  I discuss the role of short-duration eruptive mass loss in the evolution of
very massive stars. Giant eruptions of Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) like the
19th century event of $\eta$ Carinae can remove large quantities of mass almost
instantaneously, making them significant in stellar evolution. They can
potentially remove more mass from the star than line-driven winds, especially
if winds are clumped such that O star mass-loss rates need to be revised
downward. When seen in other galaxies as ``supernova impostors'', these
eruptions typically last for less than a decade, and they can remove of order
10 M$_{\odot}$ as indicated by massive nebulae around LBVs. Such extreme
mass-loss rates cannot be driven by radiation pressure on spectral lines.
Instead, these outbursts must either be continuum-driven super-Eddington winds
or outright hydrodynamic explosions, both of which are insensitive to
metallicity. As such, this eruptive mode of mass loss could play a pivotal role
for massive metal-poor stars in the early universe.
