# Home from the dollar store. SERIOUSLY creeped out. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 10, 2004, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394 "2004-03-10T01:56:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/21 "2004-03-10T04:04:36Z")
I really am relieved. I was kinda’ freakin out. I mean, my grandmother gave them to my eight year old cousin. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/22 "2004-03-10T04:11:51Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Um, Otto? I’d like to second and say that I’m almost POSITIVE Ben-Wa balls are attached together with a string, and that the little metal musical jingly balls are completely different (stress-relievers as indicated). These were NOT jingly, mmmkay? No jinglers, they. The ben-wa balls I’ve seen in catalogs were unattached to each other. And [these](http://www.toyssexshop.com/products/10/0500.htm) (NOT WORK SAFE) don’t appear to be attached and, other than the material, are identical to what was on sale at the dollar store. Sure, they _say_ they’re “stress relievers” but come on, Lilian Vernon sells vibrators as “personal massagers.” ---
**Author:** ![Astra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@Astra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astra)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/23 "2004-03-10T04:16:24Z")
I feel better now. I saw the OP and was afraid the pretty jingly balls I bought at the Chinese shop in EPCOT weren’t what I thought they were. Really good way to scare a poor girl, telling her she bought sex toys at Disney World for her little sister. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/24 "2004-03-10T04:16:38Z")
\>\>\>She told them she had a pin in her knee. Sorry - I’ve got four pins and a plate in my knee and I’ve never set anything off. Glad she got away with it though. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/25 "2004-03-10T07:09:11Z")
Ben-wa balls on sale for only a dollar? At those prices, you could have filled a box with them. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/26 "2004-03-10T07:46:23Z")
For a moment there I thought I had bought sex toys at the age of ten… then gave them to my grandparents. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/27 "2004-03-10T10:45:21Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > BTW, folks, don’t shove those clinky metal balls up your ass. They might not come out. When shoving stuff up there, stick to things with a nice flared base. Yes, because things with a flared base can stand up of their own accord, lending a lot more plausibility to your statement (at the Accident and Emergency clinic) of “I was at a party, and all my clothes fell off, and I accidentally spilt some lubricant on the [object] and accidentally sat down on it”. ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/28 "2004-03-10T10:57:36Z")
Well the gadget I’m talking about (maybe I should go get it in order to properly describe it - wait, forget I said that) is made out of black rubber. It’s got a flared base which further has a loop that can be hooked into in case of emergency. Then there’s an egg-shaped ball of rubber, then thinner rubber, then another egg, then thinner rubber, then another egg, and so on, and so on… I _know_ it’s not the same thing as whatever **Otto** found at his sick & twisted dollar store. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/29 "2004-03-10T15:50:56Z")
**scott** , those sound like a variation on your standard anal beads. And I’m sorry to hear that you have a set, because now I’m back to square one on what to get you for a wedding gift. How about a chicken puppet? Would you and Jeremy like a chicken puppet? ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/30 "2004-03-10T16:13:56Z")
we’re confusing three different things here (sort of like apples, oranges, and pears). ben-wa balls are inserted vaginally and, as has been pointed out, the liquid filled one moves around and is supposed to produce erotic sensations anal beads are beads of various diameters ON A STRING that are inserted into the ass and then very slowly pulled out to produce erotic stimulation (the string is needed so that the little buggers don’t get lost and obviate the need for a trip to the emergency room for a foreign object extraction) the bigger, solid balls are rolled in the hand during meditation (I’ve also seen “worry beads” on a string and my mother even had a “worry bag” (velvet bag filled with sand that she would knead and stroke when she had to do heavy duty mental lifting). ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/31 "2004-03-10T16:14:14Z")
Oh, my God!!! I had no idea that’s what they’re used for. I used to have a set sitting on my desk at work. I worked in a LAW FIRM. That’s hilarious!!! Anybody know how to get coffee out of a keyboard? I just spit it all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/32 "2004-03-10T16:35:12Z")
They’re very handy to have around when you’re a lonely, put-upon naval officer, and somebody has stolen all of the frozen strawberries. The stress relievers, I mean. NOT the ben-wa balls. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/33 "2004-03-10T16:35:38Z")
Recap time, people. Ben wa balls are small, around the size of marbles, typically appear to be brass plated, and are recommended for women to use with Kegel exercises, to tighten vaginal muscles. Alternately, you can also insert them and rock in a rocking chair for stimulation. Large spheres the size of golf balls or so, which are typically metal or cloissone (sp?), and which usually chime, are for hand exercise/stress relief. I’ve seen them labeled as something like “bao deng” balls before. Yes, I’m sure people have used them for sexual purposes, just like nearly every other item on the planet. The little marble-sized beads on a string are usually just called anal beads, used for stimulation by gently pulling them out, typically during orgasm. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/34 "2004-03-10T16:51:38Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I had always thought it was spelled “benoit” not “ben-wa” Yeah, funny story, that. Turns out that this guy, Frank, was out with his friend, Ben. Ben says, “Wanna play a game?” Frank says, “Sure. But no Monopoly. I always end up with the shoe. I hate the goddamned shoe. What the hell good is only one shoe? So I can kick your ass only half as much? Stupid shoe.” “Frank? Bend over.” “Fine. Ben? Hey! Now, stop that! Ben! BEN! Wa…?” Okay, maybe not so much funny. But what do you expect from a story with only one friggin’ shoe in it? Stupid shoe. ---
**Author:** ![Beltane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@Beltane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beltane)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/35 "2004-03-10T17:46:37Z")
A “cute little story” told by a friend of mine after attending one of the “ladies only” parties where they sell adult toys. They were discussing beads and how some men like to have them used on them by therir ladies. Apparently one lady called the saleslady after having an incident that left her husband in a fetal ball, whimpering… The phase used by the sales lady to them by way of warning was… “It’s not a lawnmower pull people!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Beltane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@Beltane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beltane)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/36 "2004-03-10T17:48:55Z")
[QUOTE=Beltane] “It’s not a lawnmower pull people!!!” [QUOTE] Darn it! I previewed and everything!! umm… The hamsters ate my comma… Yeah, that’s the ticket! ---
**Author:** ![htns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@htns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/htns)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/37 "2004-03-10T17:57:16Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Um, Otto? I’d like to second and say that I’m almost POSITIVE Ben-Wa balls are attached together with a string, and that the little metal musical jingly balls are completely different (stress-relievers as indicated). Those would be anal beads you’re describing. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/38 "2004-03-10T18:21:27Z")
Of course they are the “stress relieving” kind or the sign would have read “Biscuit Stuffers”! 😃 _(A shout-out to the wife who stalks me here!)_ ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/39 "2004-03-10T18:34:24Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > _(A shout-out to the wife who stalks me here!)_ Your wife? Or someone else’s? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394/40 "2004-03-10T18:40:30Z")
OK, I just have to… “Isn’t there any other part of the ben-wa you can eat?” Forgive me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-from-the-dollar-store-seriously-creeped-out/233394.md?page=3)