FAST-FOOD ADJECTIVE (DRUGS)

Of substances other than food, especially drugs: instant; quick and easy to make, obtain, and use. Also occasionally of non-material things: intellectually accessible; easy to present or understand. Etymology: A figurative use of fast food, a term which has been used since the fifties in the US and the seventies in the UK for food which is kept hot or partially prepared in a restaurant and so can be served quickly when required. The term fast food was used attributively (in fast-food service, fast-food outlet, etc.) before being used as a compound noun in its own right, so it is hardly surprising that it should now be perceived and used as an adjective, replacing instant in some contexts. History and Usage: Fast-food was first used in this figurative way in the late seventies and was applied to drugs from the middle of the eighties, when the rapid spread of crack on the streets of US cities could be attributed to the fact that it was easily made, cheap to buy, and instantly smokable--it seemed to drug enforcement agencies that anyone who wanted to obtain the drug could do so as easily as buying a hamburger. The description provides a useful distinction between the fast-food drugs offering instant gratification (like crack and ice) and the more complex designer drugs, and so has stuck. The term can be applied in its figurative sense also to consumable but non-material things (such as broadcasting or the arts); this is the more established figurative use and may yet prove to be the most enduring as well. If he does talk, listen. Do not respond with 'fast-food' answers such as 'Heck, it can't be so bad', or 'Why don't you take the afternoon off?' Industry Week 9 Mar. 1981, p. 45 Fast-food opera that will face an anniversary judgment. headline in Guardian 3 July 1989, p. 19 A few years ago, all the talk was about more complex, more expensive 'designer drugs'. Ironically it has turned out to be the fast-food drugs like crack and ice...that are tearing us apart. People 13 Nov. 1989, p. 13