Talk:on drugs

RFD discussion: November–December 2014

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on drugs

D'you think this might be SOP? My gut says yes. --Type56op9 (talk) 14:12, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

• What we need is an additional sense of "on". Sense 16 says "Regularly taking (a drug)", but you could say that someone is "on crack" or "on PCP" if they are reacting to the effects of the drug at that moment, even if this is the first and last time they will ever take it. bd2412 T 14:23, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

Yes delete because this sense of 'on' is used with lots of other nouns, such as on acid, on heroin, on crack, etc. Renard Migrant (talk) 14:24, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

Yep what BD said. Equinox ◑ 14:37, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

I have added the sense. Cheers! bd2412 T 15:49, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

• There may be an idiomatic sense that we're currently missing, though; consider "The book is like Gödel Escher Bach on drugs"; obviously a book cannot literally be under the influence of drugs. —Aɴɢʀ (talk) 14:40, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

  @Angr I think that is what we call a metaphor. But what definition(s) would you suggest to cover the range of uses? DCDuring TALK 14:47, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

  Is that usage really any different from "on crack", "on acid", and other variations which can be used the same way? E.g., Mike McNichols, On Turpin's Head: A Novel (2014), p. 111: "The Strip is like Disneyland on acid". bd2412 T 15:53, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

It is relatively transparent from a decoding perspective. It certainly should be in a usage example at [[drugs]], as it is at Sense 16 and 17 at [[on#Preposition]]. But, as with every combination, we will hear the deesis: think of the translators.

I suppose for the translators we really need on blood thinners, on heart medication, on a low-dose aspirin regimen (all of which are attestable and in common use, though not necessarily among the youthful). DCDuring TALK 14:43, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

Would those be any different from taking blood thinners, taking heart medication, etc.? bd2412 T 15:54, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

That's just more that we need for the translators. Wiktionary will never be finished. DCDuring TALK 18:00, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

We should make that our motto. --WikiTiki89 18:10, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

It would never be finished anyway - languages continually add words. bd2412 T 18:36, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

I hypothesize that we loosen (or ignore) our standards at an even faster rate than the language adds terms. DCDuring TALK 18:40, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

I hypothesize that we cover greater and greater percentages of the language. I've often added archaic definitions to existing entries...at Ethiopian and Native American in the last three days. Purplebackpack89 23:06, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

Delete --Anatoli T. ^{(обсудить}/^вклад) 01:26, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

Deleted. bd2412 T 15:00, 15 December 2014 (UTC)