Chicago typewriter

English

Etymology

From its use by Chicago's underworld in the Prohibition Era, and likening the rattling sound of gunfire to that of a typewriter.

Noun

Chicago typewriter (plural Chicago typewriters)

1. (slang) Synonym of Thompson submachine gun.
   • 1946, Wesley Winans Stout, Bullets by the Billion, page 68:

     As the .45 cartridge is used in many weapons, Ballistics test-fired it in all — three different models of the Thompson sub-machine gun, the “Chicago typewriter” of gang warfare; the Reising sub-machine gun used by the marine Corps; the new and exciting M-3 sub-machine gun; the Colt .45 automatic pistol […]

   • 2010 July 23, Neil Norman, “The man who really caught Capone”, in Express:

     Few arrests were made and the city was alive to the sound of screeching tyres, the chatter of the Chicago typewriter or Tommy gun (which was invented just too late for the First World War but just in time for Capone & Co) and the music of the speakeasies and juke joints.

   • 2012, Edward M. Arnett, A Different Kind of War Story, page 105:

     The Russian soldiers carried Czech-made Skoda Tommy guns reminiscent of the well-known Thompson Chicago typewriter, made famous by the FBI and gang warfare during the Depression years.

Synonyms

• Tommy gun, Chicago atomizer, Chicago piano, Chicago style, chopper

Hypernyms

• trench broom, trench sweeper

Related terms

• Chicago lightning (“gunfire”), Chicago overcoat (“coffin”)

Further reading

• Jonathon Green (2024) “Chicago typewriter n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
• Thompson submachine gun on Wikipedia.Wikipedia