[Vocabulary] "Drug dealer" vs "drug seller" (For informational/linguistic purposes)

[RandomGurl01]

"Drug dealer" vs "drug seller" (For informational/linguistic purposes)

Which term is used more? Why? And how did one get more popularized over the other?

What do you think?

 

[Jill Dorchester]

Re: "Drug dealer" vs "drug seller" (For informational/linguistic purposes)

A "drug seller" could refer to a legal retail operation - a pharmacist, for example (chemist in BrE). A "drug dealer" usually implies that a person is selling illegal street drugs.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Re: "Drug dealer" vs "drug seller" (For informational/linguistic purposes)

Which term is used more? Why? And how did one get more popular than the other?

What do you think?

Jill is right. The meanings are different.

For illegal sellers, you might say drug dealer, pusher, or dope dealer. For legal sales, we Americans say druggist or pharmacist. I think the British say chemist.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: "Drug dealer" vs "drug seller" (For informational/linguistic purposes)

We use chemist or pharmacist to refer to the person who works in a chemist's [shop].

 

[Barb_D]

Re: "Drug dealer" vs "drug seller" (For informational/linguistic purposes)

I agree with Jill that "drug seller" COULD refer to legal sales, but honestly, it just isn't. I have rarely (if ever) come across that phrase in common use.

If a person sells illegal street drugs, he (or she) is a drug dealer.
If the person is a pharmacist, he or she is a phamacist.
If the person works for the pharmaceutical companies, he or she is a pharmaceutical rep or pharmaceutical salesperson.

Sometimes people jokingly say "I'm a drug dealer" if their field is in the pharmaceutical industry, but I have never heard someone say "I"m a drug seller."