[Ads-l] Very Slight Antedating of "Reefer" (Marijuana)

[Laurence Horn]

Does “reefer” in reference to Satchmo as king of the reefers actually denote ’smoker of marijuana’ rather than ‘marijuana’?  Is that use attested elsewhere, or is “reefer” here a kind of hap(lo)logy for “reeferer”?

> On Mar 30, 2024, at 10:12 AM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU> wrote:
> 
> reefer (marijuana) (OED 1931 [21 Mar.])
> 
> 1931 _Kansas City Call (Kansas City, Mo.) 20 Mar. 2 (ProQuest)
> 
> [Louis] Armstrong ... is alleged to have not only been "King of the Trumpeters," but also king of the reefers, or marihuana smokers.
> 
> Fred Shapiro
> 
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org