wooden kimono

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

A variation of earlier criminal slang such as wooden coat.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

wooden kimono (plural wooden kimonos)

  1. (US, slang) Synonym of coffin.
    • 1935, Capt. Billy's Whiz-Bang Winter Annual, back cover:
      "And you're just about ready to give up the ghost and call for a wooden kimono."
    • 1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Not too Far Tangent”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 19:
      I expected the man to show up any minute with his tape measure to outfit me with a wooden kimono.
    • 1976, Tom Waits, Small Change, Asylum Records, 1976, Track #10:
      "The wooden kimono was all ready to drop in San Francisco Bay, but now he's mumbling something all about the one that got away."