a made-up name for a larger than
average or giant
man. In a
song called "Big Bad
John" which was
released in the early 1960s, "Big Bad
John" is the name of a very large miner who
holds up the
ceiling in a collapsing mine long enough for his fellow
miners to escape before he himself is killed.
—SHSBC Binder 26 Approved Glossary