crank (1)
photo credit: "Methamphetamine" by Dominic Milton Trott (CC-BY-2.0) Definition:
(noun)
1. Crystal Methamphetamine (street drug), often shortened to “crystal
meth”
2. bad tempered person
Example: Jeff the tweaker gave all his druggy friends homemade crank for Christmas.
Quote:
“The name crank came about because they used to transport it in the crank shaft of their bikes,”
This week’s word came to me because of the current movie Christmas with the Kranks (a play on the word's second meaning). Freng’s explanation of its history is certainly picturesque, but it isn't necessarily true. The comparison between cars and bodies is an old one and people excited on drugs have long been called cranked up. (Early cars were started by turning a crank handle.)
What’s interesting about the non-drug use of the term is that it was an ordinary word that became a fictional character’s name in a movie. More often, cranky characters like Scrooge or the Grinch Who Stole Christmas start out in fiction and work their way into everyday conversation.
The Kranks movie, which was badly received by the critics, tells the story of a couple who decide not to celebrate Christmas, to the complete horror of their neighbors. That would never happen where I live. In Somerville, we have so many houses gaudily decorated with holiday lights that the Arts Council makes money by sponsoring a tour of them. Slang City will be taking a break next week but we’ll see you in 2005!
A. C. Kemp | December 23, 2004
