About

Balloon Knot is a slang term for a person's anus that's used online and in memes across social media. The "balloon knot" Urban Dictionary definition was often referenced in viral discourse about the term, leading to "Don't Google" discussions on Twitter, TikTok and elsewhere over the years. Inherently, the anus-to-balloon-knot comparison is a visual comparison in that the two look similar due to circular wrinkles.

Origin

The term "balloon knot" was first added to Urban Dictionary on April 17th, 2002, by Urban Dictionary^[1] user father O, who wrote, "if you spread open the knot of a balloon, the resultant view is similar to that of the anus." The definition received over 810 likes and 750 dislikes in 21 years (shown below).

Spread

On May 1st, 2008, "balloon knot" was first used in a tweet set by Twitter^[2] user @chigh. Going into the early 2010s, usage of the phrase gained more engagement, such as in a tweet uploaded by Twitter^[3] user @dubstep4dads on October 13th, 2011, which received over 140 likes in 12 years (shown below, left). Years later, on March 8th, 2018, Twitter^[4] user @TATIANNANOW uploaded one of the first "balloon knot" tweets to gain over 1,000 likes. Over the course of five years, it received roughly 4,500 likes (shown below, right).

On July 4th, 2018, a since-deleted Redditor posted an NSFW meme to /r/dankmemes^[5] that referenced the slang "balloon knot," gaining over 70 upvotes in five years (shown below, left). On December 30th, 2020, YouTuber Cr1TiKaL posted a tweet^[6] that used "balloon knot," gaining roughly 47,200 likes in three years (shown below, right).

Going into the 2020s, "balloon knot" was also referenced on TikTok, such as in a video uploaded by TikToker^[7] @marcilynlouise on August 22nd, 2021, in which she responded to a comment that asked about the slang term's meaning. The video received roughly 128,000 plays and 1,500 likes in two years (shown below).

Interest in the slang term continued to rise going into 2023, evident in viral tweets^[8] and memes on Instagram^[9] and other social media platforms.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References