The weed lover’s vocabulary – aka stoner slang – is extensive, occasionally absurd, and sometimes practical. There’s a surfeit of nicknames to describe the color, quality, shape and psychoactive qualities of cannabis.
In fact, there are more than 1,200 different ways to refer to the cannabis plant. Bubonic chronic, doobie, dank, reefer, bud, grass, ganja… the list goes on.
Even so, how and why are there so many slang terms for the herb, anyway?
The answer, suggests Jonathon Green, author of Green’s Dictionary of Slang, relates to the illegal status of cannabis.
Slang, after all, is defined as an informal language, often used to conceal unmentionable words. In the cannabis community, it’s used as code; a linguistic way to get around authorities, or nay-sayers. But authorities catch on to slang, and eventually, new colloquialisms are needed.
“The terminology doesn’t really emphasize illegality: It is the illegality that created the need for the terminology,” Green told TIME in 2017. The creation of new slang, he added, is “seen as ‘fighting the man,’ it is also simply fun.”
In other words, stoner slang isn’t necessarily coined to be derogatory; it’s the jargon of cannabis aficionados.
Stoner slang is derived from different languages and cultures. For example, pot comes from the (Mexican) Spanish word for marijuana leave — potiguaya — or pot for short; Ganja from the Sanskrit word for Cannabis sativa, made popular by Jamaicans; and “gage” or “muggle,” both idioms for weed popularized by Jazz musicians in the 1920s and ’30s.
Reefer is said to derive from the Spanish word for weed, “grifa.” It’s also said to refer to the verb “reef,” which means to draw or pull.
Sometimes, however, the history of these slang terms is a more little complex or shrouded in stigma. One of the best examples of this is “marijuana.” Its origin is uncertain, but it became a widely used nickname for cannabis in the U.S. in the 20th century.
Per NPR, “A common version of the story of the criminalization of pot goes like this: Cannabis was outlawed because various powerful interests […] were able to craft it into a bogeyman in the popular imagination, by spreading tales of homicidal mania touched off by consumption of the dreaded Mexican “locoweed.” Fear of brown people combined with fear of nightmare drugs used by brown people to produce a wave of public action against the “marijuana menace.” That combo led to restrictions in state after state, ultimately resulting in federal prohibition.”
More recently, the word “skunk” is used to stimulate fear in the U.K. In America., skunk is a descriptor for its smell, or even strain names. But in the U.K., skunk is described as “super-weed,” and is often associated with psychosis. Recent headlines from Britain’s news sources reinforce the idea; “Most U.K. Cannabis ‘Super Strength Skunk” (BBC News), “Super Strength Skunk Could be to Blame for Spike in Lung and Heart Problems Among Women Over 40” (the Independent).
Like the term “dank,” some words start out with unpleasant meanings but have come to define really good things. In stoner culture, it means high-quality bud.
What about the word “stoner?” That has also come to take on a more positive connotation, too. The typical stoner stereotype — lazy, couch-locked and sluggish — is far from the truth. Rather, “stoner” is a diverse term for any cannabis enthusiasts: mothers, CEOs, entrepreneurs… and well, everyone in between.
Of course, slang is ever-evolving. And as the industry goes global, stoners will continue to innovate irie idioms.