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July 27, 2005
Vishy's Indian English Dcionary: 420
420./FOWR·TWEN·tee/ (also char-sau-bees /TCHAR·sow·BEES/, Hin. four hundred and twenty). The condition of being guilty, either directly or by association, of petty crime. Also used of a generally sketchy person -- someone the British would call 'dodgy'. Origin appears to be from Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (don't giggle like a 12 year old -- this 1854 statute instituted by the British is the closest to a general code of criminal procedure in India), which deals with petty theft and other small crimes. The closest U.S. equivalent would be a small-time conman with a longish rap sheet. Petty crime in general is referred to as char-sau-beesi -- the business of being a 420. In some slang subcultures, 840 (420 x 2) is used to denote someone who oversteps the boundaries of sketchiness circumscribed by a mere 420.
It is an interesting meeting of minds that 420 is used in the U.S. in the context of drug-related char-sau-beesi. 420 is a signal word for marijuana and other related activities. The origin of this sense of 420 is linked with a ritual of several school students gathering in the school parking lot at 4:20pm to smoke pot.
Posted by Vishy at July 27, 2005 03:26 AM