Pop Art
I was thinking what a very useful word “Pop” is. Apart from the onomatopoeic rendering of a bursting soap bubble or the description a form of music dreamt up by record companies to promote boy bands, or in a sixties art form, it can be used in a myriad of different ways and contexts. If my aunt pops in unexpectedly for a chat, I may have to pop next door to borrow a cup of sugar before I pop the kettle on. If my forgetful aunt accidentally pops my best silver jug into her handbag I may have to pop after her when she leaves and ask for it back. Later, I may want to pop to the shops and pop into the Co-op where I may pop some pop tarts and a bottle of pop into my basket. Along with the Rice Krispies. I might get some pop-corn for a film night. As it’s getting near Christmas, I may pop into one of those pop-up shops to find a pop-up book for a young nephew. When I read the price tags, my eyes might pop out on stalks. If I find myself short of money, I may have to take that silver jug to the pop shop to raise some funds. But, I’ll have to watch out: an old school bully may suddenly pop up from nowhere and we may have a pop at each other, either verbally or physically.
What’s beautiful about this word is that it can work with almost all prepositions as well as being a noun and verb in its own right. But there is something understated about it that calms and softens the actions it describes.
A Welsh person will argue vehemently that the Welsh for microwave is not Popty-ping despite what the internet says. The word is in fact meicrodon which, I think, is a bit of a lost opportunity.
And it’s not just us ordinary folk who get to sprinkle pop into our everyday speech. If you are unfortunate enough to be sentenced to a few years at Eton you may find yourself wearing a colourful waistcoat as a member of Pop.
If, in the end, you don’t feel well, your doctor may ask you to pop a thermometer under your tongue and, if they are not satisfied with the result, they may ask you to pop your clothes off and pop them over that chair. If you need an operation, the anaesthetist will pop you under and you won’t feel a thing. If they can’t fix you, though you might, sadly, pop your clogs.
Pop is a charming, unassuming word that I think, is only to be found widely used in British English, which says something for it. If you can think of other uses of the word pop, why not pop a comment in the space below.
