# What is a booger, exactly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2026, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134 "2026-09-17T04:19:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/1 "2026-09-17T04:19:30Z")
So the stuff that comes out of your nose… often yellowish-green, sometimes bloody, sometimes soft and slimy, sometimes hard like a slab of petrified disgust. What exactly… is it? What does it do? How is it different or similar to, say, eye boogers or earwax or pimples or all the other nasty secretions from our orifices? ---
**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:** [September 17, 2026, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/2 "2026-09-17T04:31:22Z")
Nasal mucus, which is secreted to trap things like pollen, dirt, dust, and pollen, as well as bacteria and viruses, before they make it to your lungs. When the mucus collects that debris, and dries out, well, that’s a booger. > **[Nose boogers: Causes and how to get rid of them](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/nose-booger)** > > Dried out mucus in the nose can cause boogers, which can be uncomfortable. Learn about what causes them, their purpose, and how to remove them safely. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/3 "2026-09-17T05:02:28Z")
[Be a booger king!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3hXrHDpEeU) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/4 "2026-09-17T12:33:50Z")
The old Burger King jingle popped into my head. ♫ _The boogers are bigger at Booger King!_ ♫ ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/5 "2026-09-17T12:36:38Z")
A “booger” is not snot. Snot is a viscous and usually disgusting liquid. To be classified as a “booger”, it has to be hard. You can pick it, hold it over a sink or the toilet, and drop it in. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/6 "2026-09-17T12:41:56Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > You can pick it, hold it over a sink or the toilet, and drop it in. Or - If you’re six years old you can flick it at your little sister, or a classmate, or a maiden aunt you don’t like - but it _must_ be flicked. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/7 "2026-09-17T12:43:07Z")
Good point. Boogers are usually annoyingly sticky and are hard to dislodge from the finger to its intended target. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/8 "2026-09-17T12:50:56Z")
I understand that boogers, bogeys, bogles, bugbears, and boggarts are all names for the same thing, namely apparitions to frighten children. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/9 "2026-09-17T12:52:08Z")
You can buy a handkerchief, for fuck’s sake! ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/10 "2026-09-17T12:56:50Z")
And where, pray tell, am I supposed to store this booger filled handkerchief?! In my purse? Not on your life. On some corner of my desk? Eeew! Best to dispose of it permanently. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/11 "2026-09-17T13:10:58Z")
That’s why God invented the undersides of desks. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/12 "2026-09-17T13:14:53Z")
I am so not inviting you to my house ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/13 "2026-09-17T13:35:58Z")
Yeah, that even grossed me out. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/14 "2026-09-17T22:19:33Z")
This thread is hilarious… and gross! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/15 "2026-09-18T00:03:34Z")
That snot Calvin would like to get a word in before the tiger gets here: > **[Google Image Result for https://i.redd.it/watk2j9xkipb1.jpg](https://www.google.com/share.google?q=nHHZ10yaSH8IG8x3a)** ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/16 "2026-09-18T00:27:14Z")
Here’s a podcast I like that addresses this very question. > **[Too Much Mucus, Not Enough Face | Pod 138 — That's Absurd Please Elaborate](https://thatsabsurdshow.com/episodes/138)** > > If you’ve ever been sick and wondered how a seemingly endless supply of mucus can fit inside your face, you’re not alone. This week, Trace and Julian investigate where all that snot actually comes from, explore the surprisingly strange evolutionary... ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/17 "2026-09-18T04:22:46Z")
If you can count it, it’s a booger. If you have to weigh it, it’s snot. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/18 "2026-09-18T07:45:09Z")
So what’s going on when you’re cleaning house (with Kleenex or hanky and washing hands afterwards, of course) and you lose a booger up in your schnoz? Where did it go? Down the throat? ---
**Author:** ![Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reindeer_flotilla/32/3024_2.png) [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reindeer_Flotilla)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/19 "2026-09-18T08:11:47Z")
“Never reach under the driver’s seat of a car. That’s where the boogers live.” – Auto detailer everywhere ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134/20 "2026-09-18T09:31:12Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Down the throat? Yup, sure 'nuff. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-booger-exactly/1033134.md?page=2)