by Lucas Kleven, Hashtag Everett shift lead

As cannabis grows in popularity and availability, growers and consumers alike have come up with words and descriptors to communicate about their products. Some of these find their origins in pre-legality and had the staying power to last, while others were evolved to describe a specific quality of product, or the quality of the product itself.

For the uninitiated, walking into a dispensary and hearing a conversation between an experienced guest and their budtender can feel like listening to someone order off the secret menu at a fast-food restaurant.

This lexicon of lingo will help you navigate the easiest verbal pathways to understanding and acquiring your favorite products!

Descriptors of cannabis

Terpy

A “terpy” product is one that generally tests high in terpenes. Terpenes provide the scent, flavor, and effects to cannabis, so the more terpenes in a cannabis product, the more of these three qualities you’ll find. Anything can be terpy, but you’ll usually see it used to describe products containing concentrate.

Loud

When something is “loud”, that means it has a noticeable smell and taste. This loops somewhat back to terpy, but is a more general term describing how powerful of an aroma a product can have. Any marijuana product can be loud, but not everything is, and those hunting for loud cannabis are generally hunting for a higher-shelf product.

Dank

The sibling to “loud”, dank usually refers to cannabis that has a particularly pungent smell -- that classic cannabis smell that mixes gas, herbal, and chemical notes. Get yourself something described as dank if you wanna impress the group, or let everyone within 50 feet know you’re getting high.

Heavy

A way to describe a high. Think of that one strain that always makes you sink into the couch or lay down for bed within the hour. “Heavy” strains are usually indica-dominant and can literally make you feel heavier at times with how little you’ll move around.

Heady

“Heady” has two meanings, based on context. If you’re referring to glass accessories for smoking or dabbing marijuana, you’re talking about expensive, hand-blown pieces of art you can smoke out of, worth their weight in gold. In terms of cannabis, a high can have a heady effect that generally refers to a buzzy, tight, and/or euphoric feeling in the brain.

Fire

“Fire” is great! If you hear a budtender or fellow guest describe something as fire, keep your eyes out for it as they are talking about a high-quality product. It either impressed them or others and they are trying to make sure it’s known.

Solvent-free or solventless

If you’re recommended a solventless or solvent-free product, that means any concentrate inside that cannabis product was made using the cleanest methods possible. This could apply to kief, hash, or rosin, and the phrase solventless or solvent-free can be used to describe infused pre-rolls, concentrate, edibles, drinks, or cartridges.

Infused

“Infused” pre-rolls have an extra something in them that helps increase their potency, add flavor, or change the effects of the base flower. That something can be distillate, hash, live resin, kief, THCA, or any kind of concentrate.

Items applying to marijuana

Bubbler

A bubbler or water pipe is a small piece of glass with a small reservoir that you can fill with water to filter your marijuana smoke. Think of it like a bong, but it fits in your pocket like a pipe. The best of both worlds!

Dab rig or rig

Dab rigs or rigs are a type of accessory used mainly to consume concentrates. They are smaller than bongs but generally bigger than a bubbler. You can use them for flower if you prefer a smaller piece, but some are made more specifically for vaporizing concentrates and can be difficult to clean if you get ash in them.

Nail or banger

Nails or bangers are the “bowl” for concentrates. They are generally shaped like a bucket or a somewhat-deep dish and are made of quartz glass or titanium. By heating your banger or nail up with a torch and dropping some concentrate into it, the concentrate will then vaporize for inhalation.

Cola

The “Cola” of a cannabis plant refers to a central flower growth cluster found along the main stems and larger branches on the plant. They almost look like a cannabis tree, with branches stemming out supporting big bunches of buds. Some companies will trim up an entire cola and sell it during holiday season or 4.20 and can be found to be as big as some people’s forearms!

Flower, Bud, and Trees

All three of these are different words for our favorite green plant to consume, cannabis! You might also hear Herb, Green, Mota, and Zaza. Cannabis has so many words associated with it that you’d be stuck reading this for a year if they were all on this page.

Battery

Also referred to as a vape, but that term can sometimes lead to confusion for you or your budtender as they may lead you to the cartridge section. The battery is what you screw your cartridge onto to power it up and get a hit of that greatness on the go.

Wax, Oil, and Dabs

We’re talking about concentrates! Much like cannabis, concentrate has a lot of different terms associated with it. However, some of these terms can be specific to what texture the concentrate has. “Sugar” means something more crumbly or with a sugary texture, whereas “shatter” would bring you to a gram of oil flattened and ready to break into two when you bend it.

Rosin

A type of solventless concentrate (if you’re following along, I bet you understood both of those!) created by using a combination of heat, pressure, and a rosin press. Rosin is one of the cleanest and purest extracts available, but generally found at a higher price.

Now that you’re studied up, challenge yourself next time you’re at your favorite dispensary. Look around for a product that uses one of these descriptors, and maybe give it a shot!

Or maybe you’ve come here looking for answers and found them; go get that new bubbler now that you’ve found the word that’s been stuck in your head with no definition!

Loud, Dank, and Terpy: Decrypting Cannabis Lingo