# "lid" from Cheech and Chong movies. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2003, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lid-from-cheech-and-chong-movies/220146 "2003-12-20T08:13:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lid-from-cheech-and-chong-movies/220146/21 "2003-12-21T00:13:18Z")
God, imagine if Manny was still packin’ heat around this Forum. This never would have gotten this far !! AFAIK, it’s an ounce. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lid-from-cheech-and-chong-movies/220146/22 "2003-12-21T01:20:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Lid was close to, but less than an ounce. The story I heard was it was the amount that fit in the lid of a tobacco tin, but that may be apocryphal. It’s an old term that predates the 60s. > [@](#): > > The origins of both “lid” and “pot” are both rather obscure, but here’s one take on it (or should that be “one toke on it?”). See the article on the right side of the page. That ‘article’ may have some validity but I"d take it with a degree of caution. I found a cite for the earliest use of _can_ from 1933, where it was defined in a book about prison slang as _An ounce of morphine._ Now, it seems to me, that a Prince Albert can full of morphine probably weighed more than an ounce. So, if I’m right, the ‘can’ useage to mean an ounce of something might have predated the use of such cans in dispensing marijuana in the 1940’s-60’s. And, you may all be right about the ‘less than an ounce/ounce’ controversy. Written cites from the 60’s and early 70’s would indicate that it varied from town to town. Here’s an interesting cite, just for historic pricing info. > [@](#): > > See, it costs about fifty cents a joint, a stick, and you can get a matchbox for $3.50; $7.50 for a can, $10 for a bag, people refer to it as a lid; a can for $15, and then you go into your half a pound. This was from a book written about Watts in 1969. And Manny never closed down threads that were merely talking about history. Just current events. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lid-from-cheech-and-chong-movies/220146/23 "2003-12-21T01:56:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by joro \* > \*\*:smack: > > gee…I gotta get smarter here… 😃 \*\* Here’s definitely the place to do it. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lid-from-cheech-and-chong-movies/220146/24 "2003-12-22T14:42:13Z")
Well, my dog died the other day And left me all alone. The finance company, they came by And repossesed my home. But that’s just a drop in the bucket, babe, Compared to losing you. And I’m down to seeds and stems, again, too. -The Down to Seeds and Stems Again Blues, as performed by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen Ah, for the days of yore. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lid-from-cheech-and-chong-movies/220146/25 "2003-12-22T15:52:26Z")
I’ll ‘third’ the contention that it came from the lid of a tobacco tin. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lid-from-cheech-and-chong-movies/220146/26 "2003-12-22T17:45:22Z")
Am I drivin’ OK? ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lid-from-cheech-and-chong-movies/220146/27 "2003-12-22T17:51:02Z")
So, you’re telling me that when Jimmy Buffet says “my plans took a skid when I smoked a whole lid…” :eek: [sub]Go, Jimmy![/sub] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lid-from-cheech-and-chong-movies/220146.md?page=1)