Where does the word "pot" come from?

[theamazingkane]

I had an odd thought today while walking around on campus. I was thinking about how some of my friends and other people that I know jokingly refer to marijuana as "the pot," and how a lot of people who don't like marijuana or people who tend to think that it's the devils drug call it "pot."

But where the hell did the word "pot" come from? I've heard people refer to marijuana as weed (most common usage probably), reefer, ganja etc. and even though I've never personally heard people use terms like grass, doobies, dope, maryjane, etc., I know that at some point people refered to marijuana by these names as well. Just by looking at the names, I can see the obvious connection to marijuana, but POT?!?! I just don't see the connection.

So, anyone here seem to know where the term comes from and about when it was first used? I'm really curious, this has been on my mind all day.

[robert42]

Its spanish i beleive... im not 100% sure of its origins

[Jderringer]

It's short for "potiguaya", which is "marijuana leaves" in the mexican dialect of spanish.

[mowie wowie]

wow, who woulda known...

[BlazinTreesX3]

Him and deserves Rep up the ass from me for that one.

[slpntrx5]

It's short for "potiguaya", which is "marijuana leaves" in the mexican dialect of spanish.

+ rep

"damn, *****, where'd you go, weed college?" :rasta:

[Frivolous248]

how the hell did white people figure this out?

[theamazingkane]

It's short for "potiguaya", which is "marijuana leaves" in the mexican dialect of spanish.

Wow, I wasn't expecting the answer to be so succinct. I figured it was some obscure slang derivitive, but that's cool that it actually has cultural meaning.

thnx man :thumbsup:

[FreeVenice]

I always thought it was "pot" because of that "pass the dutchy" song. . . lol, I'm lame, I even know spanish. . .lol

[Breukelen advocaat]

There is no definitive proof that â??potâ?� comes from potiguaya, or other Spanish words. A very old word for marijuana is â??teaâ?� (I've only heard one person call it that, many years ago), and users may have associated the word â??potâ?� with the word. Others have suggested that it is a potted plant, or that it can be smoked in a pipe with a â??pot bowlâ??. The jury is out on this one.

[theamazingkane]

Damn, I guess the answer isn't so simple.

[dark0ne]

I always thought it was "pot" because of that "pass the dutchy" song. . . lol, I'm lame, I even know spanish. . .lol

The song isn't about Dutchys like dutch masters. It's about a dutchy (doo-ch-e) pan. people in jamaca used it to cook with, and it gets passed arround the table. that song was written by a bunch of 10 year olds.

(back on topic)
I noticed that the word "POT" wasn't said mutch till the 60's and 70's. before that people called it reefer. mabey it was do to the rising drug war that people needed a new code to call it buy, and being that most of the weed that came into the country in the 60's and 70's came from south america, it's easy to see were they might have gotten the name.

[TheSmokingMonkey]

Maybe because it's the TOP of the plant... and that's POT spelled backwards.

lol. I have nothing to offer this debate.

[timothylearyisdead]

The song isn't about Dutchys like dutch masters. It's about a dutchy (doo-ch-e) pan. people in jamaca used it to cook with, and it gets passed arround the table. that song was written by a bunch of 10 year olds.


Actually, that song wasn't written by a bunch of ten year olds. They (Musical Youth)did a cover of that song originally done by The Mighty Diamonds. They had to change the title and the lyrics from "pass the kutchie" to pass the dutchie" because in Jamiaca a kutchie is a marijuana pipe of some sort, so they couldn't have little kids singing about that. Just had to throw that out there.

BTW have you ever noticed only people that DON'T smoke call marijuana "pot"?

[dark0ne]

slang is probably a big part of it. i have heard people call it alot of stuff... bleezy is a first but thats my point, in different times the youth used different words for slang. just think in the future people are going to be reaserching why we were saying fo-shizzle, and crunk. just like now were looking at 5,000 year old stone tablets going is this the king or god, or a king that thought he was god.

[Reefer Rogue]

Actually, that song wasn't written by a bunch of ten year olds. They (Musical Youth)did a cover of that song originally done by The Mighty Diamonds. They had to change the title and the lyrics from "pass the kutchie" to pass the dutchie" because in Jamiaca a kutchie is a marijuana pipe of some sort, so they couldn't have little kids singing about that. Just had to throw that out there.

BTW have you ever noticed only people that DON'T smoke call marijuana "pot"?

Loads of people that blaze call it pot aswell.

Like it's been said i'm pretty sure it's derived from potiguaya.

[Jderringer]

+ rep

"damn, *****, where'd you go, weed college?" :rasta:

Thanx for the rep points! No weed college for me... I just have what I like to call "a very complete incomplete education." I like to learn stuff just for the sake of learning, kinda like a hobby. That makes me a virtual receptacle of otherwise useless knowledge! :bong:

[Veratyr Star]

Haha "the pot"

wtf

[NextLineIsMine]

I like the word reefer, it deserves a come back.

Ive never been a big fan of the words dank and dro

[timothylearyisdead]

I like the word reefer, it deserves a come back.

Ive never been a big fan of the words dank and dro

HAHAHA I use the word reefer all the time. And dope, I love saying dope, I guess I picked it up from Trailer Park Boys.

[timothylearyisdead]

wel wen da ppl who had diskhovered mariwane grewed in in a pot'n ze wer liek "lol lettuce cal tit wat we grow it'n"

you said tit.

[orangeman]

Because it's been cultivated indoors for so long that people eventually nick named it pot since that's what it was always grown out of....lol jk I don't know, it's just pot damit!! :stoned:

[timothylearyisdead]

Because it's been cultivated indoors for so long that people eventually nick named it pot since that's what it was always grown out of....lol jk I don't know, it's just pot damit!! :stoned:

yeah people didn't get good at growing indoors until the 80s so that's not it. Actually homegrown used to be a term for shitty weed. I mean "pot".

[FreeVenice]

The song isn't about Dutchys like dutch masters. It's about a dutchy (doo-ch-e) pan. people in jamaca used it to cook with, and it gets passed arround the table. that song was written by a bunch of 10 year olds.

(back on topic)
I noticed that the word "POT" wasn't said mutch till the 60's and 70's. before that people called it reefer. mabey it was do to the rising drug war that people needed a new code to call it buy, and being that most of the weed that came into the country in the 60's and 70's came from south america, it's easy to see were they might have gotten the name.

NO shit, you can't put that together. . . Dutchypan = pan/crockpot = Pot

[Skwirl07]

I always call my shit "burn"...

Only republicans call it 'pot'

[Spoken Word]

I swear I asked myself that same question.
Thats news to me.

[robert42]

i was first wheres my rep! lol :p

[Bree1978]

I call it pot. It's what's always been used around me. I always thought the term emerged in the 60's...a time where "all the teenagers are smoking it and the country is going to 'pot'"......

B

[Jderringer]

I always call my shit "burn"...

Only republicans call it 'pot'

I'm a libertarian, and I have always called it pot... as in "hey, wanna smoke some pot?" (more common than "you want a soda?" when a few of my select friends come over!) Most of my smoking friends call it "pot" as well... I would say thats our most popular term, "bud" and "weed" being tied for a distant second... It's all in the location. I suppose "dank" is pretty popular (I see all the time on the forums), but I had never heard the term until I came here. :bong:

[napolitana869]

My friends and I all call it pot, among other things.

[theamazingkane]

I've noticed that the word pot has a bit of a negative connotation to it, If you say it around the wrong kind of people, they'll think your a narc.

But then again, it's yet another word for marijuana.
Glad to see some good info on the subject though, I've always found it interesting to see how words and terminology associated with drug culture in general change and evolve over time. Who knows what people will be calling marijuana in the next 10 to 20 years, maybe if legalization starts taking place people will just start referring to marijuana by whatever brand name they like to buy...

[Jderringer]

I've noticed that the word pot has a bit of a negative connotation to it, If you say it around the wrong kind of people, they'll think your a narc.

But then again, it's yet another word for marijuana.
Glad to see some good info on the subject though, I've always found it interesting to see how words and terminology associated with drug culture in general change and evolve over time. Who knows what people will be calling marijuana in the next 10 to 20 years, maybe if legalization starts taking place people will just start referring to marijuana by whatever brand name they like to buy...

Marlboro purples please! :jointsmile:

[Breukelen advocaat]

I call it pot. It's what's always been used around me. I always thought the term emerged in the 60's...a time where "all the teenagers are smoking it and the country is going to 'pot'"......
B

Well, the term "going to pot" is over 400 years old, but some people did actually adapt the expression to modern meanings like those you suggest - in the '60's and since. I don't think that the original use of the word "pot" for marijuana was linked to this expression, though, since users who called it "pot" didn't consider it a bad habit or a negative thing. Nobody knows for sure why it started.


Going to Pot:
Around 1542, when the phrase first appeared, "to go to pot" was to be cut up like chunks of meat destined for the stew pot. Such a stew was usually the last stop for the remnants of a once substantial cut of meat or poultry, so "going to pot" made perfect sense as a metaphor for anything, from a national economy to a marriage, that had seen better days. Early uses of the metaphor were usually in the form "go to the pot."
Previous Columns/Posted 01/21/99 (http://www.word-detective.com/012199.html)

pot
Marijuana.
[Origin unknown.]
going to pot - definition of going to pot by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/going+to+pot)

[KOZMO]

interesting