Meanings
alternative tees and blues · alternative tease and blues
- informalpluralplural onlyThe combination of the drugs pentazocine (an opioid analgesic) and tripelennamine (an antihistamine), used for recreational purposes due to its euphoric effect in the 1970s and 1980s.
[…] was usually combined with the antihistamine tripelennamine (“Ts and Bs” or “Ts and Blues” pattern of combined intravenous drug abuse).
1990, Martin W. Adler, Alan Cowan, editors, Testing and Evaluation of Drugs of Abuse (Modern Methods in Pharmacology; 6), Wiley-Liss, →ISBN, page 2723 more examples
Meth has to be the single most wicked shit I ever involved myself with. […] Could drink gallons of beer though, and, while I don't suggest this, but I would pop an OTC sleeping pill. Would do this only after having not taking a snort for a good 12 hours. Poor mans version of tease and blues I guess (meth and valium in a capsule).
1998 November 14, Markus, “Re: METH”, in alt.recovery (Usenet)west dallas in the 1970s was no place for two growing boys. Instead of front yards, Greg and his older brother Kevin had shattered glass and dirt. Drug dealers cruised the streets, pushing heroin, or “tease and blues” as they called it. The junkies itched their way through days and nights.
2006 July, Paul Kix, “Framed”, in D MagazinePeople taking oral methadone apparently still get a hit if they shoot just cyclizine on top of it. […] It's also available on the internet without a prescription. In the US, Ts & blues was the same sort of thing. Tripelennamine in conjunction with Talwin. Then they reformulated Talwin with naloxone so you can't shoot it.
2006 November 25, piglet, “Re: kookathon”, in rec.radio.swap (Usenet)Synonyms: Ts and Bs
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe combination of the drugs pentazocine (an opioid analgesic) and tripelennamine (an antihistamine), used for recreational purposes due to its euphoric effect in the 1970s and 1980s.
Origin
Ts is an initialism of Talwin, a brand name for pentazocine; blues derives from the fact that tripelennamine tablets are usually blue in color.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Ts and blues. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ts%20and%20blues
“Ts and blues.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ts%20and%20blues. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ts and blues,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ts%20and%20blues.
Source: Ts and blues on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.