Cluck is one of the many euphemisms in use, to describe going cold turkey ,a sudden stoppage of the addictive drug
heroin and other opiates and opioids (e.g morhine, methadone, codiene, Fentanyl, opium and many more, marketed pain killers)
The term, cluck derivates from the term cold turkey, owing to the fact that when withdrawing from these
drugs, one of the many withdrawal symptoms include goosebumps, like those on a plucked turkey. ** In the song 'Cold Turkey' by John Lennon, there is a lyric; "...
Goose Pimple Bones" **
Too be fussy, the word should really be gobble as that's the sound turkeys make, but, as you
may, or
may not, know; gobble has taken on a different meaning..
There are many, many euphemisms for withdrawing from
heroin/opiates etc., but others relevent to turkey/cluck are: to roast or roasting, clucking, spitting feathers and being oven ready!
That's where cluck comes from! Not
crack!, although clucking has become a generic term for withdrawing from any addictive substace - as cold turkey has also
done. But (as explained above) they originate from opoid withdrawal symptoms.
To see an almost endless list of words and phrases to do with withdrawing/clucking/cold turkey check out
heroinI had used up my bag of heroin and had no other means of keeping the turkey at
bay. I knew that I was in for a
big cluck, starting in a few hours
time. By the mornig, I'll be clucking so bad I'll be spitting feathers.
