square john

square john

slang An honest, respectable, and law-abiding man. Used primarily in criminal and prison communities. The key is to find some square john to take the fall for you when the feds finally catch on to the scheme. I know you can't understand how I can sleep at night doing what I do. But see, I look at a square john like you, a slave to your work and your mortgage, and I think you're the crazy one.
See also: john, square
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

square apple

verb
See square john
See also: apple, square

square john

and square apple
n. someone who obeys the rules; a square. Fred is a square john. There’s no point in worrying about him. I look like a square john, but I’m really quite a devil.
See also: john, square
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • square apple
  • square john broad
  • square-john broad
  • an honest buck
  • jump smooth
  • make an honest buck
  • earn an honest buck
  • on the up and up
  • be on the up and up
  • on the up-and-up
References in periodicals archive
DB Euston Square John Gosden Newmarket, Wednesday, April 15 Was held up at the back and came with a fine run down the outside to take third under a hands-andheels ride.
The JHS, reflecting the dominant casework approach of social work, relied mainly on individual counseling of male and female "rounders." To keep their clients out of jail, counselors attempted to persuade them to cut their ties with the drug culture and join the world of the "square johns." The brief final chapter also deals with a Vancouver topic--the controversy over treatment methods in the 1950s and early 1960s.