# Do You Know What "Powders" Are? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 23, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555 "2010-03-23T23:58:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/61 "2010-03-25T01:45:36Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > But did it come in a bag? No, they meant a (plastic or glass) gallon jug of “homogenized” milk. The anachronistic language was using the word “homo” for homogenized milk without knowing about the modern “homosexual” meaning, even though the “homosexual” meaning was, even in the '70’s, being commonly used by relatives now in their 70’s for “homosexual”. This was when I was a kid, some time ca. late '70’s. All the old farts in my family who used it that way died by the '80’s or '90’s. There _ **aren’t** _ any still alive that use the term “homo” that way. The distinction the old farts were using was “homo” milk, as opposed to “raw” (unhomogenized, and even unpasteurized) milk that they could buy when they were younger. You need to remember that _ **they** _ were born before those processes were commonly used, or in _ **many** _ cases, even _ **invented** _, and they had all _ **seen** _ where milk ultimately comes from. Most of them had _ **actually** _ milked a cow. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/62 "2010-03-25T01:50:21Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > There is a passage in _All Quiet on the Western Front_ where the protagonist’s father has to work extra hours at his job to get money for his wife’s cancer operation. The father works eight hours, “takes a powder for his headache”, and then works another four hours. > > Regards, > Shodan That’s my only frame of reference as well - a character in a book taking a “headache powder” ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/63 "2010-03-25T02:51:32Z")
The only time I’ve heard of “powders” (and this was strictly from pre-1950 books, never in real life) was in reference to [Seidlitz powders](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seidlitz_powder)–a laxative. And in regards to whether or not aspirin is generic, in the US it is–but the best known brand is Bayer Aspirin, so I can understand the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/64 "2010-03-25T22:06:29Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > I would tend to think of it as an old-fashioned sort of thing, but there’s no real logic behind that. It’s probably just that I would rather take a generic aspirin tablet and throw it down with water than drink something that might taste nasty. Spoken like someone who can swallow pills 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/65 "2010-03-27T16:31:27Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > They’re generally only available in the South. No, they’re not. They sell them in most drugstores up here, too. ---
**Author:** ![Antist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Antist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antist)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/66 "2010-03-27T16:58:59Z")
I have heard them referred to as “powders” but only by older folks. I’m in the south, and always vaguely thought that it was a southern thing. Funnily enough, I am sitting at my desk at work with a headache, and I just poured a BC Powder into my Diet Coke bottle. I also have trouble swallowing pills, and really don’t mind the taste of the powder in my Coke. (heh) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/67 "2010-03-27T22:33:53Z")
Interesting time to post this thread, as NASCAR’s Goody’s 500 is tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![clarkstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@clarkstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clarkstar)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/68 "2010-03-28T02:33:17Z")
never heard of it before ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/69 "2010-03-28T05:05:50Z")
> [@ShelliBean](#): > > It’s BC or Goody’s powder. The crushed aspirin powder used to kill a headache, or whatever ails ya. > > Best taken by pouring diet coke into the back of your throat and dumping it into the held volume then swallowing. > > Even better taken with bourbon, one shot every 30 mins until no pain is felt. 🙂 > > ETA - if what ails ya is a heartache then you can skip the aspirin. Do you have a newsletter to which I might subscribe? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/70 "2010-03-28T06:45:58Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > I’ve heard someone say “take a powder” in a movie or on tv but I thought it meant that you were sweaty and needed to use some talcum powder to dry off. > > Oh and I’ve a bag of homo in my fridge. I always thought that ‘taking a powder’ meant ‘unexpectedly falling forward’, the image being that of a skier falling face-first into deep powder snow. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/71 "2010-03-29T18:54:14Z")
A tube of Aprecreme is $7.00, but you can make it yourself with a $1 bottle of asprin and a $1 tub of Vasaline. Headache powder is handier, if you don’t have a mortal & pestle. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/72 "2010-03-29T23:53:08Z")
As aspirin? No. As a combined analgesic such as Bex? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/73 "2010-03-30T00:33:57Z")
Yes, I have heard the term before, but then, I do work in a pharmacy in the South East. Slight clarification though, “Powders” is actually the informal term for this dosage form. The technical term is a “Chart”. However, just like the word “pill” is now used to refer to tablets and capsules, even though no one makes actual “pills” anymore, Powders is the term every lay person uses. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/74 "2010-03-30T05:17:27Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > I’ve heard someone say “take a powder” in a movie or on tv but I thought it meant that you were sweaty and needed to use some talcum powder to dry off. > > Oh and I’ve a bag of homo in my fridge. Aside from analgesics, I concur with definition 1 [here](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=take+a+powder): to leave quickly. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Composer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@The\_Composer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Composer)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/75 "2010-03-30T15:19:41Z")
I knew it would be one of two choices: headache powders or “washing powders,” (laundry detergent). Both terms are used regularly in my family. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555/76 "2010-03-30T16:08:29Z")
I’d heard of them, mostly from watching WTBS on cable when I was a teenager (ads for Goody’s). They always struck me as being (a) from the South, and (b) old-fashioned. Based on the posts I see here, sounds like my impression was accurate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-powders-are/533555.md?page=3)