Pubdate: Thu, 16 Jun 2016
Source: North Coast Journal (Arcata, CA)
Column: The Week in Weed
Copyright: 2016 North Coast Journal
Contact:  http://www.northcoastjournal.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2833
Author: Linda Stansberry

WORLDLY WEED

After Grant Scott-Goforth's parting shot last week debunking the 
racist connotations of the word "marijuana," it seemed only fitting 
to follow up with another column blatantly pandering to the etymology 
nerds in our readership. We were initially intrigued by the word 
"bong," which, according to an online etymology dictionary, comes 
from the Thai word "baung," meaning "cylindrical wooden tube," and 
came to the United States along with returning Vietnam War veterans.

As we dug deeper into the words that surround cannabis 
connoisseurship, a pattern developed.

Marijuana's English lexicon borrows many words from across the globe, 
not just for strain names (Acapulco Gold, Thai stick), but also for 
the actions of cultivating, preparing and appreciating the herb.

First, the almighty influences of Greek and Latin, from which we get 
the genus name Cannabis. Cannabis became officially attached to the 
plant in 1728, but "kannabis," a Greek word derived from ancient 
Scythian, dates back much further, first entering written use with 
Herodotus, who described the woven hemp clothes of nomadic Scythian 
tribes around 450 BC. The Greek root found its way into many 
different languages across Eurasia, including Persian (kanab), 
Albanian (kanp) and English (canvas).

Words for varieties, cultivation techniques and quality of weed have 
a wide pedigree.

That "dank-ass" weed you smoked last night owes its vivid description 
to Old Dutch, and the same root word from which we got "damp." 
"Joint" comes from the French word "to connect," a handy thing to 
remember the next time you're licking the edge of a Zig Zag. Both 
"hashish" and "keef" are derived from Arabic, with the former being 
an extension of "herbage or hay" and the latter resembling the word 
"kaif," meaning pleasure. "Dagga," which shares its meaning with a 
Jamaican dancehall trend, is derived from the mutilation of the South 
African Khoikhoi word, "dachab," by Dutch Afrikaans colonizers.

Unsurprisingly, Jamaican culture has had a lot of influence on pot 
culture. "Blunt" is believed to have originated among Jamaican 
immigrants in New York City, who in the 1980s used the sturdy 
Phillies Blunt brand cigars to disguise the smell of wafting ganja 
from the police.

The origins of "dub" are dubious, but it did enter the vocabulary 
along with Jamaican dub reggae in the 1970s. Its roots may be even 
older, with the first citation appearing in the 1967 book Narcotics & 
Hallucinogenics by J.B. Williams, saying that "dubbe" is "Negro slang 
for a marijuana roach." "Dubbe" may be the patriarch of dub, dubstep 
and your parents' wince-inducing use of "doobie." Sadly, tracking the 
etymology of many words introduced by the African diaspora is 
difficult, as many from the last century entered our dictionaries 
only post-appropriation by white audiences.

It seems that we do finally have a satisfactory origin story for 
4:20, which as it turns out is not a police code nor the number of 
chemical components in tetrahydrocannabinol, but the customary 
meeting time for a clique of San Rafael high school students in the 
1970s, who were looking for an abandoned marijuana grow near the 
Point Reyes Lighthouse. They never found it, but history found them.

Finally, one cannot overstate the contributions of the Spanish 
language and Mexican culture to marijuana slang. "Toke" is believed 
to be derived from "tocar," meaning "to hit/touch." "Sinsemilla" 
means literally "without seeds." "Reefer" may come from either the 
shape of a well-rolled sail or a corruption of the word "grifo," 
meaning, roughly, "pothead." And, coming full circle, marijuana 
evolved from the Mexican Spanish plant name "mariguan," with some 
suggesting the name Maria Juana led to its present form. Its use was 
popularized by its appearances in newspapers owned by infamous timber 
baron and promulgator of yellow journalism William Randolph Hearst.

With apologies the conspiracy theorists in our readership, there is 
little evidence that this was part of a convoluted plot by Hearst to 
suppress hemp cultivation as a potential rival to his paper business. 
With apologies to Scott-Goforth, Hearst was a fucking racist, and the 
articles in which the word marijuana appeared (often aimed at 
Mexicans) were fucking racist, and so it's understandable that some 
people conflate the word marijuana with being fucking racist.

I don't think we should stop using it - language, like culture, is 
much stronger for diversity and inclusion.

Let's make it bigger.

With much love to my fellow word nerds, I would like to enter Hearst 
into the lexicon.

The next time someone steals your stash and then pretends to help you 
look for it, call it "hearsting."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom