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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
I've notice lately the word "jones" being used in ads (in US by Verizon phone company)and in TV show dialog.
I am familiar with the word -- know it for over 30 years-- but it is a street word. Has any one else noticed its increased use? and is it a US slang word or do others use it?
The Verizon ad refers to "your talk jones". Some sense of the word is evident from usage, send private if you want to know meaning, or at any rate, its original meaning.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
Altogether salient to this conversation, where did "hankering" come from? The sophisticated "jones" seems to have supplanted the rustic hayseed "hankerin'" in these modern times... Yet another Jones to keep up with ~ 
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
You took the basketball right out of my mouth!  I've heard "hankerin" a bit more than "jonesin" these days, however only in the context of the phrase "I've got a hankerin for some spankerin"...  ps. Have you met Mrs. Jones?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
Looks like I've missed out on that one - I've never heard the word jones, other than as part of a name.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 20
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 20 |
Is the verb form ("I'm jonesing for some chocolate right now") any newer or older than the noun?
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
One of the many rewards of reading this board is learning the current jargon. Helps this old lady keep up with the teens in the neighborhood ... then up pops "jones" and I haven't heard it and haven't a clue as to meaning(s). Would appreciate any explanations via private messages. Aloha, wow
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
OED lists this sense as coming out of the 'keeping up with the Jones' usage. the first citation lends credence to this, I guess; inflected forms came later.
2. slang. A drug addict's habit.
1968 Sun Mag. (Baltimore) 13 Oct. 19/4 Soon you're out to keep from getting the Jones. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 71 Jones, a fixation; drug habit; compulsive attachment. 1971 Black World Mar. 54/1, I don't have a long jones. I ain't been on it too long. 1971 E. E. Landy Underground Dict. 113 Jones, the habit of a drug addict—eg. His jones is heavy. 1974 Publishers Weekly 12 Aug. 50/2 Knows the reality of Detroit's heroin sub-culture as few of those who are not ‘Jones men’ do. (‘Jones’ stands for both heroin and the habit.)
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 130
member
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member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 130 |
Anyone have an etymology on this word? Was jones originally street talk for heroin, as in "I'm looking for Mr. Jones, he been around your way"?
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