Etymology Ed Boland, in an article in March 2002 of the The New York Times, attributes the term to heroin addicts who frequented Great Jones Alley in New York City, off Great Jones Street between Broadway and Lafayette Street, although the slang term has obviously been around much longer. Dan Waldorf states that the use of the term, in the sense of addiction, originated among heroin addicts.
You mean you got a little Jones, huh? Was it good?1965, Amiri Baraka, The Alternative, as cited in Peter Bruck (ed.), The Black American Short Story in the 20th Century, John Benjamins, p. 196
Defendant responded by saying he had some "Jones", a term used to describe heroin.1975, unknown author, Northwestern Reporter, page 512:
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You seem like a smart kid, and dont get me wrong here, we dont want to see you all fucked up, cracked out butt naked on 4th street in the bad side of town, lookin to fuck the 1st millionaire willing to fork over some jones money.2000, Priest Opiast Ogden, “Re: Questions about Percocet, Ativan & Xanax”, in alt.drugs.hard (Usenet):
Which erodes "quality of life" faster... debilitating chronic pain or a little jones?2001, Terminus Est, “Re: Nothing to Fear but Pain Itself”, in alt.support.depression.manic (Usenet):
... I've got a jones," and she dropped her head.1965, Claude Brown, Manchild in the Promised Land, MacMillan, page 262:
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"On the Deuce," he said, "everybody got a jones. They got a crack jones or a smack jones, ..."1992, Lawrence Block, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, HarperCollins, page 93:
And I went through a kind of withdrawal jones thing and drank a bunch and then took a Valium, and it comes in waves.1992, Anonymous as cited in Dan Waldorf, Cocaine Changes, Temple University Press, p. 126
If you have a jones for one of these old tape-tanglers but lack the cash, space, and/or patience necessary to acquire, house and maintain one, consider M-Tron.2003, Ken Hughes, edited by Jim Aikin, Software Synthesizers: The Definitive Guide to Virtual Musical Instruments, Backbeat Books, page 64:
Etymology Ed Boland, in an article in March 2002 of the The New York Times, attributes the term to heroin addicts who frequented Great Jones Alley in New York City, off Great Jones Street between Broadway and Lafayette Street, although the slang term has obviously been around much longer. Dan Waldorf states that the use of the term, in the sense of addiction, originated among heroin addicts.
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US, Slang, Usually, Followed by for To have an intense craving for something.
I’m jonesing for some basketball.
A lot of people they be jonesing just to hear me rock the mic / They'll be staring at the radio, staying up all night1989, Beastie Boys, Shake Your Rump, 0:06:
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... when it's their turn to talk, they speak in coonass blue-collar accents about jonesing for crack and getting UA-ed by probation officers.1995, James Lee Burke, Burning Angel, Hyperion, page 126:
“I have to go now,” she’d say to the grocery clerk. “My mother-in-law is back at the house, jonesing for her lunch.”1997, David Sedaris, “True Detective”, in Naked:
If you jones for wheat grass, this is your destination.2001, Sheridan Becker, Jayne Young, Savvy in the City: New York City, page 3:
Caramel colors and aspartame Phosphoric acid, potassium Natural flavors, of course caffeine And now I'm jonesin' for MSG2006, J. G. Thirlwell, “Sieve”, in Damp, performed by Foetus: