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All hopped up on goofballs

Posted by R. Berg on January 06, 2003

In Reply to: All hopped up on goofballs posted by Bruce Kahl on January 06, 2003

: : I believe this is an allusion, but I don't know its source. My guess is that it's from American popular culture, probably a B movie. Net searches have fetched a ton of results, but none about the original source. Other than stimulants, I'm not even sure what 'goofballs' are. This exact locution has caught on for some reason, but where's it from?

: Simple: Maybe my father is the source describing me and some friends way back when...
: but seriously......
: A goofball, at least here in NY, is a depressant--sleeping aids like Seconal, Tuinal--aka "downers".
: Maybe someone else can fill in the rest.

"Hopped up" = "under the influence of narcotics; drugged" (Dict. of Amer. Slang; first quotation 1930; "orig. addict use, now some general use and almost no addict use"; derivative meanings also given, such as "excited; enthusiastic").

"Hop" is also defined as opium or any narcotic drug; first quotation, 1887.

"Goof ball": "1 Any barbiturate used as a narcotic drug by addicts. . . . . 2 Marijuana; a portion of marijuana. -> 3 A preparation or portion of a narcotic. . . . -> 4 A narcotics addict. -> 5 A stupid awkward person; a chronic blunderer, one who makes frequent mistakes. 6 An odd person; an eccentric. 7 A tranquilizer pill; a sleeping pill" (Dict. of Amer. Slang).

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