How Did "Jones" Come to Mean "Craving"?

Source: mentalfloss.com --- Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Have you ever had a "Love Jones," or even a "Basketball Jones"? Do you occasionally jones for a “hot now” Krispy Kreme donut (only to find that store closed)? Did you know that when you use that terminology you are actually indulging in some ( gasp ) drug slang? In the early 1960s, a “jones” was a craving—but strictly a craving for heroin. Clever junkies had been using “Mr. Jones” as a code name for the drug since it became popular with Beatniks in the late 1950s. “I’m looking for Mr. Jones” was a subtle way to score when you were new in town and didn’t yet have a regular dealer. The term evolved over the next several so that eventually when an addict was alternately sweating and shivering while in need of a fix, he or she was described as “jonesing.” In the early 1970s, “jones” had expanded to describe any sort of severe longing or craving, whether for food or a relationship or a shiny new sports car. This isn’t the first time drug-related terminology has entered our everyday jargon; the word “yen” (as in “She has a real yen for men”) started out as a corruption of the 1920s-era Cantonese phrase “yin-yan,” or “opium craving.” Have you got a Big Question you'd like us to answer? If so, let us know by emailing us at bigquestions@mentalfloss.com . ...

from Basketball http://ift.tt/2ljRbQr