Slang dictionary
jonesing
[johnz-ing]
What does聽jonesing mean?
If a person has an insatiable craving for someone or something, they are said to be聽jonesing for it.
Where does jonesing come from?
It is unclear exactly where the slang verb聽jones聽comes from and what connection the craving may have to the common surname, but the most likely origin is in the drug scene. In the 1960s, especially in New York, heroin as well as heroin addicts, dealers, withdrawals, and drug addiction itself were all colloquially referred to as聽jones 补苍诲听Mr. Jones. One popular, but unsubstantiated, story has it that Jones Alley in Manhattan used to serve as a hub for heroin addicts.
By the 1970s,聽jonesing had spread beyond its origins as drug slang, weakening to a sense of “strongly wanting or desiring” in college slang, popular media, and on the internet in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A person could be聽jonesing for a lover or a hamburger鈥攁nything they feel have done without for too long and feel a jittery anticipation of or longing for.
Examples of jonesing
Who uses jonesing?
Contemporary use of聽箩辞苍别蝉颈苍驳听is mainly as a metaphorical extension of its original drug slang, sometimes paired with other drug slang like fix聽(e.g., I’ve been on a plane for two hours and am jonesing for my news fix). Thanks to its widespread extended use in colloquial speech, writing, and social media,聽jonesing has lost its immediate associations with hard drugs and the drug underworld, now often carrying a positive or humorous connotation.
Jonesing is still used for some legal substances: I’m jonesing for a drink聽or I’m jonesing for a cigarette. Food is another common object of jonesing: I’m jonesing for some dark chocolate.
The most frequent form of jonesing is in the progressive tense as a verb phrase, to be jonesing for. However, the term still sees occasional use as a noun (experiencing a taco jones) or as simple verb (He jonesed for the woman).
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of jonesing like most terms we define on 亚洲网紅露点, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of jonesing that will help our users expand their word mastery.