"dope" and taboo (was: COKE in the Maryland)

[Bethany K. Dumas]

On Fri, 4 Mar 2005, Laurence Horn wrote:

>>>>  The synonymous "dope," however, seems to be on the way out used anymore -
>>>>  perhaps for obvious reasons.
>>
>>Let's not give it a premature funeral. Though its use is contextually and
>>otherwise restricted, it is in fact still used.
>>
>
>as we'd expect with taboo avoidance; cf. jackass.  Or the fact that
>the French still use _baiser_ ('to fuck') with its original meaning
>('kiss') as a noun, or in contextually disambiguated verbal contexts
>(_baiser la main_).

I have never seen any evidence that taboo avoidance is at play with use
of the word dope meaning generic coke. The contextual restrictions I am
familiar with (in East Tennessee) involve age, rurality, and level of
education. I know speakers who NEVER use any other word for generic coke.

Bethany