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Comment by shamelessApathy | Hacker News Reader

For the senior citizens viewing this they might relate the term "AngelDust" with the dissociative PCP, let me assure them though, it hasn't been called AngelDust since the 70s. You'd be much more likely to hear it referred to as "wet" or "sherm". IF you went to the ghetto and tried t buy Angel Dust they'd think you were a cop. It's like calling weed "dope". Just a little disambiguation from a drug name etymologist :)

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But that’s my favorite drug name, despite its antiquity. There’s just such a goofy mismatch between something that sounds like magical fairy sparkles from heaven, and a drug that lets you fight six cops at the same time and win.

Your time scale and etymology are wildly off, or else your experience is confined to a very limited geographic region.

> For the senior citizens viewing this they might relate the term "AngelDust" with the dissociative PCP, let me assure them though, it hasn't been called AngelDust since the 70s.

I don't see that connection as an issue with the game or your post. It certainly isn't doing anyone any harm, despite what others suggested in earlier comments.

That said... I'm 21 years old, and I still associate "angel dust" with PCP. The name is still used by popular rappers including Mac Miller [0] and Run the Jewels [1]. It is still defined as PCP in 6 of the top 7 results, vs 5 of the top 7 for "sherm" and 0.3/7 for "wet" on Urban Dictionary [2,8,9]. Angel dust is the most common synonym for PCP on Urban Dictionary [10]. The name "angel dust" was used to refer to PCP in a 2011 episode of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia [3]. The name is still in common parlance on Reddit [4,5,6]. However, the drug seems to have experienced a decline in popularity, accounting for less than 0.1% of all documented hallucinogenic drug use in the United States in 2017 [7] - suggesting that the term "angel dust" is not well known simply because the drug isn't commonly used, and not because the term has been abandoned.

I just don't want anyone to get into trouble thinking that they can use the phrase "Angel Dust" without it being seen as a reference to hard drugs by the general public.

I am also surprised that this association is being rejected, considering that the creator of the game is going by "Frank Lucas" [11], which is the name of a famous drug trafficker [12].

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIQqzTNRmoc

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_esHn4X03U

[2]: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Angel%20Dust

[3]: https://itsalwayssunny.fandom.com/wiki/The_Gang_Goes_to_the_...

[4]: https://www.reddit.com/r/PCP/comments/ba1754/two_dimes_of_pc...

[5]: https://www.reddit.com/r/Drugs/comments/5tru38/what_is_angel...

[6]: https://www.reddit.com/r/serialpodcast/comments/2qove1/how_l...

[7]: https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/hallucinogens

[8]: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sherm

[9]: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Wet

[10]: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=PCP

[11]: https://angeldu.st/en/game#play-now-button-3

[12]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lucas

I love your username. Do you follow any particular current of Western Ceremonial Magick?

I do not! (Sorry to disappoint - I’m a run of the mill atheist).

My name was inspired by a Gilfoyle line in Silicon Valley, which references Magick:

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/9481dd82-17de-4791-b110-0e58434...

(Since you’re on HN there is a good chance you’re familiar with the show - but if you’re not, the Gilfoyle character is a self-proclaimed LaVeyan Satanist)

I don't know if "drug name etymologist" is an official profession or your hobby, but if it's the former I would suggest you seriously reconsider and re-research your conclusion on this term! Just a friendly suggestion :-)

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