September 2005 Edition
When the grass is not always greener
Grass is a versatile word
which has mutated into
four quite separate meanings.
For decades grass
was the most widely-used noun for
the verdant garden plant which
forms the lawns of most domestic
gardens throughout North America
and Europe. In recent years, grass
has mutated into a second noun for
the most widely-used illegal substance
in the world, cannabis.
But, as those who enjoy the
BBC TV detective programs will
know, the word grass has mutated
again, this time as both noun and
verb. In the UK, a police informer
is disparagingly known as ‘a grass’
while the actual act of informing is
in the form of the verb ‘to grass.’
Indeed, these slang terms have,
almost literally, grown like weeds
in the UK and are now spreading in
Canada.
See Tom's full commentary
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