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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread snowbird #126061 03/25/2004 4:25 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 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 Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: snowbird #126062 03/25/2004 4:38 PM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 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. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: snowbird #126063 03/25/2004 5:06 PM Joined: Feb 2003 Posts: 725 Oregon, USA Coffeebean old hand Coffeebean old hand Joined: Feb 2003 Posts: 725 Oregon, USA I've never heard the term "snowbird" used for a cocaine addict, although it makes sense. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: snowbird #126064 03/25/2004 6:34 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 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. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: snowbird #126065 03/26/2004 1:54 AM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 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. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: snowbird #126066 03/26/2004 3:10 AM Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 2,379 New York City inselpeter Pooh-Bah inselpeter Pooh-Bah Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 2,379 New York City >>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. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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