[go: up one dir, main page]
Advertisement

Origin and history of Johnnie

Johnnie

see Johnny.

Entries linking to Johnnie

Johnny

pet form of masc. proper name John, with -y (3). Used as a contemptuous or humorous designation for some class or group of men from 1670s.

It was the typical name in the North and the Northern armies for a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War, and the Southern soldiers were, collectively Johnnies, generically Johnny Reb. In the Mediterranean, it was a typical name for an Englishman by c. 1800. In the Crimean War it became the typical name among the English for "a Turk" (also Johnny Turk), later it was extended to Arabs; by World War II the Arabs were using Johnny as the typical name for "a British man"). Johnny Crapaud as a derogatory generic name for a Frenchman or France is from 1818.

Johnny-come-lately "a new arrival" first attested 1839. Johnny-on-the-spot is from 1896. Johnny-jump-up as an American English name for the pansy is from 1832. Johnny-cocks, a colloquial name for the early purple orchid (Orchis mascula) is attested from 1883.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    Blighty
    WHEN Johnnie comes frae Blighty you can see it in his face,       For its jist a long's an...Ferguson," first verse of Johnnie frae 'Blighty,'" in The Thin Red Line, The Regimental Paper of the 2nd Batt....
    pop
    To dismiss him [Johnnie Ray] out of hand one would have to share (as I can't) that facile contempt for "pop" culture, and...
    screen
    mid-14c., screne, "upright piece of furniture providing protection from heat of a fire, drafts, etc.," probably from a shortened (Anglo-French? compare Anglo-Latin screna) variant of Old North French escren, Old French escran "fire-screen, tester of a bed" (early 14c.). This is o
    priest
    Middle English prēst, "cleric ranking below a bishop and above a deacon, a parish priest," from Old English preost, which probably was shortened from the older Germanic form represented by Old Saxon and Old High German prestar, Old Frisian prestere, all from Vulgar Latin *prester
    discern
    "perceive or recognize the difference or distinction between (two or more things);" also "distinguish (an object) with the eyes, see distinctly, behold;" also "perceive rationally, understand;" late 14c., from Old French discerner (13c.) "distinguish (between), separate" (by sift
    remote
    mid-15c., "distant in place, apart, removed, not near," from Latin remotus "afar off, remote, distant in place," past participle of removere "move back or away, take away, put out of view, subtract," from re- "back, away" (see re-) + movere "to move" (from PIE root *meue- "to pus
    inexorable
    "unyielding, unrelenting," 1550s, from French inexorable and directly from Latin inexorabilis "that cannot be moved by entreaty, unyielding," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + exorabilis "able to be entreated," from exorare "to prevail upon," from ex "out" (see ex-) + ō
    canteen
    1744 (in a recollection from c. 1710), "store in a military camp," from French cantine "sutler's shop" (17c.), from Italian cantina "wine cellar, vault," diminutive of canto "a side, corner, angle." Thus it is perhaps another descendant of the many meanings that were attached to
    gringo
    term for a European or Anglo-American, 1847, from American Spanish gringo "foreigner," from Spanish gringo "foreign speech, unintelligible talk, gibberish," perhaps ultimately from griego "Greek." The "Diccionario Castellano" (1787) says gringo was used in Malaga for "anyone who
    frog-march
    also frog's march, 1871, a term that originated among London police and referred to their method of moving "a drunken or refractory prisoner" by carrying him face-down between four people, each holding a limb; the connection with frog (n.1) perhaps being the notion of going along

    Share Johnnie

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near Johnnie
    Advertisement