Where does the phrase jonesing for come from? Heroin addicts first introduced the expression in the early 1960s, but like many bits of slang, it soon left its original subculture and entered the mainstream vernacular. There’s no evidence to support the idea that it comes from “keeping up with the Joneses.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Jonesing Origin”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Denise Lawless from Webster, New Hampshire.
Hi, Denise, welcome.
Hi, Denise, welcome to the program.
Thank you so much.
What would you like to talk with us about?
Within the last month, a couple of people have said to me, I’m really jonesing for something. And then Martha used the phrase, you had a puzzle guy on. And after you chatted with him a bit, Martha said, well, we’re really jonesing for a puzzle. And I thought, I know that it means you want something, but where does that come from?
Mm. Good question.
It’s a great question. Do you know any heroin addicts?
Not personally. Well, actually, I do know one.
We all lead rich and varied lives. We’ve all got a heroin addict there somewhere.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, anyway, yes, I do, actually.
Well, I ask, and it’s not really, it’s kind of a joke, but I ask because it comes out of the language of heroin addicts in the early 1960s, probably in the 50s. But we know for certain that by 1962, it was already a part of the lingo.
No, I just want to say that’s not why I was using it with our puzzle guy.
Well, like so many slang…
Well, you do have an addict problem when it comes to puzzles, Martha.
Yeah, I love those puzzles. Can’t get enough.
Put that down. That’s enough of that.
The interesting thing about this term is because it’s wonderful slang, it behaves like slang. So it does a lot of things. One, it doesn’t hold itself to one part of speech. It becomes a noun and a verb, and jonesing is the most common form of it. You’re like jonesing for something.
Also, because it started as this insider group slang and a very disreputable part of our culture, which is drug culture, it left that culture, entered mainstream language, and became a little blander and just lost a little bit of its color.
If I’m using it, yeah, it’s bland.
Now, as far as the origin goes, do you remember this from movies in the 1970s? It starts to pop up in movies and books and newspapers, and these days it’s everyday slang. I mean, I assume even 11, 12-year-olds are using it and not really knowing it came from heroin addicts in the 1960s.
So, Denise, have you heard it as a noun?
I’m not sure I’ve heard it as a…
Oh, I’ve got a Jones for something?
Yeah, I’ve got a Jones, exactly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I guess that would be it.
No, actually, this is hilarious because one of the people that used it said she was jonesing for her granddaughter.
Whoa!
She doesn’t know where she came from.
Yeah, but you know, we don’t want to commit the etymological fallacy here of thinking that a word can only mean the thing that it first meant.
Sure.
It changes and they can be free and unfettered from their original source.
So that’s what happened to jones and we’re good here.
Now, as far as the origin goes, the only theory that floats out there that, as far as I know, has any legs, and they’re not very strong legs, very rickety, in fact, kind of spindly chicken legs that support this theory, is there was an alley in New York called Jones Alley. And there’s another one called Great Jones Alley. And the idea was that back in the 50s and 60s, these were a place where druggies would kind of, you know, hunch next to the trash cans and shoot up. Or that’s where they would score, the dealer was there, that sort of thing. There’s almost no evidence to support it.
Yeah, but I like it.
You do like it.
Yeah, yeah.
Now, do you know the term fiending? Do you ever hear that or fiening?
Fiening, like a, yeah.
I actually have, like a mad fiend for something.
Yeah, but fiend is a verb. And sometimes they drop the D and people don’t even realize that it. But it would be related to, like, being a fiend.
Yeah, that’s right.
Again, it’s another one of those terms that means a strong craving and it comes from drug culture and shows up in popular culture and songs and stuff.
That’s great.
Cool?
Yeah, well, thank you so much.
Yeah, sure. Thanks for listening.
Yeah, I love it.
I hope we made your day.
You make my day every week when I get to hear the show.
Denise, thank you so much for your call.
Thank you so much.
Take care. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
