John Roscoe

plural John Roscoes

1. alternativeAlternative form of roscoe (“a handgun”).

   “Why,” Joe the Joker says, “the joke is, I will not be asleep in the sack, and my hands will not be tied, and in each of my hands I will have a John Roscoe, so when the sack is delivered to Frankie Ferocious and I pop out blasting away, can you not imagine his astonishment?”

   1934, Damon Runyon, Sense of humor

   1 more example

   “A few minutes after Sorrowful arrives, a party by the name of Milk Ear Willie from the West Side comes in, this Milk Ear Willie being a party who is once a prize fighter and who has a milk ear, which is the reason he is called Milk Ear Willie, and who is known to carry a John Roscoe in his pants pocket.”

   1934, Damon Runyon, Little Miss Marker