Tuinal

English

Etymology

Proprietary name.

Noun

Tuinal (countable and uncountable, plural Tuinals)

1. A depressant sedative drug comprising two barbituates (secobarbital sodium and amobarbital sodium) in equal quantities, formerly widely used as a recreational drug.
   • 1985, Shane MacGowan (lyrics and music), “The Old Main Drag”, in Rum Sodomy & the Lash, performed by The Pogues:

     In the cold winter nights, the old town it was chill / But there were boys in the cafes who'd give you cheap pills / If you didn't have the money, you'd cajole or you'd beg / There was always lots of tuinal on the old main drag.

   • 1985, Priscilla Presley, Sandra Harmon, Elvis and Me, Putnam, →ISBN, page 151:

     His horror of insomnia, compounded with a family history of compulsive worrying, caused him to down three or four Placidyls, Seconals, Quaaludes, or Tuinals almost every night—and often it was a combination of all four.

   • 1996, Will Self, The Sweet Smell of Psychosis, Bloomsbury, published 2011, page 68:

     Richard's suit of Ursula was progressing, albeit at the pace of a snail on Tuinal.

Anagrams

• Luntai, inlaut, unital