subs. (common).—A person whose presence brings bad luck; specifically a clergyman. [Of Biblical origin]. JONAH-TRIP = an unlucky undertaking.
1594. GREENE, Looking Glasse, Wks., 134. 2. (1861). We heav’d the hapless JONAS overboard.
1612. T. LAVENDER, trans. The Travels of Certaine Englishmen etc., Sig. C 1. Thought it best to make a IONAS of him, and to cast both him and his books into the Sea.
1644. Mercurius Britannicus, xxii. 172. I am ashamed that these JONAHS should be sleeping thus under the deck in a storme.
