Cannabis Dictionary of Slang: The History of Weed Synonyms & Phrases
With a burgeoning cannabis subculture emerging within a culture that is centuries old, what slang terms have evolved to describe the potential-packed plant?
Whereas other slang terms are comical or happened organically, is it true that some references to cannabis such as marijuana were maliciously used to incite hysteria against the plant?
Buckle up as this non-exhaustive article dives deep into the origin of popular cannabis slang.
Marijuana
Marijuana is probably the most popular and controversial cannabis slang.
The word might trace its origin from the Panamanian word ‘managuango’ or the Spanish word ‘mariguano’, which both mean “intoxicant.”
Other sources believe marijuana was derived from the Nahuatl word ‘mallihuan’, which means “prisoner”. Another narrative is that the term is a clever fusion of the names of two popular Mexican women.
Whatever its etymology, both the plant and the word were introduced to the United States by Mexican immigrants after the Mexican Revolution.
But when a criminal element began to associate itself with cannabis, both the Mexican and the U.S. governments began clamping down on marijuana by passing laws that illegalized the herb.
While legislation can be effective to a point, it never hurts to use propaganda and hysteria as well.
Harry Anslinger did just that when he became the first director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1930. He began using the marijuana term to create a link between cannabis and Mexican immigrants.
By using a foreign word, the government hoped it would incite anti-cannabis sentiment, racializing the plant and demonizing Latino communities in the U.S.
Bud
In general, “bud” refers to the cannabis plant’s smokable flowers.
Buds can be either sticky or brittle, and the best buds are the trichomes-covered part of the female cannabis plant.
In jurisdictions where the sale of cannabis is legal, dispensaries sell “bud” in small, aromatic chunks that the buyer can ground up.
Ganja
Dating back to the early 1700s, “Ganja” is one of the oldest slang terms for cannabis. A Hindi word, ganja is derived from the ancient Sanskrit language, which specifically refers to the flower’s buds.
Following the abolition of slavery in 1834, Indian laborers were shipped to Jamaica to work on white-owned plantations. Thus ganja entered the local farmers’ vocabulary.
The global spread of Rastafarianism along with the worldwide reach of reggae music has also helped popularize the term.
Kaya
A Jamaican term for cannabis, Kaya is possibly borrowed from ‘kayakitt,’ a Caribbean-English word for a medicinal herb.
Bob Marley and the Wailers popularized Kaya in a record released in 1978. The album was Pete’s Rock’s last to be released by the Tuff Gong label.
Though commonly used in Jamaica, the word “kaya” did not originate from the Caribbean island. Its origin can be traced to Tupi, Brazil.
Here, the word used by the indigenous people to describe the medicinal herb is kaya.
Mary Jane
Many people seem to believe Mary Jane is derived from the marijuana phrase. Same to the traditional Spanish names of Maria and Juana, marijuana becomes Mari + Juana.
The English equivalent of both names is Mary Jane. According to Seedsmann, this theory makes sense hence I’m also going to stick to it!
Bhang
Often consumed as bhang, there is no social stigma attached to cannabis use in India.
Bhang is a traditional Indian cannabis preparation that involves making marijuana-infused food and drinks.
A study completed in 1894 by British and Indian medical experts concluded that bhang was less harmful than alcohol.
Thus drinking or eating bhang is the most common and only legal method to consume marijuana in India.
With that in mind, bhang is highly revered in spiritual and cultural ceremonies, especially at the Hindu festival of Holi.
Meanwhile, bangi, an offshoot of bhang, is the local term for marijuana among Kiswahili-speaking people in East and Central Africa.
Pot
The phrase “pot” first happened on the scene in the 1920s, and it continued to gain popularity throughout the Jazz era of the 1930s and 1940s.
Pot comes from the Mexican word potiguaya, which is a shortened version of portación de guaya (the wine of grief).
The term originally referred to brandy or wine made from soaked cannabis.
According to Weedmaps.com, the term’s origin can be traced back to Chester Himes, who in 1938 authored a short story about a man who gets high on “pot.”
Dagga
An old cannabis phrase that dates back to the 1600s, the literal translation of “Dagga” is “a feeling of intoxication.”
The Khoi, a group of traditionally nomadic indigenous hunter-gatherer people of Namibia and South Africa, first used the term when referring to marijuana.
Not to be confused with the small sardine-like fish common in Lake Victoria, other spelling variations of “dagga” include tagga, dachka, daggha, dacka, and dacha.
Skunk
It’s not difficult to imagine the origin of this phrase. Cannabis strains that emerged in the 1970s in particular were pungent, lending credence to the term.
Many strains today have the same sweet and skunky aroma.
Rather than specific strains, “skunk” as a slang phrase was often used to refer to cannabis in general. To this day, the aroma emitted by certain cannabis strains lives up to the name.
Sticky Icky
“Sticky Icky” is cannabis slang that has a comedic origin. According to Urban Dictionary, Snoop Dogg popularized the term in one of his songs, Still D.R.E. — Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg.
Can I get sum of that ‘sticky! icky! icky!?
The rapper refers to “Sticky Icky” as sticky green buds that ooze an oily substance that sticks to your fingers. The phrase means highly potent weed.
Chronic
If you were to ask Snoop Dogg, the term chronic arose from a misinterpretation of the hydroponic word.
Hydroponic is the phrase used to refer to cannabis plants grown in a nutrient-rich water solution instead of soil.
“White boy came in with some shit called hydroponic,” Snoop said on his GGN internet show. “But ni**as got so motherf*ckin high they called it hydro chronic.”
That said, chronic, a slang term for high-quality weed, appears to have emerged around this time.
Herb
Herbs are valued by man for their aromatic, medicinal, or flavoring properties.
Same as many other ground herbs, cannabis is a natural plant with numerous nutritional, healthy, and medicinal properties.
Though the term “herb” is commonly used to refer to the plant’s smokable flowers, the whole plant has been classified as a herb.
Weed
The reason why cannabis is often referred to as weed is that it’s a plant that grows wild, a phenomenon some people consider undesirable or a nuisance.
Scientifically, “weed” is the term used to refer to any plant that grows where it’s not wanted, particularly a plant that is invasive or difficult to control.
Cannabis can grow in a variety of environments, hence the plant’s reputation as a weed. Sprouting up anywhere it finds warmth and moisture, the hardy plant’s roots can grow roughly 12–24 inches deep.
Furthermore, the Old English word “weod”, which means “grass” or “herb” may have played a part in influencing the adoption of the slang term.
Sinsemilla
Contrary to popular opinion, sinsemilla is not a cannabis strain in and of itself.
Female cannabis plants that have not been fertilized by a male plant are referred to as sinsemilla.
THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and other psychoactive compounds are abundant in these plants, making the subsequent buds extremely potent.
With that in mind, sinsemilla is arrived at by combining two Spanish words, ‘sin’ (without) and ‘semilla’ (seed). Thus sinsemilla is seedless marijuana.
Hashish
Originating in the Middle East and Central Asia, written texts dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries refer to hashish, making it the world’s oldest cannabis concentrate.
“The Tale of the Hashish Eater,” from 1001 Arabian Nights is one of the earliest recorded use of the word.
Hash is an abbreviation for “hashish,” the Arabic term for “dried herb.” Hash refers to a particularly potent, concentrated resin extracted from the cannabis plant’s trichomes.
Hash is consumed by inhaling or can be incorporated into a joint and smoked.
Joint
The phrase “joint” first appeared as a cannabis slang term in a 1938 newspaper article in the New Yorker.
Written by renowned journalist Meyer Berger, the article goes on to describe a “weed party” in Harlem, where the bespectacled journo was the odd one out.
Tracing the phrase’s history to the late nineteenth century, the probability that people began referring to opium dens as “joints” is high. The term was to later evolve to refer to marijuana.
Blunt
A blunt is what you get when you empty tobacco from a cigar and refill it instead with marijuana. The term may also apply to a joint rolled with a tobacco leaf wrap instead of hemp rolling papers.
Whereas smoking a blunt has a feel-good factor, the term itself was borrowed from Phillies Blunt, a cigar brand that was once the smoke of choice for many blunt smokers in the U.S.
Spliff
Most countries refer to a “spliff” as a cannabis cigarette that contains a combination of bud and tobacco.
The term’s origin is likely from the West Indies where locals use the term when referring to a cannabis joint.
Other sources believe the term derives from Jamaican Creole and is a mix of the words “split” which means a joint, and “whiff,” which refers to the smell of weed.
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