cat valium
- noun
- NSFW
- Some clubgoers refer to ketamine as cat valium when discussing recreational drug use.
Examples
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Police seized several vials of cat valium during the drug bust last night.
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Doctors warned about the dangers of using cat valium outside a medical setting.
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Many partygoers were using cat valium last night.
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Is cat valium really as dangerous as they say?
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Some clubgoers refer to ketamine as cat valium when discussing recreational drug use.
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Doctors warned about the dangers of using cat valium outside a medical setting.
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Police seized several vials of cat valium during the drug bust last night.
Synonyms
19
7.8
A strong medicine that makes people or animals sleep for surgery and can cause strange visions at high doses
7
9.9
A street name for the drug ketamine
4
9.9
A street name for the illegal drug ketamine
1
9.9
A street name for the drug ketamine
1
9.9
A drug called ketamine used illegally to get high
1
9.9
An illegal drug people use at parties to feel strange or see things
1
6.2
A medicine that makes people and animals sleep or calm during surgery, sometimes used illegally for hallucinations
A slang word for the drug ketamine that makes people feel strange
A brand name for a drug that makes animals or people unconscious for surgery
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although 'Valium' indicates a tranquilizer, the modifier 'cat' here is slang and does not transparently signal ketamine or its recreational use; a B1 learner knowing the two words would likely infer something like a calming pill related to cats but not the specific drug. The phrase is slangy, culturally specific and idiomatic, so its meaning cannot be reliably derived from the constituents.
Etymology
Cat valium is a slang name that comes from a simple image: vets give strong sedatives to animals, so cat (the animal) plus valium (a calm pill) makes you think of a drug that quiets animals. People use cat valium to mean 'ketamine', a drug that can make you very sleepy or calm, so the name became a slang word for that drug.