Ganja
Ganja is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana in the English language. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.[1]
Etymology[edit]
Ganja is borrowed from Hindi gāñjā, a name for cannabis, which is derived from Sanskrit gañjā, referring to a “powerful preparation from cannabis sativa”.[2][3][4][5][6] The word was used in Europe as early as 1856, when the British enacted a tax on the “ganja” trade.[7]
One academic source places the date of introduction of ganja in Jamaica at 1845.[8] The term came with 19th century workers whose descendants are now known as Indo-Jamaicans.[9]
Contemporary use of the term ganja[edit]
English use[edit]
Ganja is the most common term for marijuana in Jamaica.[9][10]
In popular culture[edit]
In 1975, Peter Tosh defended the use of ganja in the song “Legalize It”.[11] The hip hop group Cypress Hill revived the term in the United States in 2004 in a song titled “Ganja Bus”, followed by other artists including rapper Eminem in the 2009 song “Must Be the Ganja”.[7][12]
References[edit]
- ^ "10 Words From Hindi & Urdu". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
- ^ Schwartz, Martin (2008). "Iranian L, and Some Persian and Zaza Etymologies". Iran & the Caucasus. 12 (2): 281–287. doi:10.1163/157338408X406056. JSTOR 25597374.
- ^ https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/mcgregor_query.py?qs=गाँजा&searchhws=yes
- ^ Torkelson, Anthony R. (1996). The Cross Name Index to Medicinal Plants, Vol. IV: Plants in Indian medicine, p. 1674, ISBN 9780849326356, OCLC 34038712. CRC Press. ISBN 9780849326356.
- ^ Kranzler, Henry R.; Korsmeyer, Pamela (2009). Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol & Additive Behaviour. Gale. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-02866-064-6.
- ^ Steinmetz, Katy (April 20, 2017). "420 Day: Why There Are So Many Different Names for Weed". TIME. Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^ a b Linder, Courtney (April 19, 2015). "Pot patois: A comprehensive etymology of marijuana". The Pitt News. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
- ^ Mansingh, Laxmi; Mansingh, Ajai (1999). Home Away from Home: 150 Years of Indian Presence in Jamaica, 1845-1995. I. Randle Publishers. p. 127. ISBN 9768123397.
- ^ a b Lisa Rough (May 14, 2015). "Jamaica's Cannabis Roots: The History of Ganja on the Island". Leafly. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
- ^ Courtwright, David T. (2009). Forces of Habit. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674029-90-3.
- ^ Pieter Coertzen, M Christiaan Green, Len Hansen (2015). Law and Religion in Africa: The quest for the common good in pluralistic societies. African Sun Media. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-919985-63-3.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- ^ Rafael Pérez-Torres (2006). Mestizaje: Critical Uses of Race in Chicano Culture. U of Minnesota Press. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-0-8166-4595-4.
External links[edit]