Johnson hole

English

Alternative forms

• Jack Johnson hole

Etymology

Named, for its size, after Jack Johnson (1878-1946), the world heavyweight boxing champion until 1915.

Noun

Johnson hole (plural Johnson holes)

1. (military slang, now historical) A large shell crater during the First World War.
   • 1937, David Jones, In Parenthesis, Part 3:

     And to his immediate front, below the shelving ramp, a circular calm water graced the deep of a Johnson hole […]

   • 2005, Gordon Williams, British Theatre in the Great War, page 196:

     A running joke is the supposed general who has fallen into a Johnson hole, and Bert's anxiety about whether he should ‘let him drift or fish 'im out’.