoomba P. and A. Society, being desirous of securing competent judges for their ensuing show have invited the co-operation of the ‘marsupial king’.
1887		A.C. Gunter Mr Barnes of N.Y. 56: ‘Je-rue-sa-lem!’ [...] This last comes from a cattle king from Kansas.
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 165/2: Lard-king (Anglo-American). Typical Cincinnati millionaire, whose fortune is based upon pig.
1909		Truth (Perth) 16 Jan. 3/7: [T]he unionists are not going to break their principles, even for the bloated wheat-kings.
1918		Kia Ora Coo-ee 15 Sept. 14/3: A ‘babbler’ is suspicious naturally. If his dishes are praised, he’s on the lookout for a ‘grouser-catcher’, or a ‘backsheech king’.
1923		G.D.H. & M. Cole Brooklyn Murders (1933) 5: The rich widow of Cowper, the ‘coffee king’.
1924		(con. WWI) A.G. Pretty Gloss. of Sl. [...] in the A.I.F. 1921–1924 (rev. t/s) n.p.: kiwi-king. A Military Policeman or anyone who is very particular to keep his boots and the leather portions of his equipment brightly polished. So called because the most popular brand of leather polish was ‘Kiwi’.
1927		S. Graham N.Y. Nights 67: He was wholly matter-of-fact, conventional, timorous. There was nothing of the sheik or bootleg king.
1929		M. Levin Reporter 130: [running head] Is Jail Fun For Booze Kings?
1929		W. Winchell On Broadway 17 Dec. [synd. col.] Goodman, the Matzoth King, went gay on the Great Tight Way last wk.
1930		M. West Babe Gordon (1934) 167: Money Johnson, the ‘policy king’, was arrested on a gambling charge.
1931		Townsville Daily Bull. (Qld) 7 July 11/5: The house belonged to a ‘cattle king’ who had been the black sheep [...] in a rich Sydney family.
1935		M. Fulcher ‘Believe Me’ in Afro-American (Baltimore, MD) 16 Mar. 12/5: The smaller numbers kings can’t afford the heavy protection.
1946		T. Heggen Mister Roberts 87: Look who’s talking! The sack-king himself!
1952		S.N. Lake He Carried a Six-Shooter 169: In that heyday of the cattle king.
1961		J.A. Williams Night Song (1962) 182: The headlines — BOP KING DIES OF ADDICTION.
a.1966		‘The Skewbald Black’ in G. Logsdon Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing (1995) 120: I thought one spring, just for fun, / I’d see how cowpunching was done, / So just as the roundup had begun / I tackled the cattle king.
1989		P. Munro Sl. U. 119: He’s a leather jacket king.
1992		R. Price Clockers 181: That rowing machine, which gave him the upper body of a home run king.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 188: He gets Monroe and bongo king Preston Epps in one shot.