What are poopers?

in BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN, Random Crap

I’ve heard about people on TV doing poppers but I didn’t know what they are, so I mentioned them to a friend and he was like, “Poppers.  Yeah.  They relax your butthole”.   I was pretty sure he was just fucking with me but he’s usually pretty reliable so I decided to check the internet.  Then Google was, “Poppers?  Sure I know what poppers are…”

poppers

I think Google is a little out of touch.

But all of the other search result were about the drug.  Turns out it’s a club drug that relaxes your butthole.  I’m not sure why you’d want to take a drug that makes your sphincter relax and then go wild at a disco because that sounds like a recipe for disaster, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.

PS. Hang on.  My friend explained it all to me.  I feel very old now.  Also, he pointed out that some people take it because it makes you euphoric when you’re dancing, but it only lasts for a minute.  I assumed they’d be pills because you “pop pills” but turns out it’s a bottle that you sniff.  It’s like invisible temporary cocaine.  Don’t do it.  Don’t do drugs.  Especially because they might not even be real.    And if they are real you might shit yourself, and then you’d have to deal with that mess when you sober up on the dance floor up 30 seconds later.  It’s like the most abrupt shame-filled hangover ever.

PPS. Was I the only person who didn’t know about this?

PPPS.  I just realized that I  spelled this wrong and now my blog title is “What are poopers?”  My google search results are going to be more horrific than usual this month.

281 thoughts on “What are poopers?”

Read comments below or add one.

  5. I’m so out of touch, I’ve had several friends approach me using drug slang in the past week and I had no idea what any of them were talking about.

  6. Poppers are probably the reason behind every poor decision I have made since the early 90s.

  19. Poppers to me mean the tasty cheese & jalapeno snack treats I always eat too many of at Super Bowl parties. On this topic, I was quite happy to be blissfully ignorant.

  21. OK, I thought poppers were like those smelling salt ampules you see in old movies when ladies swoon. A relaxed sphincter doesn’t seem like a desirable thing. Color me old.

  23. The first thing I thought of was food. Like jalapeno poppers. Why do people have to take something delicious and turn in to something you put up your butt?

  26. I thought poppers were those deep fried jalapenos with cream cheese filling. shrug
    I guess I run with a different crowd.

    …and “poopers” are those that poop, party or otherwise.

  31. Hahaha, I thought you meant Christmas Poppers – Holiday Crackers as they are known.

    http://www.amazon.com/Set-Bows-Berries-Christmas-Crackers/dp/B001HW71PC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424112928&sr=8-2&keywords=christmas+poppers

    There is also a HOG WILD HOLIDAY PIG POPPER – which is slightly different than the crackers I pictured.

    http://www.amazon.com/Hog-Wild-Holiday-Pig-Popper/dp/B005RAMG28/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1424112928&sr=8-10&keywords=christmas+poppers

    Guess I’m out of touch too. And why wouldn’t I be. This sounds like a recipe for disaster…not worth the risk of shitting your pants for a short reward of feeling good for 30 seconds. Crazy kids these days.

  32. I know what poppers are. They were very popular in Montréal in the 1980. They were even sold “under the counter” there… Wild times! I’ve never tried it myself but many of my friends did. It made them jump all over the place for a few minutes (but they did not poop everywhere!). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppers

  33. In my world, poppers involve jalapenos or mushrooms breaded and fried, but I may be old. I suppose, with enough jalapenos, your butthole would relax.

  34. You’re not the only one who had no idea.. I thought they appetizers you “pop” in your mouth. 🙂

  36. Poppers are Amyl Nitrate. They were popular in the 80’s at discos, but seem to have made a comeback. First I’ve heard about the sphincter effect (great band name??)

  37. Poppers have been around since the 60s at least. They’re sorta legal, in that they’re an industrial solvent that is marketed and sold for purposes other than sniffing to get high. They’re mostly safe and have few lasting effects apart from short-duration headaches, although some people with pre-existing heart conditions have died using them, so they may not be so safe for any given person. It’s like stinky Russian Roulette.

    In addition to the disco thing, they’re kind of a sex drug. They give you a brief headrush which, if combined with other things that give you a headrush, can be really quite intense, or so I hear.

    As for relaxing your butthole, it’s not too difficult to imagine scenarios in which that might be helpful. For example, if you wear tight, pocketless pants to the disco, you’re going to need somewhere to keep your keys.

    They also have a better shelf life if you keep them in the fridge, which doesn’t at all lead to awkward conversations with your mom about why there are industrial solvents capable of relaxing your butthole next to the iceberg lettuce.

  38. Poppers in the 80s were nitrous oxide that you sniffed out of a bottle, they produced a quick rush and feeling of euphoria. They also left you with a nasty headache, and were probably very dangerous. No clue about the butthole. But if it’s the same drug it’s been around a long time.

  41. I do believe they are/were fairly big in the gay club scene. Where a relaxed sphincter might be a little more enjoyable.. for a more… horizontal form of dancing. 😉

  43. I often find the odd Craigslist ads for my blog and post them for humor. Sexual repression is rampant in rural Western Kansas so people let their freak flag fly on Craigslist. People are into some interesting stuff. Anyhow, I had to look up poppers as well, and just about everything else people put in those ads. I never knew how sexually naïve I was until I started browsing Craigslist. Sometimes I can’t tell if they are misspellings or just weird sexual things or drugs I’ve never heard of. I, too, think a drug to relax your ass is a terrible idea.

  44. My introduction (and actually only experience with) poppers happened on a trip to New Orleans when I was a young naif. A gentlemen came up to me, said, “smell this” held a vital under my nose and that was that. I don’t particularly remember any butthole relaxing but I instantly felt the effects and they were pretty much gone within ten minutes. I spent the rest of the night actually wondering if I had just taken a drug and if that meant I was now an addict. (I was more than a little naive, then again, you grew up in Wall/San Angelo at the same time so you know what a happening drug town it was.)

  46. I knew what it was, because I grew up in a big city with a gay bar district. (and knew friends who went there to play…) But I have not heard about them since the 80s. I can honestly say that is the only reason why, not heard of them outside that very specific instance.

  48. Poppers are not the same as whip-its. Poppers are amyl nitrates. They were originally sold as air freshener. Big in the 80s dance club scene. They will melt your brain. I won’t say how I know all this.

  49. They used to be legal in the US in the 60s. amyl nitrate, you popped open the capsule and inhaled it. Quick, short lasting, yet powerful rush. Never heard anything about relaxing the butthole though. They drop your blood pressure so I guess that could happen, but it would be very brief and you’d be much more likely to be focused on the rush in your head to even notice.

  50. Poppers are Amyl nitrate, Whippits are nitrous. Poppers were mostly in the gay community (hence the butthole effect, which is different from the butterfly effect), but are better known by straight folk now.

    yer adorable.

  51. My friend tries to get me to do poppers all the time, he’s like obsessed. But since there’s absolutely no reason why I’d ever need a relaxed butthole, I always say no. And also, gross.

  52. Doing poppers is basically solvent abuse. It’s all kinds of wrong. A friend did tried one a few years back and she said it made her feel really stupid. Not the regretful “I just abused solvents” kind of stupid, but actually low IQ stupid for about half an hour.
    Stupid with a relaxed arsehole? Ew.

  53. ha ha ha ha!! this is the best! Yah what if you shit yourself while dancing? And what a waste that it would only last 30 seconds. sober up on the dancefloor…. haaaaaa

  55. Lol um wow. I thought you weretalking about jalapeño poppers and I was all “Yes, I do!” But alas no I did not. How did this come up?!?!

  56. I’m…just…laughing so hard. I’ll have to regroup and comment again later.

  57. I just did some googling on the subject and now I’m more confused than ever. But I’d never heard of poppers before either. Whippets, yes, poppers no.

  61. Amyl nitrite not nitrous oxide. Inhaled from a small bottle. Big in the 80s club scene. I don’t know from sphincters but it’s a vaso dilator.

  62. Now this all makes sense. In the early 90s I would go to gay bars with a male friend just to dance and I remember him talking about people taking poppers including himself. They were actually sold at one bar. I only knew about the quick high, I didn’t know about the loosening butthole effect. I lead a sheltered life.

  63. My first thought was the jalapenos, then the holiday cracker thing that had the paper crown and confetti that my mother in law loves to give to the kids at my house. As far as I can see, there is no need for anything that relaxes my sphincter unless I am getting a colonoscopy, in which case, I would like general anesthesia.

  64. I must be even more out of touch than Google. To me, the term refers to a fried food item — like the “jalapeño poppers” some restaurants serve.

    I don’t even want to think of what would happen if you stuck a jalapeño pepper Down There…

  67. I actually DID know about it. How you ask? Some of the things you stumble across on Tumbler are very, very disturbing.

  68. Jenny, I’m writing an encyclopedia based on stuff I’ve learned from you. It’s called TMI or Shit You Can!t Unknow.

  70. Interesting tidbit/factoid: Poppers were/are actually VCR head cleaner. Don’t ask me how I know this. Stuff gets in my brain and just hangs out until I have some reason to use it.

  71. My husband and I opened a business a couple of years ago. When we were cleaning out the space in preparation for move in we found an entire drawer filled with poppers along with a clay sculpture of a man’s ass. It was pretty much like opening a sexy-in-the-wrong-way time capsule.

  72. Also, they smell kind of awful, like dirty gym socks or something. You know how you sometimes catch a whiff of magic marker and think “yeah, I can see why someone would intentionally inhale this”? Poppers smell like the opposite of that.

    They come in a little brown glass bottle, have stupid names and made-up applications (mostly “room freshener” or “liquid incense” these days, because Glade has really ignored the sweaty gym sock segment of the market, but back in the day they were “VCR head cleaner, wink wink, nudge nudge” and probably something else dumb before that), and you can totally get them on Amazon.com although it’s tough to find them Prime eligible.

  73. My first thought was jalapeño. You really don’t know what jalapeño poppers are? I was so smug.

  74. I found out what poppers were from reading “And the Band Played On” in high school. Apparently they were very popular with gay men in the 70’s and 80’s. I also found out what a lot of other things were from that book. It’s a wonderful and important work of investigative journalism, but if you don’t want graphic depictions of gay men having sex, don’t read it. (In case you don’t know what the book’s about, it’s about the early AIDS crisis in America.)

  75. You really need to print out your blog posts and seal them in a time capsule in the event that anyone in 100 years time can actually read. Wait. How do sphincter relaxants cause euphoria on the dance floor? I am soooo confused. This goes way beyond simple age barriers. Shame I recently broke up with my ex – 17 year age difference. Well, not really a shame, but… he’d probably know all about these.

    Yeah, I just read a few comments above. Got it now. It’s still weird as fuck, though.

  76. Poppers = christmas crackers
    poopers = (i) dogs, (ii) small children
    Whippets = see 2(i)
    whip it = Devo

  77. I thought poppers were those party favors that look like plastic champagne bottles and you pull the string to shoot confetti out of the bottom. I’m stocked that only one other person thought of party favors. I am very unaware of the drug option.

  78. Pardon me, but “poppers” are amyl nitrite, not nitrate. If you’re going to shit yourself on the dance floor, at least you’ll be able to cogently explain why.

  79. Wait, they aren’t peppers stuffed with cream cheese?! Because I had one of those by accidentally biting into one. (Autocorrect just tried to change biting to butting. What the hell?!)
    I also know we Americans call the British Christmas Crackers ‘Poppers’. But seriously, I have never heard of any other use of this. Certainly no butt relaxing drug! People are so weird!

  80. I just went and looked it up (because reasons) and one of the side effects is “a rare but fatal arrhythmia in some individuals known as ‘sudden sniffing death’.” :/

  81. I had no clue about this either. Seems to makes Dr. James’s research (Getting On) more relevant–everyone needs butthole collagen.

  82. that explains so much! See, a LOT of Craigslist dating ads say they have or are looking for a date with poppers. I ALWAYS wondered. Now I know. Crazy kids!

  83. This makes me feel dumb and confused in the best way. I read the link, thought “What?!” and said “Nevermind.” I didn’t realize I had that much of a bubble left. Please don’t … pop it. See what I did there? I’ll see myself out.

  86. Soooo did not know about that. Yeah. They take a drug that only lasts for a minute. But it relaxes the butthole. Does that also only last a minute… i hope. Srsly man there have to be less weird ways for kids to do their thing. Also calling them poopers may be more accurate.

  87. I don’t know if popper were/are head cleaner, but my oldest friend (and sherpa into the gay end of town) used to get his poppers from the XXX-rated rental store by asking for head cleaner. And you could always tell when somebody had poppers at the dance club because all the best male dancers would suddenly huddle in the middle of the dance floor for a few seconds, then all disperse back into the throng, as if a motion had been passed by committee or something. Having a gay best friend was very educational in the 80’s and 90’s – highly recommended.

  89. Poppers enhance orgasms, male or female. When inhaled, all the blood rushes from your head to your genitals.

  90. I had never heard of poppers until I lived with three gay men and kept finding the little bottles all over the house. Apparently they do make you more accommodating for anal sex, and kind of giddy. ( and I admit to taking a sniff, and I personally just got a massive headache ) Reasonably sure even great sex isn’t worth drain bramage

  91. Being a girl who loves anal poppers are my best friend 😉 you should check out my blog where I talk about my sexual experiences with straight men named ‘The Straight Boy Diaries’ maybe that will open your eyes a little lol

  92. The 80s kids who know them as amyl nitrate might also have known them as “rush.” That’s what we called it in Oklahoma, so they might have called it that in Texas. I’ve heard that it’s VCR head cleaner, too. So don’t breathe it, people! Get your head rush from life and America! Relax your o-ring with yoga and yoga exercises! (or vice versa. everybody’s a little different.)

  93. Poppers = amyl nitrite. I believe you pop open the capsule and inhale the contents. (Swallowing it won’t do.) They lower your blood pressure, which can be bad for you.

  94. I’ve known about these at least since the 80’s. I remember the room freshener label. Never tried them because unknown chemicals/source/bad trip possibility. Plus I knew someone who went nuts on PCP and chemicals do not make a better society, no matter what Monsanto wants you to believe.

  95. Look up “silence of the lambs popper” and watch the youtube after hearing Hannibal Lecter say it I found out what it was – only reason i knew it. I wouldn’t believe it if you told me you hadn’t seen those movies.

  96. There’s also a whacky conspiracy theory that just won’t die that says that poppers, not HIV, cause AIDS. Sadly, I am not kidding. Apparently, sub-Saharan Africa must just be one big butt-relaxed disco, I guess.

  97. You know, now that you mention it I did a lot of hanging around the gay club “scene” in my home town, and I vaguely remember hearing about them, but never had any first-hand encounters with them. I’m pretty sure I’m good with that.

  98. Nope, I didn’t know either. Thought at first you were talking the jalapeno variety, but, no, definitely not those. Although, thinking about it, jalapenos can butthole issues – but it may not be very relaxing….

  99. Well, based on your explanation, it sounds like “poopers” might be a better name for them.
    No, no you are not the only person who didn’t know about this.

  101. The show up in the Tales of the City books. (I remember that the characters stored them in the refrigerator) Which is set in the late 70s/early 80s. I always associated them with the disco era. Maybe I just didn’t know what I was missing?

  102. Huh. I thought poppers were something you found in the freezer section of the grocery store. And that if you found them at a club, it was probably a bit on the seedy side. But then, I’ve never been particularly up on drug slang, unless you count food as a drug.

  104. I know nothing anymore. My kids make fun of me because I talk about “pot” rather than “weed.” Yeah, I’m old. The ’70s were fun though.

  106. I thought it might be an obscure reference to cranberries. They “pop” in your mouth… at least they do when my Mom makes cranberry sauce.
    I had no idea that a drug named “poppers” existed. It sounds like it should be called “poopers” instead.

  107. I actually did know what poppers are, but I’m a pharmacist. Pharmaceutical amyl nitrite is packaged in tiny glass ampules encased in white fabric so that the ampule can be crushed between the fingers without danger of lacerations from the broken glass. These, of course, make a popping sound when crushed. But now I know the answer to the question, “Why is the amyl nitrite always gone?”

  109. Here’s an interesting tidbit for you. Growing up in Ireland, I knew poppers as being the drug. Then I came to Australia and found myself confused in a number of situations. Why?
    Because here, ‘poppers’ are what I believe Americans refer to as ‘Juice boxes’. You know, those little single-serve cartons of juice with the little silver hole on top that you ‘pop’ with a straw?
    Aye caramba, the weird situations I thought I was in til I figured out what they meant. Not least of which, being invited out to lunch for ‘poppers and pizza’. 0.o

  111. I knew about poppers but not their faecally-unfortunate side effects. Weirdly, this is one of the few things I remember learning about at school. That says quite a lot about the British state school system.

  112. I always thought poppers were those little confetti bottles that you pull the string, they pop, and you spread confetti everywhere.

    Alternatively, poppers could be deep fried jalapenos stuffed with cheese.

    But a pill that relaxed your butt could be called a pooper. Because that would make sense. Or at least as much sense as taking a pill that relaxed your butt at a party. People are weird.

    That said, I used to think bath salts were salts used in a bath. The real use was explained to me by someone MUCH younger than I am.

  113. IS there not a single gay man who reads your blog? ‘Cause you’d get a better explanation of the benefits of poppers. Or you could read Armisted Maupin’s Tales of the City series – in order – you’ll thank me.

  114. I just googled them (incognito because I didn’t want to screw up my search history) only to discover that the entire first page was filled with drug references. I found the Wikipedia article most entertaining. Of course it then led me to wonder what the hell I had been searching that led Google to think drugs was the first thing that should come up.

  115. Final also: they don’t actually relax your butthole so much as they allow you to relax your butthole. Amusing as it is to imagine a dance floor knee-deep in poop (gives an entirely new meaning to “shit kicking”, no?) — it’s just not going to happen.

    Basically: really quick, really intense headrush accompanied by a feeling of intense euphoria. Any ass-relaxing is down to your ability to unclench whilst feeling groovy. They relax your butthole the same way alcohol makes ugly people pretty: incidentally, and largely in your head.

    Oh, straight people. You are so silly.

  116. Back when I was a Disco Queen in the late 70’s, the gay guys used to use Amyl Nitrate when they were dancing and, apparently when they had sex. It is actually an old legal drug, a liquid in a tiny brown bottle that people with heart conditions were meant to inhale when they had pain.
    Like nitroglycerin pills. The intended action is that if you are having chest pain, it meant that one of the arteries leading to your heart muscle was in spasm and closed, leading to a loss of oxygen supply to the muscle and pain. The Amyl nitrate would relax the arterial walls and allow the blood, hence oxygen back through. As it is a relaxant, it makes sense that your rectal sphincter would relax as well. I never tried it and I never heard of anyone pooping the dance floor, but of all the places that I would NOT want to poop myself, the disco floor is right near the top.
    I imagine a gay male couple would find the relaxed butthole convenient as well.
    The reason I know all this is:
    a) As stated, I was a disco queen (the girl kind)
    B) I am a nurse.
    I am sorry that this comment is somewhat lacking in humour, especially since a relaxed poop hole just cries out for humour. But, such is life.

  117. OMGSH I am dying laughing!!!!! I have also never heard of them and if that’s what they do then I don’t want to go clubbing even more than I already didn’t. Large groups of people with loose sphincters… who are drinking and probably ate Taco Bell… talk about a shitstorm!!!!!

  120. In the 80s,mp oppress were amyl nitrate, and we’re a club drug that caused euphoria. People sniffed it. I didn’t do it, but lots of my friends did…always when we were out dancing.

  121. In the early 2000s, I worked at an LGBT bookshop and café, with an adult section in the back (read: porn rentals). I was manning that section one day, alphabetizing the porn and whatnot, when a handsome gentlemen walked up to the counter and asked if we carried “video head cleaner.”

    “Well,” I said, “We sell videos, so I’m sure we sell video head cleaner.” And I bopped over to the owner of the store and asked where we kept it.

    “We don’t sell that,” the owner said.

    “But his video heads are dirty,” I replied. “How can he watch the movies he rents if his video heads are dirty?”

    “Wow,” said the owner. “You’re an idiot.”

    And that’s how I learned what poppers are. The End.

  125. Yes Amyl Nitrate, & it’s nasty stuff.
    Tried it once, & that was once too many.
    All I got was a lightheaded sensation that lasted about five minutes, followed by a day long migraine.
    Definitely not worth it.

    Incidentally, Whippits, are called that because the old style whipped cream canisters which you’d load up with cream were operated using a little metal bulb containing nitrous oxide; you’d skip putting the cream in, & inhale the nitrous from the dispenser.
    Again, a short lived high that was not worth it.
    Don’t do it, it’s not worthwhile!

    There’s a good reason why so many drugs are illegal, & really getting caught is only one of the things that can go wrong, & is not always as bad as the consequences of taking drugs.

  126. Does nobody else watch gay porn for the beautiful male specimens times two? You can see poppers in action any time you want!

  127. Amyl nitrate is the proper name and honestly it’s like soooooo 1980’s! So you’re actually too young not too old 😉

  128. In Australia, Poppers are actually juice boxes. Not even joking. They were an important part of my childhood. A childhood that has now been destroyed. Thanks a lot. :p

  129. When my daughter was little (maybe 11)?) she was googling for “poppers” and I noticed it in the search history and I was all CONCERNED MOM WHY IS SHE LOOKING UP DRUGS! So I casually asked her why she was looking that up. I was subsequently confused when she said it was from Barbie. You know, she said, the movie I have, the Princess and the Popper? She was looking up pauper but didn’t know how to spell it. Ah, innocence still intact.

    I was happy there was no Barbie movie that had a word spelled close to goatse. Or Santorum.

  133. Aye, poppers are sold legally over here as ‘room odourizers’. Although, why anyone would want to make their room smell like a gay club at 1am is a mystery I’ve yet to unravel.

    You should read my post from today, it contains other fucked up things that us gays (apparently) like to use on each other.

    Thanks for the laughs, as always 🙂

  134. Aye, poppers are sold legally over here as ‘room odourizers’. Although, why anyone would want to make their room smell like a gay club at 1am is a mystery I’ve yet to unravel.

    You should read my post from today, it contains other fucked up things that us gays (apparently) like to use on each other.

    Thanks for the laughs, as always 🙂

  135. Yes!!! Loved those when I was young and free! When nothing could hold me back! My friends and I would get ahold of them and each of us would take one in hand and on the count of 3 we would pull that little string and POP! Our buttholes would clench as there was a loud bang and the confetti and streamers would blast off into the air!! Moments later… buttholes relaxed… euphoria over… we would go all about it again until every single one of those little puppies were gone. Ah, what a high those little wonders of joy those little canisters provided. 😀

  136. first thing that came to mind is a popper being someone who pops pills like ecstasy or Xanax or whatever. Clearly I’m wrong. 2nd thing to come to mind is those party poppers that people have on New Years or birthdays that explode confetti everywhere and make your house a bitch to clean for a month lol

  137. To commenter darkalter2000 . . .I thought the co2 thing was called a whippit?AAlsoJenny, I thought you were talking about jalepeno poppers. . .and now I want some! I had no idea it was a drug either!

  138. It’s All ABOUT Urban Dictionary .com I only use websters to check spelling or correct use of a “non cool kid trendy ” term HAHA

    Urban Dictionary QUOTE
    Poppers
    Amyl Nitrate. Refers to a small, usually brown bottle of solvents or the solvents themselves, which are sniffed, usually during homosexual sex by the bottom. Amyl Nitrate boosts blood pressure, relaxing the anus and making anal sex more comoftable. Also known as snappers.

  140. Amyl nitrate. Big in the 80s. Club drug or when u were about to have butt sex you would “pop” it under your nose and hence the butt hole relax. Voila butt sex that you never knew was uncomfortable. Problem is it did a number on you white blood cells. So with all good? Thinks comes some bad.

  141. I went to Ibiza last summer and everyone at the clubs were wearing ‘stickers’. I soon realized that they were probably drugs and that was when I realized that I was old….:(

  142. Have never done them, but all gay men certainly KNOW what they are. We joke about them a lot, and we just bought our dog his own poppers just because it makes us giggle to think about our little party dog prepping for his big night out… BEFORE YOU JUDGE, check the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyiMbhUsucE

  143. So in Australia, we call those little individual boxes of juice drink given to kids poppers. I think you call them juice boxes.
    I think I would rather have a good frozen orange popper than the drug.
    I had a housemate that had a little bottle of stuff that might have been poppers. She explained how if you inhaled some during sex then it somehow made you high and the sex feel awesome. That um, sounds like mild suffocation from fumes or something equally unpleasant.

  144. I came here thinking, “Wow, she doesn’t know about the firework that you throw and it pops when it hits the ground?”. Boy was I wrong.

  145. I know about poppers but then I’m English. Maybe it’s more of a UK thing than American….. not that all us British are out all the time sniffing poppers or anything….. I don’t think :/

  149. I had no idea poppers was a drug! In Australia a popper is what you guys call a juice box! And the reason we call them poppers is because as kids after we drank the juice we would blow as much air into them as we could, drop them on the ground and stomp on them. They’d go POP!!! Great playground activity! That and it is also the name on the box 🙂

    However a google search of ‘poppers Australia’ provided me with some very interesting sites where I could purchase the drug variety…

  150. Amyl nitrite was popular at the gay dance clubs I went to in my misspent youth; give a fast and furious rush, then a nauseating headache. Poppers made me say no to drugs.

  151. I had no idea either though I think given what the drug actually does your title typo is a happy accident. Also darkalter2000 you might be thinking of whip-its.

  152. Growing up in the 80’s in Australia, what we call ‘poppers’ I think Americans call juice boxes? Like a little cardboard-type juice container? So you’d get a popper with your lunch…..that’s the only version of the word I know…

  153. Thumbs up for Mastiffcats at #76.
    At first I thought you meant the Christmas Poppers, or Crackers, my English Lit Prof spent Christmas break in London and came back with photos right out of a Dickens story, and these fun Poppers.
    Then I saw drugs and I thought Poppers were the same as Whip-its, the drug in the whipped cream can when all of the whipped cream is gone.
    But 30 second high on a dance floor then an immediate crash in which you might quite literally come down and find yourself deep in your own sh!t? Kind of the opposite of recreational. It’s occupational drugs, when you come to, you have to occupy yourself with laundry and a mop and a bucket.

  154. you had me at “what are pOOpers?” best misspell ever. (and, as it turns out, totally appropriate to the subject.) WIN!

  155. Popper is the string at the end of the whip that makes the popping noise when you snap it.
    Also, it is a tasty treat, see jalapeno poppers. Filled with cheese, yum.

  156. poppers. poopers. It seems in this case they are one in the same. It seems I used to do a shot called a popper. You covered the shot glass with a coaster and slammed it on the bar before you drank it. cause you were drinking. made perfect sense then. go ahead, try it.

  157. Poppers are actually a part of gay culture. One can imagine the benefits of having a relaxed butthole when certain sexual acts are implied.

  158. When my husband and I first started dating I was on my way out the door with coffee in my hand. He waited until I had just gotten the cup to my mouth and started sipping when he said, “We’re out of poppers.” Coffee everywhere. He calls that a ‘kona blend’ when he gets you to spit coffee out of your nose/mouth at the same time. Poppers were very popular when I went to clubs. 🙂

  159. It was totally big with gay guys in the 1990s, and might still be in some circles. I remember seeing people using them before, ehehm, going in the back. I didn’t know the secondary butthole part, but that also makes sense.

  160. I am lame, out of touch (in that regard), and proud of it. My rule following brain can’t even begin to fathom the kind of things it doesn’t know/hasn’t heard of! Yikes!!! I don’t even drink, let alone inhale a popper!

  162. It’s not that you are too old, it’s that you are too young! This was a thing back in the disco-era 70s…fortunately one of the few bad decisions I skipped.

  163. When I went to college in the 80s, poppers were tiny nitrous oxygen canisters (aka laughing gas) that were inhaled for a very brief euphoria…not that I would ever do such a thing.

  165. I thought it was a hit of amyl nitrate for its instant vasodilation properties, which has nothing to do with jalapeños or poop.

  166. You just made me feel old. My teen makes me feel old when he comes up with these concepts I’ve heard nothing of–and tries to tell me how to clean up my apps, etc. Oy. Thanks for making me a bit more enlightened–but still old, I guess:).

  168. Yes I’ve known about this for a number of years. It only really became a huge thing in the LGBT community a few years ago surprisingly (at least in this country). However the only people I know take them in liquid form and usually are applying it directly to the anal region so it can absorb faster. People also will take things like Xanax or numbing cream to relax the muscles as well. Popper is generally only referring to the illegal drug, there are lots of legal ones that do the same thing.

  170. @ Sweeney #121:
    laughed out loud. but i don’t think you’re an idiot.

    I agree: poppers also includes those little plastic bottles you pull on and something happens.

    Honestly, i think i’d figured out that in some contexts poppers are drugs, and maybe even that they were inhaled, but i had no idea what they were or what they did. i

  171. I had not heard of this before now. And I wish I could unlearn it. Relax my sphincter? Yeah… I’m good, thanks.
    I want to know who figures out what this stuff does. Really? How about you work on solving cancer, please!

  172. A ‘popper’ in Queensland, Australia is what you guys call a juice box. Just to add some more confusion

  173. I love that you can’t make the connection of why people would want to relax their buttholes. You’re so cute and innocent. And thanks to the other people who explained anal sex to Jenny so I didn’t have to.

  174. “Popper” is the word my family used for “fart.” My mother hated any words that seemed rude and decided making up her own words was somehow better. Now I can let her know her attempts at sounding more civilized just make her sound like a druggy dancer who’s about to lose their bowel contents at any second. Thank you for making the next family dinner way more interesting!

  175. They were a big thing in Baton Rouge back in the late 80s but I never heard about that relaxing side effect! You’re not old, you just didn’t hang out with wild-ass fools in the 80s. Or not the kind of wild-ass fools who did that kind of crazy business! Some of my friends loved them and would buy them when they went dancing…and always see “Mr. Purple Spot”, with whom I am not acquainted but apparently he was a lot of fun. Poppers were often kept under the counter at the boy-bar we frequented but it was the frat-bars where they were really popular. One night I was waiting for some of my guy friends to come out of the men’s room at the big deal sports bar when a great roar in there made me open the door. Somebody had accidentally dropped the last 2 bottles of poppers in the place and the sight of four grown men leaning into the urinal trough to sniff the fumes is burned into my brain!

  176. I just read this entire post as “poopers” due to the title and didn’t realize I was wrong until I got to PPPS. I think it’s actually an even better name.

  177. At first I was like jalapeño popper? Then I was like does she mean popping and locking (dance style) so the dancers are called poppers (I watch way too much SYTYCD). Then you explained it and I was ???? So no you are not alone. When I come across something unknown/slangy I always check Urban Dictionary and it doesn’t sound like a club thing though… it’s more of a sex thang…

    BUT…. speaking of dance have you seen this yet? It makes me happy…

  178. I worked in a shop that sold poppers.
    People here also call them Amyl or Amyl Nitrate (some confused people also call them enamel) but most of them are actually Alkyl Nitrate now and labelled as “Leather cleaner”. As far as I know it’s only labelled leather cleaner because labelling it “Shit that’ll give you a head spin” looks a bit too dodgy and not because using it to actually clean leather is a good idea. People used to call it “video head cleaner” but nowadays that kind of looks suspicious too.
    Whenever a bottle got broken it smelled awful, like I’m going to throw up now awful.

  179. You should not google anything for the rest of the month. In fact, I’d recommend you get a whole new computer because any result you get is going to scar you greatly!!

  181. I’ve only heard about them via Margaret Cho’s stand-up. Didn’t know about the dance club connection or that it’s something to sniff; I thought it was pills, too!

  182. The only people I know that use poppers occasionally are gay guys who want to be a little more open to their rather well endowed boyfriends. They say it makes intercourse even more enjoyable for the one on the receiving end. Though why people would want a loose butt hole on the dancefloor beats me.

  184. I was totally all, “Duh, like jalapeño poppers. Or maybe they mean the party things that shoot out confetti.” I am old. And square because even at 19 I probably would have had the same reaction.

  186. I thought it was a generic term for any kind of pill you popped. Geez, it’s only been a few years since I was ‘in the scene’ things sure are escalating quickly these days.

  187. My first instinct went,”you mean the deep-fried cheese-stuffed jalapenos? Yeah, I suppose they DO relax your butthole…” That’s how much I get out…

  188. I thought they were delicious jalapeno snacks filled with cream cheese and deep fried (these would probably also tend to loosen your butthole, but probably not for several hours)

  192. Bahahaha I love this!! I literally laughed out loud which is refreshing. Great writing :). Oh and definitely haven’t heard of any such things at all so you’re not behind the times, I just think it’s what “times” you go by. I for one am glad I’m not part of the group of people that’s aware of the drug that might make you poop on dance floors ;). Again, great blog, I look forward to reading more!

  193. Bahahaha I love this! I laughed out loud which is so refreshing. Great writing :). I really don’t think you are behind the times not knowing about this haha I definitely didn’t have a clue! And I for one count myself lucky that I am not a part of the group that knows about drugs that lead to pooping on dance floors;). Again, such a fun post, I look forward to reading more!!

  194. This post actually makes me feel old. As soon as you correctly ID’ed poppers, I knew exactly what you meant. Yeah…don’t really know why anyone would really use poppers but I can tell you it is one of the most unpleasant smells so poopers might not be so far off!!!! Just say no and don’t get too close to the bottle if anyone asks you.

  196. I have a friend who was very adventurous in the 1970s. She said people did them a lot then.
    Apparently, guys would come up to her and pop them in her face without asking…

  197. True story. I’m from Texas and have lived in Australia since 2008. In December, we had a house party with some close friends. It was a tad debaucherous. Someone handed me this bottle that looked like those 5 hour energy shots you can buy at Walgreens or CVS. (We have no Walgreens or CVS or 5 hour energy shots here). It said “Jungle Juice” on the side. I assumed it was like the 5 hour energy shots. It was called juice. Both of those, you drink. So, I drank. I actually rinsed my mouth out with absinthe to attempt to get rid of the taste.
    Lessons learned:
    Do NOT drink any and everything handed to you even if you know everyone at the party.
    Do NOT drink Jungle Juice in Australia.
    Jungle Juice does NOT equal 5 hour energy shots.
    I really hope you read this because these are very good pieces of advice to remember, and I don’t want you to have to learn them from experience the way that I did.

  198. Did poppers a lot in the ’90s in the metal/alt clubs I used to go to. Used to make me blush like crazy (blood pressure thing, I presume). Really liked them at the time, even though I didn’t really do any other drugs.

    And yes, also used to buy them under the banner of ‘room odoriser’ etc, because that was the only way that alternative shops could sell them legally. Ah the lovely distinctive whiff of someone getting high (and/or laid).

  199. I immediately thought jalapeño poppers. I don’t recommend associating those with your butthole in any way. What will those darn kids think of next?

  201. OK I am going to put my hand up and say “I had never heard of this either”…. I feel old.

  202. I thought “poppers” were like “uppers.” That’s more or less logical, right?

  203. lol they are used for anal sex. It relaxes things…. For the bottom… It’s a little glass bottle that has a liquid in it that you inhale (the fumes) through your nose. It’s nothing new, it’s been around since at least the 70’s I’d say. It’s generally marketed as “incense” or video head cleaner. You can find it at most adult stores…

  204. I had no idea…this makes me glad I am not raising children. As a teenager I may have come home with alcohol on my breath, but I never had to worry about needing a diaper.

  205. Amyl nitrite. I had a flatmate once who loved the stuff. He got himself a possum trapping license so he could buy it legally — trappers use it to kill the possums without damaging their skins, which can then be sold for furs.

    I can’t believe he would voluntarily sniff that stuff…

  206. I had no idea what Poppers were either. My first thought was Jalepeno Poppers, and I wondered who in the hell wouldn’t know about those… Google is remarkable isn’t he? Makes that Jeeves guy look like a kindergartener. You should be cautious though…one of my friends once told me that there was something called Nugget Porn…so I asked Google about it… I expected to see some claymation McNuggets…you know like the California Raisins…the damage was irreparable.

  207. For all of you commenting something along the lines of “Kids these days.” Well, poppers have been around at least since the 70s. 🙂

  208. Oh, Jenny, Jenny, Jenny, what can I say. These have been a thing since before you were in high school. I’m a little concerned and a little amused that you’re learning about them all of a sudden.

  209. I loved doing poppers when I was in my 20s. It’s amyl (or butyl) nitrate in a small bottle, sold in gay bars (I bought ’em in the 80s) as an “air freshener.” I kept the bottles in my freezer, what a head rush-euphoria indeed! As I recall amyl was better than butyl, because butyl would give you a headache sometimes. Great fun to do while dancing or other physical activities!

  210. At 70 years old I must have one foot in the grave. My only experience of poppers was when I snapped them opened or closed on a Bond’s baby all-in-one. I spent much of the 70s up to my elbows in baby poop. Sigh! I’ve obviously led a very sedate and boring life. Jealous as!

  211. Poppers are amyl nitrite. They come in a little dark brown glass bottle, generally about 1/3 to 1/2 oz of fluid. You take the lid off, put your nose up to the opening, and inhale hard. It makes you feel super-high for about 20 seconds. If you hit it hard enough and are standing, you will pretty much promptly lose your knees and hit the floor, as it lowers your blood pressure due to being a super vasodilator. I don’t know how in hell anyone uses them on a dance floor, unless they’re not hitting very hard. I’ve never heard of poppers making anyone lose control of their bowel. I’m embarrassed that I have all this info, but they were really huge at parties in the mid-eighties, when they vied with whip-its (nitrous) for the title of most popular (cheap) party drug. They were cheaper than whip-its and easier to access, since you didn’t need anything to puncture a cannister with, you just opened the bottle. This has been an 80’s drug-themed PSA for those of you too young to have experienced the early and mid-80’s yourselves. Remember, drugs are bad. Just say no.

  212. (They were also popular in the 70s, but I don’t know which were more prevalent then, poppers or whip-its.)

  213. I think your blog title sounds like a Freudian slip. I think you got the right name and I guess I’m no fun, but doesn’t sound like fun.

  214. Haha. Well, to be honest, I thought poppers were those breaded and fried cheese snacks you get at restaurants with a bowl of ranch dressing dip.

  215. Oh, Amyls. Now I know what these are because of Hunter S. Thomson. He wrote about sniffing those things and going nuts in Fear and Loathing.

  218. Totally thought they were food. That must be what happened to the chick I just saw on Youtube the other day who was twerking in her undies and and crapped her drawers. I have no idea why I clicked on that video, but it’s now etched in my mind forever. She should be the poster person for not doing poppers.

  219. I used “poppers” in my mis-spent youth. It was all about the dancing. I heard it referred to as amyl nitrate (whatever the fuck that is). It was very euphoric especially coupled with wild gyrations to The Human League or Duran Duran. Alcohol, poppers, and a little weed is the extent of my youthful shenanigans I don’t think it is responsible for my stark and scary lunacy in the present. I was unaware of the butthole issue at the time but now I’m wondering if it has had some long lasting effect on the performance of my butthole now. I’m much more concerned about my butthole at 50 than I ever was at 20.

  221. Ha! I tried poppers once (they’re legal in France), but had no idea about the butthole thing. Yikes! For me, it just made my face flushed and I had the giggles for about a minute. Thank god I didn’t have to go.

  222. I… what? Whyyyyyyyy? I mean if you’re going to do a drug why bother with something that only lasts a minute?

    I may have messed up priorities.

  223. I was going to say the term poppers has been around for ages and that I think it’s amyl nitrate. Then I just saw the post from ‘blazingadventurepants’ and realized I was late to the party. Oh well. I’ve never been ahead of my time. Love the name ‘blazingadventurepants’ though!

  224. I love the posts where they clearly haven’t read any other replies before posting.

    And to prove that I do, I completely agree, Hardvice – “Oh, straight people. You are so silly.”

  225. The original ingredient in poppers was amyl nitrate, an inhaled, potent, fast acting vasodilator. The result of sniffing it is a tremendous, euphoric headrush. See, I did learn something in pharmacy school!

  226. I’ve never heard of these either, so now I feel old! My first thought was food related jalapeno poppers. And I still don’t understand why anyone would bother with something that only lasts less than a minute? And relaxes your butthole. Sounds dangerous…

  227. I seriously thought this was gonna be a post about jalapeno poppers. That is the ONLY form of popper I even know. I feel out of touch…..but in a good way LOL

  228. I started reading this thinking “how can she not know what pepper poppers are? Could it be a regional thing? Uh, no…it’s an age thing. And now I’m thinking about the song “every party has a pooper, that’s why we invited you…” and wondering if they still sing it but changed it to popper? and the “you” is the dealer? and he’s aiming to make your pooper relaxed with poppers? I need a nap.

  229. Oh, poopers! I didn’t even notice until your P.S.S.

    I did not know about poppers. I can’t keep up anymore.

  231. Poppers er…poopers are the same thing as whipits…the CO2 cartridges for whipping cream dealios and also the same thing in Dust Off. It is the also known as huffing and is very, very dangerous. When I was a cop, I saw many teenagers in fatalities which resulted from the use of it…whether they were behind the wheel driving erratically into buildings or walls…driving boats into cliffs…or doing other horrific stupid shit. It is a fast high, but extremely dangerous. Don’t do it. You might shit yourself. And then the police find you like that. In a wall. And you would be remembered forever as the popper pooper. But seriously, it is very dangerous and scary that teens find it so thrilling and popular.

  234. Why can’t kids just smoke weed behind King Kwik in the morning before school like we did…I mean like those other kids did?

  235. The Christmas things are CRACKERS, not poppers. I know, because I now live in Britain, and they and the stupid paper crowns and crappy toys are unavoidable.

    Until I read this, I only knew about Jalepeño Poppers, you know, deep fried jalepeño, cheddar and cornmeal yumminess? So good. I can’t get them here and now I want some.

    I am thinking eating these poppers before sniffing that popper is a really bad plan. I am glad I am old.

  236. Here in Australia a “popper” is a juice box. You just taught me about drugs, lady.

    Felicity Banks

  237. Until this while drug craze, in Australia poppers always referred to juice boxes, so if you ask your babysitter to pack a popper in your kid’s lunchbox you may get mixed results

  239. I swear you recount all your discoveries in the most amazing way! So fucking colorful! Every time I feel like storming out of my job in a blaze of fuck-fingers, your posts make me smile. Maybe I should go finish your book and prolong the smiles… 😉

  240. poppers are the fasteners that allow certain items to be closed ( in other countries, anyway).. we call them snaps here.

  242. I’m so adventurous that for me “poppers” are just a breaded jalapeno snack that’s filled with cream cheese. Too many & the side effects may be the same, but I like my poppers better.

  243. Proud to say, I have never heard of this. I thought poppers were those appetizers with the Jalapeno fried with cheese. What the f*ck do I know.

  244. Really? Apparently y’all missed 80’s (gay) disco! Lol amyl nitrate I think.. I like your version better, makes much more sense… Lmdao

  245. I also thought of fried jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese. I am now officially Out of Touch. Send me my certificate.

  246. I don’t want to think that the reason I did not know about these is because I’m old, I’d prefer to think of it as because I’m sheltered from at least some absurdity.

  247. I’ve got 2 poopers who are very hairy and noisy. They don’t need to relax their sphincters anymore than they already are or else I’d have one hell of a mess to clean up.

    Also, poppers, aren’t they food? Like jalapeno poppers? I love those but they definitely don’t relax my sphincter. They actually burn it when I eat too many poppers.

  248. I thought poppers were jalapenos stuffed with cheese. Especially if you’re in Texas. I agree that I wouldn’t want my butt hole to relax while dancing. The very least that will happen is noisy gas. I guess you could use it to make people give you more room?

  250. I have a vivid 1980 memory of barreling down I-90 in rural South Dakota with two friends, while doing poppers, listening to Devo’s Working In A Coalmine, and laughing hysterically. There was no butthole action.

  251. Oh My God Jenny. This is the best post ever!!! I am terribly familiar with poppers (it’s for work – don’t ask) and they do give you quite the euphoric head rush. The butthole relaxing is just either an adverse or beneficial side effect, depending on who you are and where you are and what you are planning to do.

  252. The horror! I cannot picture any circumstance where this is a good or fun thing to do. I shudder to think one day these kids will be doctors, politicians, etc…looking after my well being. Yikes.

  254. Grrrl, where you been? Poppers have been around since the Eisenhower Administration. You think your generation invented dance floor scat?

  256. Maybe it just takes knowing gay men of a certain age…..my dad came out the year I was born (1978) and he was seriously into the club and bath house scenes of the late seventies and into the 80s. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know what poppers were. When I lived in Atlanta, the local sex toy shop still sold them under the labeling of “video head cleaner”….which always made it seem like a drug label inspired by David Lynch.

  257. yaaay, way back the day (mid 90’s) I remember amyl! Gave a short rush and was a good laugh for music/clubbing. Pref x or cid though. In New Zealand one of its original uses is to ‘bring you around’ if you got accident cyanide poisoning from skin or mouth ingestion in the bush when trapping possums which are an invasive pest species in NZ but over the ditch in OZ are a much loved cute endemic species.

  258. I think your blog should be listed on the first page of Google searches. Your exercises in vocabulary development are unmatched, even to those ‘Word A Day’ calendars from Barnes and Noble. You should totally write an entire word-a-day desk calendar full of all words and definitions like “poopers.” I’d probably buy at least 47 to keep on hand for gifts. A person can never possess too many vocabulary enhancing resources, if you ask me.

  259. I have many favorite posts of yours, but this one is heading straight to the top of the list. I nearly had an accident I laughed so hard… does that make me one of the cool kids? Or I’m just very old and have lost control of myself. Oh dear.

  260. I just snort laughed inappropriately loudly in my college course at the last line of this blog and my professor was explaining something that was obviously not amusing. Also I’m 25 and had absolutely no idea what a popper was until I read this.

  261. Sigh…somewhere, God help me, a photo or two still exists of me in about 1985. Permed long hair, tied back with a bright yellow scarf, a pound of makeup, sitting with my very proper mother in the lounge at the Alqonquin Hotel. There were poppers early that evening, and much later, and some other things, done while trolling Area and Danceteria and the Limelight (sans mother). A bit of drugs and a lot of old age have made that night kind of hazy, which is probably a very, very good thing!

  262. I knew about poppers but failed to know the “Video Head Cleaner” part of them and now question both the tiny bottle of solvent dad bought for the VCR and my reality. Thanks for that. I think.

  263. I didn’t know about them, either. I’m very glad you explained about the title, though, because I almost lost all respect for you over that typo.

  264. Actually, they are little canisters of nitrous oxide. Also known as laughing gas. Also known as that great stuff they give you at the dentist so you don’t care about the horrible things they are doing inside your mouth with machines that sound like mutant mosquitoes. Also known as the gateway drug that made 7-year-old me start eating candy just so I could be sure to have a cavity at every dentist visit. Until we switched dentists.

  266. !! Cautionary Tale of Warning !! (Feel free to recycle up to your post, if you’d like)

    Ok. First, “poppers” have been around forever. I’m now 40 and I had an experience with them in my 20s. It’s not little canisters of nitrous oxide. Or, at least not only. My one and only experience was with a friend of mine when I was younger. He asked me if I would like to try a popper. I said I didn’t know what that was. He explained that it was something that people used when they wanted to “enhance” sex, drug highs, etc… I’d smoked pot with him before, including this night. I told him I wasn’t sure, probably not. So, he says, “Okay, how about this…I’ll do it and you watch. If you see something you don’t like or scares you…you don’t have to.”

    So, I watched him pull out a little vial (Of what I later found out was one of two vials he had of leather cleaner & VCR head cleaner! Insane, right?!). He dipped a dry, unlit cigarette and drew on it, inhaling the fumes through the cigarette’s filter. He exhaled and let out a big sigh and relaxed back with a big smile against his headboard. It seemed like a no biggie, pretty simple with a smooth euphoria. I decided I would try it. Boy, was that a bad decision.

    I took the liquid dipped cigarette, took my drag and exhaled. Immediately, my heart started to race, pumping blood faster through my body, heating my skin and making it feel tingly. I tried to tell my friend that my skin was tingling but, I FORGOT THE WORD FOR SKIN. Even in my diminished capacity, I knew that was wrong and tried to figure out what the word was for the stuff covering my body…I started going through the words I did know. My hat…my hair…my face….no! By the time I finally figured out that the word I was searching for was skin, I couldn’t remember why I was searching for it in the first place and just laid there chanting the word over and over again so I wouldn’t forget it again.

    I know this is probably funny in reading this but, look through it and please realize how fucking wrong and scary this truly was. WTF?! How do you forget the word for skin? I’ll tell you how…huff some strange shit and kill your brain cells! I literally killed some brain cells in one moronic second that I let someone talk me into huffing some unknown substance. And, It could’ve gone so much worse. Please, listen when I tell you it’s not something to take lightly. Learn from my mistake.

    DO NOT DO IT!

  267. Poppers? No sirree, never heard of them. Except that time in 1979 when a friend popped open a little brown bottle of amyl nitrate and inhaled. His face went bright red and he grinned from ear to ear. When I asked about that, another friend explained about the arteries expanding and the risk of heart failure. Yeah, thanks but no thanks.

  269. Showing my age, but we used to do poppers (amyl nitrate) in the gay bars and you’d get a REALLY quick head rush (from the blood vessels all expanding in your brain and stuff). Damn, I used to LOVE them. Then some stupid people started selling fake poppers in gas stations called “Locker Room” and ruined it for all of us by bringing that nasty fake stuff into the clubs and you’d just feel nauseous & get a headache without the good rush.

  270. I’m in the hospital with my sick baby girl, and trying not to wake her up with my laughter. Oh my word, I needed that!

  272. What?!?! Poppers are not pills? I always catch up on your posts when I need the kind of laugh that makes me cry I’m laughing so hard. Then it always gets awkward when I try to read it out loud to someone else, while I’m still crying and they can’t understand why this is funny at all. Oh, and I totally clicked on this blog thinking it was going to be about pooping…because I’m sick like that.

  273. I guess you missed the 80’s, you probably weren’t even born then. My gay friends apparently did a lot of poppers when they went “clubbing”.

  275. I think they’re also referred to as Whip Its. Not to be confused whip cream. They look a lot alike. But one kills brain cells.

  276. You aren’t the only person, no idea here. But I have no idea of current culture. Thankfully, because that is just weird and stupid.
    And reading a couple of comments above mine, apparently I’m really out of it because I did go out in the 80s and I still have no clue.
    Of course I’ve never done any kind of drug so there ya go.

  277. “Popper” is a term used in Australia, it means ‘juice box’, you know, like the ones you pack for kids school lunches and such? Yeah, that’s a popper down under.

  278. Pretty narrow-minded views here… In addition to sounding a bit authoritarian in regards to something you admit knowing very little about.

  280. So I’m pretty sure this thread is dead but when I hear poppers I think like when you put tobacco and weed in the same bowl in a bong and rip it. That’s what everyone I know calls them around here at least and like this is Canada so we know weed

Leave a Reply

MY BOOKS:


shop

Subscribe to the bloggess, y'all.

Enter your email address and receive notifications of new posts by email. It\'s like I\'m stalking you, but more efficient.

Archives

ALL THE COOL KIDS ADVERTISE HERE:

I fucking love these people & not just because they support my wine-slushee habit:

Flourish in Progress: (T)hug Life: Part hood. Part good.

Pregnancy Calendar at Alpha Mom: Amalah’s week-by-week guide to the miracle of pregnancy and all the various indignities that come with it.

The Mack Files: Digesting life in bite-sized pieces through the lens of clichés, quotes & “truisms”.  Often irreverent, always honest.

Barking at the Moon: If your dog is your furry child, you will laugh out loud at Tracy Beckerman’s book about her family & a one-dog wrecking ball named Riley.

Kieran’s Humor: Not suitable for children, the sensitive or those hoping to get into heaven.

Go Doc Yourself Podcast: When a good doc ends, the klatch begins… Join hosts, scientists, and friends, Erin McCourt and Erin McCartt in weekly documentary dissection.

Welcome to xanaru: A mostly funny blog about the quest for happiness through authenticity, Great Danes and indiscriminate swearing. Plus hand-painted, custom artwork on bags, jackets, backpacks & more.

How the Hell Did I Not Know That?: Humorist Lucie Frost shares daily Instagram reels with learnings of the day—words, music, whatever–with plenty of laughs and all the curse words.

Beautiful Writers book: Writers! This coming-of-career memoir (w/ the BEST advice from celeb authors, real shit you haven’t heard) is life. A page-turning beach read doubling as how-to. #Magic

The Dating Days of Marta O: When I told my sister I was building a blog she said: “Do people still read blogs?” I do not know, but if YOU want to read it, here it is. Keep in mind, my stories about dating after 40 are for the brave.

Where Do I Belong? A memoir of Sarah Carrington: The unbelievable story of growing up in a religious cult in the mountains of Northern British Columbia. What happens to you in life doesn’t make you strong; rising above it does.

CONNECTED: A Personal Journal for Ketamine Therapy Created by writer & patient Katherine Davis for this powerful clinical treatment. If considering ketamine for major depression, check out this essential tool.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh: SO GOOD.

Discover more from The Bloggess

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading