# What's the origin of the words joint, roach, and stoned? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 15, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243 "2013-01-15T01:42:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EBROOK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@EBROOK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EBROOK)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/1 "2013-01-15T01:42:41Z")
Many years ago I was told that the word “roach”, as in the smoked-down end of a marijuana cigarette, came from the fact that it looked like a cockroach. I found that explanation reasonably convincing, as the butt does indeed look like the flat body of a 'roach. Not the most appealing thing to put in your mouth, either. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/2 "2013-01-15T01:48:05Z")
whoa ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/3 "2013-01-15T01:57:17Z")
I knew but I uh, forgot. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/4 "2013-01-15T03:02:19Z")
[The Online Etymology Dictionary](http://www.etymonline.com/abbr.php?allowed_in_frame=0)has the definitions below. Seems like 1938 was a good year for smoking weed. > [@](#): > > joint (n.) late 13c., “a part of a body where two bones meet and move in contact with one another,” from Old French joint “joint of the body” (12c.), from Latin iunctus “united, connected, associated,” pp. of iungere “join” (see jugular). Related: Joints. Slang meaning of “place, building, establishment” (especially one where persons meet for shady activities) first recorded 1877, American English, from an earlier Anglo-Irish sense (1821), perhaps on the notion of a side-room, one “joined” to a main room. The original U.S. sense was especially of “an opium-smoking den.” > > Meaning “marijuana cigarette” (1938) is perhaps from notion of something often smoked in common, but there are other possibilities; earlier joint in drug slang meant “hypodermic outfit” (1935). Meaning “prison” is attested from 1953 but probably is older. Out of joint in the figurative sense is from early 15c. (literally, of bone displacement, late 14c.). > [@](#): > > roach (n.1) 1837, shortened form of cockroach, in contemporary writing said to be from a polite desire to avoid the sexual connotation in the first syllable; meaning “butt of a marijuana cigarette” is first recorded 1938, perhaps from resemblance to the insect, but perhaps a different word entirely. > [@](#): > > stone (v.) c.1200, “to pelt with stones,” from stone (n.). Related: Stoned; stoning. > > stoned (adj.) “drunk, intoxicated with narcotics,” 1930s slang, from stone (v.); stoner “stuporous person” is from 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/5 "2013-01-15T17:30:22Z")
likely column [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/253/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/253/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned) ---
**Author:** ![EBROOK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@EBROOK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EBROOK)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/6 "2013-01-15T23:08:37Z")
yes, that’s the column I was referring to . . . it’s an old one and I’m a Straight Dope ingenue, so I don’t think I posted my comment correctly, with rererence to the original column. Sorry, old timers. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/7 "2013-01-17T17:48:01Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I knew but I uh, forgot. Sorry. Need some munchies? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/8 "2013-01-21T16:52:48Z")
> [@EBROOK](#): > > yes, that’s the column I was referring to . . . it’s an old one and I’m a Straight Dope ingenue, so I don’t think I posted my comment correctly, with rererence to the original column. Sorry, old timers. No worries, and welcome to the, uh, Dope! ---
**Author:** ![oldbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oldbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldbag)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/9 "2013-01-23T14:29:23Z")
Back in the old days, (when marijuana smoking was not only illegal, but, if you can believe it, frowned upon) it was probably necessary to hide the remnants of one’s partaking – perhaps in the back of a drawer, or cabinet; where incidentally, the creepy, crawly original name bearers are often found? (It seems only logical) ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/10 "2013-01-27T22:51:47Z")
In the early sixties we used to say " get your head tight" the pot back then gave you a feeling of a band being wrapped around your head. Doesn’t do that anymore. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/11 "2013-01-27T23:37:58Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > In the early sixties we used to say " get your head tight" the pot back then gave you a feeling of a band being wrapped around your head. Doesn’t do that anymore. Anechdotal. You could have changed or the pot could have. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-words-joint-roach-and-stoned/647243/12 "2013-02-03T14:26:54Z")
Is there a possibility that the “roach” term may have come from or been influenced by the Mexican song “[La Cucaracha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Cucaracha)”? A verse referencing marijuana dates to the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920.