Mike Birch Jun 18, 2011:

Thanks Slavo Important to me was a phrase that will not be offensive to the family and friends of the deceased.
As Gerry says, sniffed glue/acetone is good English, but the verb really needs an object, not "sniff" on its own, and would be implicitly preterite. I guess we're back to "sfetovat'".
But, enough! Good luck.

Slavomir BELIS (asker) Jun 18, 2011:

OK, thanks, sorted. Tha is all from me.

Gerry Vickers Jun 18, 2011:

Sniff glue/glue sniffer - fine. No problem.

Slavomir BELIS (asker) Jun 18, 2011:

OK, you are right, of course. I said earlier: ..you know better, I do not argue with you.

What about "to sniff"? I do not mean "to sniff drugs", just "to sniff" meaning - to inhale a dangerous or addictive substance (eg glue or cocaine)
The Chambers dictionary

Can't it be used in this sense? This is the last question as we need to end this.

Gerry Vickers Jun 18, 2011:

sniff On the example you put from Yahoo - note the second response: "people don't do drugs because of how they smell" - that explains my point precisely :) You sniff flowers or the smell of freshly cooked bread - of course you can use it for drugs, but it is naive and old-fashioned.
This whole episode reminds me of the Monty Python sketch with the dirty spoon :)

Slavomir BELIS (asker) Jun 18, 2011:

Summary 2 (continuation) fetovať a drogovať
to sniff and to take drugs – Uncle, Igor (agreed previously with – to sniff – for – fetovať), Slavomir (I have no problem with this translation. The Chambers dictionary: to sniff – to inhale a dangerous or addictive substance (eg glue or cocaine).) However, I am not a native and the natives involved do not seem to like “to sniff” saying it doesn't work.

to huff (or to sniff) and take drugs – Maria – very similar but I would never use – to huff – as – fetovať – is not a slang word by me

to shoot up and do drugs – Nathaniel2 – I am not sure about – to shoot up – I am not familiar with it, maybe yes, maybe no, I do not know

to get high and to take drugs – Mike G.
to take drugs – Mike G. – neutral but not necessarily accurate
to take drugs – Gerry – neutral but not necessarily accurate

to abuse drugs – Mike B. – as with some of the above – I do not think it covers the whole class
Mike B. on reflection: If you want to cover the whole class acetone/toluene/glue, the term is "inhalant abuse", giving the full phrase:
to abuse inhalants and (other) drugs – If “to sniff” is no good, I strongly believe this is the best choice.

Thank you all for patience.

Slavomir BELIS (asker) Jun 18, 2011:

Summary 1 Some facts:
drogovať – obvious
fetovať – KSSJ – nedok. s chorobnou závislosťou požívať drogy (najmä vdychovaním omamných látok): f. toluén;

požívať drogy – najmä vdychovaním omamných látok – fetovať toluén – this a bit unclear to me as, yes, this is to do with drugs – but on the other hand is toluene or acetone classed as a drug? I do not know… – but most of you seem to believe it is more or less a general term for using drugs so it is probably OK to translate it as – to take drugs/to do drugs – if it is used on its own – besides – to get high

Now – fetovať a drogovať – in – Neviedol riadny život, kradol, fetoval, drogoval a pil.
If the author refers to drugs only, why do they say – fetovať a drogovať? Why don’t they just say – drogovať? It does not make sense at all and tautology is not that common in Slovak. I am absolutely sure they say so because they want to make some kind of a distinction and that is why I do not think it is correct to say – to take drugs – because toluene, for example, is not really classed as a drug if it is true what Gerry says.

Slavomir BELIS (asker) Jun 18, 2011:

Some of you seem to misunderstand. I am not saying that - fetovať - is - to sniff drugs or that you sniff drugs. If you say it is not OK to say like that, fine, you know better, I do not argue with you. On the other hand, there are many results on the British web where people do say - sniff drugs. It is just a fact.
WHY DO PEOPLE SNIFF DRUGS?
I saw a guy in the bus station last night sniffing heroin...
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=2011042105500...
Did someone force him to do so?

Slavomir BELIS (asker) Jun 18, 2011:

OK, that is sorted, thanks. How about

to sniff - for fetovať - as per Uncle?

to sniff - to inhale a dangerous or addictive substance (eg glue or cocaine)
The Chambers dictionary

Charles Stanford Jun 17, 2011:

I suppose the girls sniffed drugs because they were being forced to do so... If you wanted to sniff it then you'd be snorting it - unless it was glue in which case you sniff it (even if you stick it on a cloth and "inhale it"). I don't really know but I think Gerry is right that "sniff drugs" just doesn't work

Slavomir BELIS (asker) Jun 17, 2011:

Yes, "stuff", sorry. Thank you for checking.

Slavomir BELIS (asker) Jun 17, 2011:

Gerry, there is really no need for any personal staff.

I do not take anything as gospel, especially when you seem to doubt any UK source be it BBC, the Daily Mail or anything else.

In your opinion there is no difference in meaning between the words drogovat and fetovat, OK, I think there is or there can be. If someone says - fetoval a drogoval - they most certainly mean - fetoval (acetón, toulén, glue...) and you say these are not classed as drugs. If they do not mean these, they would not say - fetoval a drogoval - they would say - drogoval.

Gerry Vickers Jun 17, 2011:

and don't take everything that the BBC writes (or the Daily Mail) as gospel. 'Drug sniffing' is correct in its own context, i.e. an example - (naive) grandmother saying to wayward grandson: 'you're not sniffing drugs are you?'. You have tied yourself into so many knots here that you have lost the initial thread. Calm down, have a cup of tea, maybe have some pot :), clear your head, and then think about whether there is really any difference in meaning between the words drogovat and fetovat which, IMHO, there isn't, and choose something nice and neutral such as 'take drugs'. I would say 'He lived a dissolute life, stole, took drugs and drank alcohol' or '... was a drug addict and an alcoholic'

Mike Birch Jun 17, 2011:

No offence Slavo Of course there is a very rich vocabulary surrounding drugs. That's why I asked for context and then provided an answer in the context of a newspaper report, as opposed to street talk. slang or conversational.

Rad Graban (X) Jun 17, 2011:

No offence but IMO this post (just like posts regarding "fetovať" and "sfetovať sa acetónom") has nothing to do with 'not knowing'. It's just a typical example of flaming and we are all biting it. But it's just my opinion. Everyone's got a right to ask any question.

Hannah Geiger (X) Jun 17, 2011:

http://korzar.sme.sk/c/4587907/zomieral-v-bolestiach-a-prosi...

Mike Birch Jun 17, 2011:

Slavo You don't seem happy with the anglophone contributions. Sorry!

A different approach might be to consider the context of the text.
When is it taking place? Fashions and vocabulary in drug abuse change rapidly.
What age are the protagonists? eg. teenagers may "sniff glue", older (or richer) users may "snort coke".
Where is it taking place? 80s Bratislava, contemporary London... ?
What tone are you looking for? slang, formal... ?

Let's look for the best choice, not many choices.

Maria Chmelarova Jun 17, 2011:

Slavo problem nevyriesime ak si najskor neustalime (v s.j.) rozdiel medzi :
fetovat-, fetak-, fetovat aceton-, sfetovat sa acetonom-, fetovat a drogovat-. Postupne 1-5. Mozno aj jednodocha veta ako priklad by pomohla.
Skuste to, najskor bez prekladu do akehokolvej jazyka. Definicia v slovcine, nie vasa definicia, nie nasa definicia, alebo dohad kohokolvek z nas. Vykladovy slovnik vas/nas nepusti. Potom pride druhy stupen riesenia, preklad do a.j., ak sa daju vyrazy prelozit priamo.
Len na okraj, este podnes som nenasla vasu odpoved na moju otazku aky je rozdiel medzi fetovat a sfetovat sa acetonom.
Osobne, ak naozaj chcete pochopit rozdiel, co je vas ciel, ak tomu dobre rozumiem, tak zacnite odpovedat na to co sa vas pytaju a neskacte z jedneho do druheho.
Este by som rada pripomenula, ze toto ako aj ine fora su dostupne nielen nam. M.

Gerry Vickers Jun 17, 2011:

I said before on one of your previous posts - you might find 'sniff drugs' or 'drug sniffer' but it is something that one's grandmother would say - it sounds very naive and old-fashioned, and nowadays the words drug and sniff are almost always used in conjunction with dogs. As a native speaker of the English language with over 40 years' experience speaking it or at least hearing it on an almost daily basis (with the exception of a few years spent in the Czech Republic) I can safely say that I am correct here. If your sentence is from a serious text, then 'take drugs' would cover both, IMO, otherwise as Nathaniel said below - you could choose the verb from a huge list of yes, thousands of possibilities, and it also depends on the country for which it is intended. I only agreed with the 'do drugs' - but that is quite slangy. Without seeing the sentence in its wider context you could just as easily say (excuse my language) 'He completely pissed his life up against the wall, ripped to the tits on drink and drugs' - and before you pick me up on the missing translation of 'kradol', it is just illustrative of the fact that there are endless possibilities and not one single 'right' answe

Slavomir BELIS (asker) Jun 17, 2011:

Gerry, you keep saying that you don't sniff drugs but look what they say on BBC News:
The girls were given cigarettes and sometimes had to sniff drugs during their ordeals.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-11864740

It is just one example of many. And I do not know what is correct but that is why I am trying to find out.

The context is very clear, you say there are many options, ok, but which option would you use in this case, if you do not mind.