Wordsmith.org
Posted By: wwh snowbird - 03/25/04 04:25 PM
acidhead, addict, alcoholic, chain smoker, cocaine sniffer, cokie, cubehead, dipsomaniac, dope fiend, doper, drug abuser, drug user, drunkard, fiend, freak, glue sniffer, habitual, head, heavy smoker, hophead, hype, junkie, LSD user, marijuana smoker, methhead, narcotics addict, pillhead, pothead, snowbird, speed freak, tripper, user







Posted By: Faldage Re: snowbird - 03/25/04 04:38 PM
Never heard it used that way before. I've been struck by the incongruity of the other two definitions, one referring to a bird that stays for the winter and the other one who flees from it.

Posted By: Coffeebean Re: snowbird - 03/25/04 05:06 PM
I've never heard the term "snowbird" used for a cocaine addict, although it makes sense.



Posted By: wwh Re: snowbird - 03/25/04 06:34 PM
From working many years VA psychiatric hospital, much of the
time as admitting physician, I saw a tragic multitude of
drug abusers. To the point it made me prefer cold turkey
to codeine after dental extraction.

Posted By: wwh Re: snowbird - 03/26/04 01:54 AM
For the heck of it, I looked for origin of phrase "cold
turkey". What a goofy explanation they gave. It means
abrupt total withdrawal, with no attempt at palliation.
Of course, in some situations that can be very bad, e.g.
in alcoholics it can lead to DT's.

Posted By: inselpeter Re: snowbird - 03/26/04 03:10 AM
>>origin or 'cold turkey'<<

We were taught, when we might have been learning something else, that it was because the skin of heroin addicts in abrupt withdrawal resembled that of a cold plucked turkey, which I guess is a pinch worse than goose flesh.
© Wordsmith.org