Slang for crystal meth

[Wilson Gray]

Five on the b(l)ack-hand side behind that!

-Wilson

On Aug 4, 2005, at 10:35 AM, Wells Darla L wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wells Darla L <dlw3208 at LOUISIANA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Slang for crystal meth
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>
> Connected (but very loosely) to your meth slang:
> Graffiti seen in a stall in the women's restroom in a truck stop in
> Indio,
> California in the 80's--"Here I sit with a broken heart, /All cranked
> up but
> my truck won't start" and below in a different hand, "Well, if your
> dope was
> worth a fuck,/ You'd go out and push that truck."
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, 4 Aug 2005 02:03:12 -0400, Wilson Gray wrote
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Slang for crystal meth
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>> ---------
>>
>> On Aug 3, 2005, at 11:05 PM, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>>
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>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU>
>>> Subject:      Re: Slang for crystal meth
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>>> On Wed, 3 Aug 2005 22:07:47 -0400, Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Newsweek  August 8, 2005
>>>> p.47
>>>>
>>>> "... Crank, so-nicknamed because bikers would hide meth in their
>>>> motorcycles' crankcases"
>>>
>>> Looks like this is a popular explanation:
>>
>> If you mean that it strikes you as bullshit, I'm afraid that I have
>> to disagree with anyone who disagrees with you. The writers of the
>> article
>> probably pulled that "etymology" out of their asses.
>>
>> -Wilson Gray
>>
>>>
>>> http://www.google.com/search?q=meth+crank-cases
>>>
>>> This has all the hallmarks of an urban-legend/etymythology,
>>> including a
>>> lack of verifiability and numerous variations on the theme. (Is the
>>> crankcase a hiding place or a reaction vessel? Is it a motorcycle
>>> crankcase or a truck crankcase?)
>>>
>>> HDAS has "crank" back to 1969, but I don't see the "crankcase"
>>> derivation
>>> until 1995 (S.F. Chronicle, "The Kiss of Meth", 8/27/95) -- though
>>> there
>>> was a 1989 DEA crackdown on San Diego meth labs known as "Operation
>>> Crankcase" (could this have simply been a pun on the DEA's part?).
>>>
>>> I'd go with the much more mundane explanation that the drug "cranks
>>> up"
>>> the user.
>>>
>>>
>>> --Ben Zimmer
>>>
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