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poggers

/ˈpɑːɡərz/

Internet slang expressing excitement, approval, or surprise

From Hawaiian/English pog (POG drink).

adjective
interjection
pog
Hawaiian/English, c. 1971
POG
Brand name for a passionfruit-orange-guava drink; the name is an acronym of its ingredients.
English, 1990s
pog
A milk-cap disc used in the game of Pogs; the drink’s cardboard milk-cap liners supplied the playing pieces.
Twitch English, 2010s
PogChamp
Emote associated with Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez’s shocked expression and his “Pogs Championship” video.
Twitch/internet English, 2010s–present
pog
Clipped form used to express excitement, especially during gaming streams.
-ers
English internet slang, modern
-ers
Playful ending attached to pog to create an emphatic slang form; its exact development is uncertain.
Wiktionary-listed alternative
Ersu → ers
Wiktionary describes ers as a clipping of English Ersu, but this does not clearly explain the suffix in poggers.
Combined
pog + -ers → poggers
A clipped Twitch expression combines with a playful slang ending, producing an intensified reaction word.
Twitch and gaming English, 2010s–present
poggers
Used as an adjective or exclamation for something exciting, impressive, surprising, or enjoyable.
Modern English
poggers

A tropical juice brand in Hawaii unexpectedly gave birth to one of Twitch’s most recognizable exclamations. Around 1971, POG was marketed as a drink made from passionfruit, orange, and guava; its milk-bottle cap liners later became the cardboard ammunition for the Pogs craze that swept the United States in the 1990s. Then, in a 2010 video on Cross Counter TV, streamer Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez pulled a startled face during a “Pogs Championship” game, and that expression became the PogChamp emote on Twitch in 2012. Streamers clipped PogChamp to pog and added the bouncy -ers ending, creating poggers. So when someone says “poggers,” a chain running from Hawaiian fruit juice to milk caps to a shocked gamer’s face is hiding inside the word.

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