4 ms·
While I see sense in articulating that cocaine use was different in 17th c. compared to now, I don't believe that you'd argue the same against someone saying th
by wafflemaker 2y ago
While I see sense in articulating that cocaine use was different in 17th c. compared to now, I don't believe that you'd argue the same against someone saying that a person drinking beer is drinking alcohol, because beer has less alcohol than vodka.
- nicoburns 2y agoTo make this analogous, the words for "alcohol" and "vodka" would have to be the same. The OP is arguing that when people say "doing cocaine" they are generally referring to the high-strength powdered form, not the underlying chemical in general. And that if we interpret the sentence like that (which we should if that's how it's generally understood) then it is not true that people were doing cocaine in the 17th century.
- School-Cotton 2y agoRandom tangent: now I’m curious if there are any languages where the word for alcohol and vodka (or whatever is locally the most common spirit) is the same. Seems plausible that there would be.
- kasey_junk 2y agoScottish?
- nicoburns 2y agoThe word vodka is apparently derived from the Slavic word for water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodka#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodka#Etymology
- School-Cotton 2y agoThe word "whisky" is derived from the Scottish Gaelic word for "water", too. (Maybe that's what your sibling comment is referring to?)
- philwelch 2y agoCocaine hydrochloride (i.e. powder) isn’t even the only purified form of cocaine. There’s also crack. Would you argue that people who smoke crack aren’t doing cocaine? Furthermore, the most purified form of drinking ethanol actually is called “grain alcohol”; Everclear is a popular brand.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago> Would you argue that people who smoke crack aren’t doing cocaine? Yes. This is true colloquially and legally.