worm dirt

n. chewing tobacco. Subjects: English, Slang

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Citations: 1984 Rick Atkinson @ DeLand, Fla. Washington Post (Dec. 9) “Lean, Green & Mean: The Army Of The ’80s” p. A1: Teen-agers carry paper cups to expectorate their Bull Durham, known colloquially as worm dirt. 1992 Heidi McCombs Seattle Times (Wash.) (June 7) “Less Than Relaxing” p. K4: The neighbor boys next door were chewing this stuff that they called “worm dirt.” Of course I wanted to try some. I took about half a handful and swallowed it all. Come to find out I had just swallowed half a handful of Copenhagen tobacco! I was sick for a whole week. 1997 [Gregg11897] Usenet: alt.recovery.aa (Feb. 22) “Re: cigarettes @ 2 pounds/packet”: I chewed that worm dirt for 18 years and feel muy grateful to HP that I haven’t had a need to pick it up in 53 days and a drink in 35 ODAAT. 2001 Lee Durkee Riders of the Midway (Feb.) p. 38 @ (Apr., 2002): Tim lobbed a small green disc across the garage at Noel and said, “Worm dirt.” Noel caught the disc, opened it. He held the tobacco to his nose. 2006 Kimberly Johnson @ Mosul, Iraq USA Today (Feb. 25) “Time as the enemy”: Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Dudley likes the “worm dirt,” another term for dipping.…He admits that at $8 a can, it’s an expensive habit.

Posted 2 Mar 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend