See Also: Little John(dictionary)
John(dictionary)
Jay, John(encyclopedia)
John II(encyclopedia)
Law, John(encyclopedia)
Kay, John(encyclopedia)
Jay, John(dictionary)
Gay, John(encyclopedia)
john(medicine)
John I(encyclopedia)

John (iou)



John noun. LME.

(A form of address to) a man, esp. a male servant. colloq. LME.
Thackeray Crimson footmen,..came in. It was pitiable to see the other poor Johns slink off.
A priest. Chiefly in Sir John. derog. LME-M17.
(Also john.) A policeman. Also [after French gendarme] Johndarm. Cf. JACK noun1 3d. slang. M17.
V. Palmer The police came...and it was me that was nabbed. But the Johns let me off.
(Also john.) The client of a prostitute. slang (orig. US). E20.
Atlantic Monthly The old stereotypes of johnshusbands seeking relief..traveling businessmen..are still valid.
In full John Thomas. The penis. slang. M20.
(john.) A lavatory. colloq. (chiefly N. Amer.). M20.
L. Duncan I'm going to..cut up Griffin's credit cards and flush them down the John. M. Sarton She must try to get to the bathroom, brush her teeth, go to the John.
Comb. & phrases: Dear John (letter): see DEAR adjective1; John-a-dreams a dreamy or idle fellow; John-a-nokes [John (who dwells) at the oak] an anonymous party, usu. the plaintiff, in a legal action; an ordinary person; John-apple = APPLE-john; John-a-stiles an anonymous party, usu. the defendant, in a legal action; John Barleycorn: see BARLEY-CORN 1b; John boat US a small, flat-bottomed boat chiefly for use on inland waterways; John Citizen an ordinary man, esp. as a member of the community; John Collins: see COLLINS noun1; John Company joc. (Hist.) the East India Company; Johndarm: see sense 3 above; John Doe (a) US Law an anonymous party, usu. the plaintiff, in a legal action, formerly spec. (English Law) in the now obsolete action of ejectment (cf. RICHARD Roe); (b) N. Amer. colloq. an ordinary or typical citizen; (c) US colloq. a signature; John-go-to-bed-at-noon dial. any of several plants with flowers which close about midday; esp. yellow goat's-beard, Tragopogon pratensis; John Hancock, (local) John Henry US colloq. a signature; John hop Austral. & NZ slang = sense 3 above; John Innes (compost) any of a group of composts prepared according to formulae developed at the John Innes Horticultural Institution in the late 1930s; John Q. Public N. Amer. colloq. (a member of) the general public; John Roscoe: see ROSCOE; John Thomas: see sense 5 above; long John: see LONG adjective1; Sir John: see sense 2 above; square John: see SQUARE adjective; sweet John: see SWEET adjective & adverb.
? See also St John's bread, St John's wort s.v. SAINT noun & adjective.