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chemical cosh

chemical cosh n. a drug or mix of drugs used to subdue a patient, prisoner, or other person. Editorial Note: From comparison to the stunning or dulling effects of a cosh, “a thick heavy stick or bar used as a weapon,” when used on the head. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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  • I have another citation for you for “chemical cosh.” It’s the title of a song by the alternative band Fatima Mansions, from their 1991 album “Viva Dead Ponies.”

    Lyrics:

    Alcohol, heroin, thc
    Care in the impotent (numb) community*
    Resignation, irony, under scrutiny, so events can slip
    From memory of history, a voluntary dictatorship

    Chemical (cosh!)

    One kind for the rich, and one for the poor
    The only distinction is the thickness of their front door
    Unless it makes you act up, the law won’t mind
    You play this game, the land is yours, the warden is blind

    Chemical (cosh!)
    Chemical (cosh!)
    It’s the only kind we got (cosh!)
    If you won’t come across

    They will have it known you’re mad if you don’t fit (with) their equation
    They will have you for not being rich or body-tax evasion
    And they’ll pay some stoned stockbroker’s son
    To phone and say, I’m coming ‘round and bringing my machine gun!

    Chemical (cosh!)
    Chemical (cosh!)
    It’s a stab in the neck and a boot in the chops
    From the earth-loving decade which denim forgot

    * a reference to Care in the Community, a (UK) Tory plan to reduce health care spending on mental hospital patients by cutting them adrift. This caused much controversy a few years back.

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