[extropy-chat] all quiet on the extrope front

[Brian J. Shores]

And then there was Jones the cat from Alien. No relation.

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of BillK
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 6:13 AM
To: ExI chat list
Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] all quiet on the extrope front


On 1/25/07, spike wrote:
>
> OK, a few seconds with google cleared up this otherwise baffling 
> comment:
>
> Jonesin: A word used to describe an intense craving for a drug. Comes 
> from Great Jones Street in New York City, between Broadway and 
> Lafayette Street, a former junkie hangout.  ex. "I'm jonesin' for some 
> coke."
>
> The impact of the internet is difficult to adequately describe.  The 
> futurists generally missed it, even when it was nearly upon us.  They 
> were still talking about flying cars and cities under the sea, when 
> this quiet development of universal frictionless communication slipped 
> under the radar and changed our lives as we know it.  We have a world 
> of knowledge at our fingertips.  We know about everything that happens 
> everywhere on this globe. We have access to the ultra-obscure realms 
> of knowledge, the above given as a trivial example.  Twenty years ago, 
> I would have no idea what one was doing when jonesin for a fix; I 
> would know exactly *no one* likely to have the vaguest clue what is 
> meant by that curious bit of slang.  Back in those dark days we went 
> around not knowing stuff.  The profound satisfaction of knowing stuff 
> is the greatest transcendent ecstasy of our times.
>

Of course, being a jones yourself, you need to know these things. :)

The Urban Dictionary reference you quote is *nearly* correct, but not quite.

Great Jones Street <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Jones_Street>

<http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/17/nyregion/17FYI.html?ex=1169874000&en=9fa4
907b3209a3df&ei=5070>

The Great Jones   By ED BOLAND Jr.

Q. East Third Street becomes Great Jones Street between Broadway and the
Bowery. Who was Jones and what was so great about him?

A. Jones is Samuel Jones, a lawyer sometimes called Father of the New York
Bar. He owned the land on which Great Jones Street now runs and bequeathed
the property to the city with the caveat that any street that ran through
the land be named for him.

In 1789 a street was opened there, but New York already had a Jones Street
in Greenwich Village. So the new street was named Great Jones Street because
it was wider than the norm.

In his desire to be remembered, Jones may have linked himself with a
different aspect of the city's culture. The slang term "jones," meaning an
addiction to drugs, is said to have originated among addicts who lived in
Great Jones Alley, off Great Jones Street, between Broadway and Lafayette
Street.

-----------------------

So, it was Great Jones Alley that originated the 'jonesin' usage.


Here's a picture of it (scroll about halfway down)
<http://www.forgotten-ny.com/Alleys/Soho/soho.html>


BillK
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