# "Johnny Pump": Brooklyn-ese? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2002, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094 "2002-09-12T11:17:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/1 "2002-09-12T11:17:03Z")
Thanks to all those who explained and translated “ring-o-levieo” for this “country boy” from “hicksville” in this forum. Until recently, I was unaware that by not growing up in Brooklyn NYC, I had a deprived childhood (there were less than 75 kids of my age on my block --the horror!) and as a result I have seriously underdeveloped language skills. The question is this: I just lately found out that another term for a “fire hydrant” (a.k.a. “fire plug”) apparently is a “johnny plug” --at least in Brooklyn. How widespread is this term? Is it, like ring-o-levieo, Brooklyn-ese only? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/2 "2002-09-12T15:58:03Z")
All I can say is that I never recall hearing that term when I was a kid in the northeast Bronx. We mostly called 'em hydrants. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/3 "2002-09-12T17:17:01Z")
As a native of Brooklyn I can attest that “Johnny pump” is a common phrase in that borough (my mom certainly uses it all the time.) I’m not familiar with the street games thread you referred to in the OP (and I’m not going to look for it – the board is glacial today) but perhaps someone there mentioned the once-common Brooklyn/NYC game “Johnny on the pony.” JOTP requires that the “pillow man” be anchored to (i.e. leaning against) a wall, tree, post, etc. Fire hydrants were always good choices because, unlike most curbside trees, they were not blocked by parked cars. That is why, I suspect, hydrants came to be called Johnny pumps. Just my theory of course. (Maybe I’ll do some real research if I have some free time later today.) ---
**Author:** ![flabbygirlyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/45deac/32.png) [@flabbygirlyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flabbygirlyman)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/4 "2002-09-13T04:08:36Z")
In the Bronx ,when I was a child 45+ years ago , we had only one word for what we now call “hydrant” . That word was “Johnny-pump”. I was in my early teens by the time I had first heard the word “hydrant”. ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/5 "2002-09-13T10:56:55Z")
Johnny on the Pony was mentioned in the original explanation to me of why they are called Johnny Pumps, but my fiance is not sure if the pumps are named for the game or the game is named for the pumps. FWIW, I grew up in CA knowing they were properly called fire hydrants, but normally called fire plugs. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/6 "2002-09-13T14:52:41Z")
FWIW, I just remembered that “Johnny on the pony” was also called “buck buck” by some players. Go figger. ---
**Author:** ![Fillet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/2acd7d/32.png) [@Fillet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fillet)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/7 "2002-09-13T17:16:03Z")
When I was a tyke running around in the 1970s in the Bronx, “hydrant” was the word to use. I never heard the expression “Johnny pump,” or played “Johnny on the pony.” (I did play ring-o-levio, though.) **Colibri** , where were you? I’m a Woodlawn gal, myself. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/8 "2002-09-13T17:31:51Z")
Born an bred 29 years in Brooklyn, always called 'em hydrants. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/9 "2002-09-13T17:37:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fillet \* > **Colibri** , where were you? I’m a Woodlawn gal, myself. \*\* Westchester Square, a bit north of Parkchester, a mostly Irish/Italian neighborhood. I grew up in the area in the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/10 "2002-09-13T17:41:09Z")
Incidentally, I knew of the game called Johnny-on-the-pony, but I can’t recall we every played it. We mostly either played stickball, stoopball, or “guns” (cowboys ‘n’ Indians/cops ‘n’ robbers/GIs and Germans). ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/11 "2002-09-13T18:13:20Z")
Okay, I got sick of watching this thread pop up every few hours so I went to the NYC Encyclopedia, under Street Games, to see what they had to say. Not too much new to add I’m afraid, but at least it confirmed some previous posts: "Johnny on the pony, traceable to ancient Greece and known as “buck buck” in other cities, may have been named for the fire hydrant, locally known as the “Johnny pump.” [It then describes the how the game is played.] ---
**Author:** ![tisipoohbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tisipoohbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisipoohbear)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/12 "2014-07-12T06:48:22Z")
Born in 1959 i only knew of a Johnny Pump…not a fire hydrant, one of the best things I remember growing up in Brooklyn ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/13 "2014-07-12T14:04:09Z")
My wife grew up in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn and never heard the term. Growing up in Philly, I always called them fire plugs. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/14 "2014-07-12T14:57:42Z")
Born in 1963, grew up in Queens and I knew what a johnny pump was ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-pump-brooklyn-ese/128094/15 "2014-07-12T18:49:35Z")
Given that this thread is 12 years old, I’m going to close it. Colibri General Questions Moderator