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stranger
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OP
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Thank you, Jackie and Keiva, for welcoming me and for the help and encouragement toward making a new post! Below, then, is the post I'd originally intended to make (but had mistakenly entered as a reply):
* * * * * * *
This lurker now ventures into daylight to ask: what is the history of the word "marijuana" ("marihuana")? A friend thinks "marijuana" was coined by Randolph Hearst (?!), which I doubt; my limited dictionaries say it's of American Spanish/Latin American origin, but also add "?" and give no history of the word's usage. Could someone tell me what the OED has to say about it? - Circumstances make it rather difficult for me to get to the library.
No packages, please! Only information! : )
Thank you,
Tsyganka
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old hand
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old hand
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wouldn't have a clue - but welcome aBoard Tsyganka!
stales
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Carpal Tunnel
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OED2 says only [Amer. Sp.], but has this lovely citation as the first print usage:
1894 Scribner's Mag. May 596/2 [The] ‘toloachi’, [and] the ‘mariguan’,..are used by
discarded women for the purpose of wreaking a terrible revenge upon recreant lovers.
edit: toloachi is evidently some variety of nightshade(!)
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Pooh-Bah
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The Slang and Euphemism Dictionary, Richard Spears, says that "marijuana" is from the US underworld and drug culture of the 1900s, and gives about 200 synonyms.
Origins A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, Eric Partridge, offers:
marijuana or marihuana: ASp mariguana, var marihauna: o.o.o. For mariguana, a "vulgar Mexican name for the common hemp" -- whence its A use -- Santamaria tentatively suggests origin in Mariguana, one of the islands forming the Bahamas.
FWIW - even the spelling was unsettled in Michigan courts as recently as 30 years ago. We've landed on marijuana.
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Carpal Tunnel
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one of the islands forming the Bahamas~ the original reefer? 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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~ the original reefer? No, mav...with you it's more like Reefer Madness!  now that flick was considered "camp" back in the day, to cross the thread hairsAnd other slang terms for marijuana: pot, weed, Mary Jane, smoke, grass...others I'm missing I'm sure, but, uh, I forget...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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And other slang terms for marijuana: pot, weed, Mary Jane, smoke, grass...others I'm missing I'm sure, but, uh, I forget...Well, I wouldn't know from personal experience. No way. Much. But I see that all the dire predictions about using it destroying brains cells must be true ...
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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[green/blue]marijuana or marihuana: ASp[/green//blue] I never inhaled.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Michael Pollan, in Botany of Desire points out that forgetfullness is the key point of a marijuana high.. it is human natare to have vast portions of our brain on autopilot.. we learn something, and then if we need it, its saved.. but the experience fades.. (like in economic- no matter how good something.. we acquire it, and become satiated..) with marijuana, everything is new again.. every experience takes on the fear, joy, excitement of a new experience... it is as if we have forgotten everything.. so the twill weave of our jeans becomes facinating.. and thing we have grown blase about.. are experienced, as if for the first time.. we have a child like wonder.. think of your favorite anything.. and think if you could experience it, as you did the first time.. get a marijuana high and you can.. and yes, long term, it can interfer with our abilities to form memories.. but every once in a while it nice to see the world through brand new eyes! (not that i do it..or maybe i just can't remember doing it. )
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Carpal Tunnel
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with marijuana, everything is new again.. every experience takes on the fear, joy, excitement of a new experience...
He makes it sound like a real pleasant experience doesn't he...no mention of dry eyes, dry mouth and pass the Twinkies please. I don't think anybody is *excited* after smoking pot. Joy & excitement are not words associated with smoking pot - more like extremely relaxed, zoned-out, laid back or horny.
we have a child like wonder.. uh, no, we just can't focus enough on anything so our mind wanders around aimlessly.
I think this guy is laying it on a little thick. Seriously, you gotta call a spade a spade. I don't mind saying that I've smoked mari (our common French term) but I wouldn't say I had childlike wonder while doing it.
A child has wonder because it marvels at new things, it is inquisitive. Under the influence of pot you may be enjoying yourself but you are too nonchalant and laid back to be inquisitive.
forgetfullness is the key point that's right, you forget you just looked at that same twill of jeans, oh, say eight or twenty times now and where the hell you put the Twinkies.
Personnally, I think marijuana is no more/no less dangerous that alcohol and if people want to take it in moderation then they should be allowed to. But, that is the key to everything though, isn't it, moderation.
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Carpal Tunnel
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I think it affects different people in different ways. I would say that I had a childlike wonder and I did many things and could concentrate better on specifics. When driving stoned I was always very aware of the road and the other traffic and, if I glanced at the speedometer, I was always doing right on the speed limit. I never got distracted by the spider hanging from the rear view mirror.
I also remember reading an article in Psycho Today about short term memory loss while stoned. I was making dinner at the time and would occasionally get up to tend to the cooking. I always found my place in the article when I came back to it. I attributed that to watching commercial TV shows abnd picking the plot back up after the rush of the commercial break.
The joy and excitement came from what I did while stoned, not the experience of being stoned itself. It was easier for me to get into something that could give me joy and excitement. You just have to get passed the point of just grooving on the lines in your hands.
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Carpal Tunnel
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But, that is the key to everything though, isn't it, moderation.No such thing ... what were we talking about? I know that I'd rather get stoned than drunk, but somehow finding dope when you need it is just toooo much trouble these days. Add to that the chance of getting caught. The offie, on the other hand, is just down the road and generally has bulk discounts ... I like bulk.
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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and as for the taste, yuuk. Twice was enough for me. Tastes revolting and it just made me feel irritable. Medicinal use only is just about right.
Bingley
Bingley
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Tastes revolting
I never thought it tasted near as revolting as tobacco. Just didn't have that physical addiction thang going for it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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My medical source in Mexico sent me this response:
Toloache (i) is a wild plant ( bush ) very popular among the "curanderos" and "brujas" in the north and south of Mexico. Among its properties it is believed to be useful to "control and intensify the sexual attraction of the lover". Unfortunately, on the medical side, it has been reported to have some toxic effects over the neurological system and it has been associated with hallucinations and squizophrenia-like syndromes with permanent damage to the brain. I would not recommend its use for any medical condition.Hi, Dr. Bill! That was from my herb specialist ex-husband
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stranger
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OP
stranger
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Thanks to all who gave me help on the origin of "marijuana." In particular, thanks for the Mariguana and Scribner's references. I think this one-two punch of info just Might have convinced my friend, who'd been holding out for Randolph Hearst as the coiner.
Tsyganka
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Carpal Tunnel
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Wofahulicodoc asked me if I had made Alice B. Toklas brownies (yes, there IS a story, and wouldn't you just lurve to know what it is!? <evil grin>). Not having heard that name that I recall, I Googled it. Guess where I found the explanation and recipe? The Straight DOPE! http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a940225.html
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Carpal Tunnel
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Latin name: datura stramonium In Spanish, also known as "hierba del diablo" (devil's weed) In English, jimsonweed http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/plant36.htmI'm ready. Ask me more questions about Mexican herbs. I found my book
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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From that Straight Dope link: Gysin came up with "Haschich Fudge, which anyone could whip up on a rainy day." By way of introduction he gushed, "This is the food of Paradise.... it might provide an entertaining refreshment for a Ladies' Bridge Club or a chapter meeting of the DAR.... Euphoria and brilliant storms of laughter; ecstatic reveries and extensions of one's personality on several simultaneous planes are to be complacently expected. Almost anything Saint Theresa did, you can do better." The active ingredient in the fudge was what Gysin called "canibus sativa," more familiarly known as marijuana.Ahem. I've knocked off work for a week and have some time, finally, to do more than just click through the links and throw in the occasional comment. This is a true story from my far distant youth. I think I was 16 or 17 at the time. My friend's parents were away for a week and were due to return on the Sunday. On the Saturday we came into the possession of some very fine hash - a block of it, well beyond our means. It was a present and very much appreciated since we'd drunk everything alcoholic in my friend's parents' booze cabinet long since and were already fearing the repercussions of that. Since we were tyros at the dope game, we asked around. What do you do with a block of hash? We got replies which ranged from "chew little bits of it", through "crumble it into smoking tobacco and smoke it", to "bake a hash cake". We tried the first as a quick, cheap and easy route to nirvana, but although we got a bit of a buzz on, it didn't seem too efficacious. Neither of us smoked at the time, and buying the makings to roll our own smokes would have aroused foul and completely unfounded suspicions in the breasts of the local shopkeepers. This was something to be avoided at all costs since they were as likely to snitch on us to our parents as not. That left option 3: Bake a hash cake. Of one thing you can be certain. Two 16-year-olds in 1970s Zild were not going to be experienced bakers of high quality cakes. After peering through various recipe books for ten minutes or so, one of us had the brilliant idea of buying one of those "shake'n'bake" cake mixes, just add some liquid, a couple of eggs and ... bake. Oh, joyous memory! We swiftly repaired to the local supermarket (or whatever it was in those days) and acquired, after some earnest debate over the merits of the various flavours available, a packet of orange cake mix. I can see the packet in my mind's eye to this day, "Mrs Crocker's Cake Mix", a reddish packet with yellow writing. Young minds are indeed impressionable! Back in my friend's kitchen we swiftly whipped up the mixture, following the recipe on the back of the packet to the letter. I remember there was a mild panic when we couldn't find what we considered to be the appropriate container to bake the cake in, but we obviously resolved that. Then we realised that we didn't actually know the best way to put the hash into the mix. Should we grate it? Should we crumble it? Should we just kinda press it flat and put it in the middle? A phone call later, we decided on a thoroughly unscientific crumbling programme followed by a further frantic mixing session in the Kenwood cake mixer. Finally, the concoction went into the oven. Twenty minutes later (I may be wrong about the timing here) we had an orange hash cake. It even looked right, and we were so deliriously happy with the result that we decided to go the whole hog and ice it. This sent us back to the recipe books, the local shop and took another two hours or so. Finally, on the kitchen counter we had our creation. An orange cake with what would have been, in today's terms, a shitload of hash in it. Distributed crumb by crumb, I reckon that cake would have kept most of Somalia hungry for a week, but very happy about it. With icing, yet. And, just as we were about to slice it up and hog in, the unthinkable happened. My friend's parents, they-who-were-not-supposed-to-be-home-until-the-morrow arrived ... home. What to do? we panicked before they'd actually made it inside. Hide it? Well, probably we could, but the smell in the house would have been a dead giveaway. Eat it? Not really possible in the time available, a matter of seconds. Act cool? Now, that appealed to a couple of 1970s teenagers. Besides, there wasn't much choice, was there? The cake was exclaimed over, and its existence somewhat blunted the wrath of my friend's father when he realised that we'd drunk all his booze. Mum cooked tea, and we left the cake for "afters". So there we were, sitting the lounge in front of the telly with dinky little cake plates, some wine which could easily have been confused with anti-freeze and ... hash cake. My friend and I nibbled gingerly, not knowing what the effects would be, really. As I said, we were tyros. Mum and Dad hoed in like there was no tomorrow. Liked it, complimented us and had second pieces. Well, what the hell, we thought, and we got stuck in as well. The rest of the evening was a little hazy. I know I spent the night on the couch and my friend on an easy chair. Mum and Dad got silly and giggly and disappeared before 10 to go to bed ... I had very pleasant dreams, I can tell you! Anyway, as friendships brought about by proximity and little else often do, my friend and I drifted apart. But from that day on, I called him "Dook" after the Duke of Orange. Later, he married and moved to another city. I was in that city some ten years later and decided to call in on him. When he answered the door, I said "Hi Dook," and he dissolved into laughter - he remembered the whole episode as vividly as I did. Except for the end bit...
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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hash cakeROFL! CK, I live for your stories.
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Carpal Tunnel
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CK you missed your calling by not persuing a career in comedy writing! that is a wonderful story!
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