[Ads-l] juice = ink for marking cards, juice(d) cards; bug juice/Kool-Aid

[Benjamin Barrett]

Both the Oxford English Dictionary site (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/juice <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/juice>) and Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/juice) provide a range of meanings for the word “juice,” but none provide a scope that captures the meaning of a dye for marking cards so they can be identified with special sunglasses or contact lenses.

I assume the word “juice” comes from “lemon juice invisible ink” (http://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Invisible-Ink-Message <http://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Invisible-Ink-Message>). I have a vague recollection of reading about it in some book about codes and ciphers as a kid and trying it out (I thought the obvious faded yellow was an utterly stupid technique).

1. The Marked Cards Organization has a “Juice Ink Kit Deluxe” for $500:

http://www.markedcards.org/juice-ink-kit-deluxe-for-plastic-cards.html <http://www.markedcards.org/juice-ink-kit-deluxe-for-plastic-cards.html>

2. The Marked Cards Organization also sells a range of juice decks for much less: 

http://www.markedcards.org/juice.html <http://www.markedcards.org/juice.html>

3. Chen lynn has posted a www.buymarkedcards.com <http://www.buymarkedcards.com/> video about juice cards at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi73HK9Rm6o <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi73HK9Rm6o>.

4. Also from buymarkedcars.com (http://www.buymarkedcards.com/ntp-marked-cards.shtml <http://www.buymarkedcards.com/ntp-marked-cards.shtml>) is “juiced cards”:

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When you wear special contact lenses, you can read the marks in the middle of the back of the juiced cards, but the naked eyes cannot see them.
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Separately, has the issue of “drinking juice/Kool-Aid” meaning somebody is mentally not right been discussed? I’m not very good at this set of expressions, but I’ve heard people say things like “he’s been drinking the juice/Kool-Aid” in combination with various expressions. I see that the Oxford Dictionary site (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/bug-juice?q=bug+juice <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/bug-juice?q=bug+juice>) has “bug juice” to mean high-proof alcohol. Wiktionary includes Kool-Aid (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bug_juice <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bug_juice>). I never associated this sort of expression with alcohol per se, but just as a metaphor for being short a brick or not right upstairs.

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org