osnaburg, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

osnaburg n.

[proper name Osnabrück (in later Eng. corruptly Osnaburg), a town and district in north Germany noted for its manufacture of linen, thus a kind of coarse linen orig. made in Osnabrück. In W.I. it was orig. used for the garments issued to slaves and later prisoners]

(W.I.)

1. rough, ill-cut clothes.

1956

cited in Cassidy & LePage Dict. Jam. Eng. (1980).

2. first-rate clothes, the product of the best tailoring.

1956

cited in Cassidy & LePage Dict. Jam. Eng. (1980).