sherm, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

sherm n.

also shermans, sherms, sherm stick

[the smoking of Sherman cigarettes laced with phencyclidine]

(US black/drugs)

1. phencyclidine; thus shermed (up) adj., intoxicated.

1981		L.A. TImes 5 July 479/4: No one was dealing [...] A black kid hunting for ‘sherm’ was turned away.
1991		L. Bing Do or Die (1992) 146: There’s some crazy people out there – and not only the ones who smoke sherm.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 50: Sherm Another term for PCP. Sherman cigarettes are soaked with the drug PCP, thus the name sherm.
1993		K. Scott Monster (1994) 253: We’d smoke whole Sherman cigarettes dipped in PCP every day. [...] The Sherm was starting to take a toll on me.
1993		Lerner et al. Dict. of Today’s Words 157: Schermed – high on angel dust.
1998		Big L ‘Ebonics’ 🎵 Angel dust is sherm.
2000		W. Shaw Westsiders 11: I don’t hustle cocaine, heroin [...] speed, sherm. That ain’t my forte.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 19: Sherms — Crack Cocaine; PCP; cigars dipped in or laced with PCP.
2003		Microgram Bulletin XXXVI:8 182: On the street, PCP is commonly referred to as Angel Dust, Hog, Ozone, Rocket Fuel, Shermans, Wack, Crystal, and Embalming Fluid.
2009		J. Stahl Pain Killers 172: Them fools in there was soaking lint in dry-cleaning fluid and callin’ it PCP [...] passin’ it off in the yard as sherm.
2012		Too $hort ‘Shut Up Nancy’ 🎵 Got you actin crazy like you smokin sherm.

2. embalming fluid, formaldehyde [note William Shaw, Westsiders (2000): ‘It probably acquired the name sherm when users started dipping Sherman cigarettes in the fluid, choosing the brand because its cigarettes are more robustly constructed than most and don’t fall apart when steeped in fluid’].

2000

W. Shaw Westsiders 303: ‘Sherm’ is the popular name for embalming fluid — formaldehyde.

In compounds

shermhead (n.) [-head sfx (3)]

(US drugs) one who is addicted to marijuana or plain cigarettes dipped in PCP.

1984		L.A. Times 29 Mar. 136/1: ‘You know what a shermhead is You know what PCP is?’.
1997		G. Sikes 8 Ball Chicks (1998) 53: Bird had warned me his neighbor was a ‘shermhead,’ addicted to marijuana cigarettes dipped in PCP.

sherm stick (n.) [stick n. (6a)]

(US black/drugs) a plain cigarette or one composed of marijuana, laced with phencyclidine.

1984		L.A. Times 29 Mar. 136/1: ‘Just give him a stick’ (a cigarette soaked in PCP).
1985		T.R. Houser Central Sl. 20: dukie stick A sherm stick. [Ibid.] 22: five-stick A small portion of a sherman cigarette dipped in PCP and sold for $5.00. [Ibid.] 49: stick Sherman cigarette saturated with PCP.
1994		Bloods & Crips ‘Gs & Locs’ 🎵 But weed don’t get me high enough, so I smoke a sherm stick.
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 sherm-stick Definition: a joint/blunt laced with angeldust/pcp Example: I’m tripping off this sherm-stick. Watch my back so no nigga’s catch me slippin.
2001		D.P.G. ‘We About To Get Fucc Up’ 🎵 Sherm sticks get me to floating, I’mma balance the motion.
2012		Schoolboy Q ‘Raymond 1969’ 🎵 Gave him a sherm stick and watched him while he hit it.