johnny

See also: Johnny

English

Etymology

Alternative letter-case form of Johnny, diminutive of John.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɑni/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɒni/
• Rhymes: -ɒni
• Hyphenation: john‧ny

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

johnny (plural johnnies)

1. (UK, slang) A condom.
2. (New Zealand, derogatory) An inexperienced new worker, usually an immigrant.
   • 1913, Katherine Mansfield, Millie:

     Willie Cox said they found him in the barn, shot bang through the head, and the young English johnny who'd been on the station learning farming - disappeared.

3. (New England) A hospital gown: a gown with a back opening closed with snaps or ties, worn by hospital patients.
   • 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:

     His hand shook. A little water spilled down the front of the hospital johnny Sean wore.

4. (US, slang, dated) Synonym of john: a toilet, lavatory, outhouse, or chamber pot.
   • 1935, John O'Hara, BUtterfield 8, Ch. ix, page 279:

     The women's toilet (as distinguished from the ladies' room in a speakeasy, the johnny at school, the little girls' room at a party in an apartment, and the wash-my-hands on a train) was clean enough.

   • 1935, John O'Hara, chapter IV, in Appointment in Samarra, page 98:

     Kitty Hofman came in the johnny.

5. (Ireland, slang, archaic) A half-glass of whisky.
   • 1867, William Dool Killen, Memoir of John Edgar, page 108:

     [H]e declared, like a real Irishman, that 'if he were a living man when he died, he would not give a single johnny of whisky either at his wake or his funeral.'

Synonyms

• (condom): See Thesaurus:condom
• (place or device for urination and defecation): See Thesaurus:toilet, Thesaurus:bathroom, and Thesaurus:chamber pot

Derived terms

• johnny bag
• johnnycake
• johnny house
• rubber johnny

 

See also

• John Thomas

References

• (half-glass of whisky): John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary