schwag
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Unknown. Possibly related to shag (“shredded tobacco”). The "marijuana" noun sense is attested since the 1980s in the United States, the adjective since the 1990s. The "trinkets or items given away" sense is a variant of swag from 19th century thieves' cant.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
schwag (uncountable)
- (slang) Low-grade or commercial-grade marijuana.
- 2002, Joe Babcock, The Tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers, Closet Case Books, →ISBN, page 157:
- The stuff tasted good, better than the usual shwag. I handed him his pipe back, then pulled out my wallet. "Is twenty good?"
- (slang) Alternative form of swag (“trinkets or promotional items given away at an event”).
- 2004, Blaise Cronin, Jeremiad Jottings, Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, →ISBN, page 91:
- National pride deserves something more than a fistful of freebies from a governmental schwag bag or the wearing of any one of the staggering array of commercially available pins.
Synonyms edit
- (low-grade marijuana): mersh, regs
- (trinkets): tchotchkes
Coordinate terms edit
Adjective edit
schwag (not comparable)
References edit
- Jonathon Green (2024) “schwag”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang