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Regarding our podcast about the expression, "Let's blow this pop stand," we had several interesting comments here.
But I also liked the following suggestion from a listener named Dennis, which I'm sharing here with his permission:
>>>>While you discussed where it first appeared, you didn't really get into the context or meaning of "pop stand" other than to reference a "popsicle stand" (never seen one) or a "popcorn stand" (somewhat
more common).
I have always had a theory on this and would love to hear your comments. I suspect it is a reference to a bar, and originally meant "Let's leave this bar". A pop stand is presumably where one buys soft drinks, and I suspect this phrase is a playful reference downgrading the alcohol served in a bar to mere soda pop. So after an
evening of drinking and socializing . . . "Let's blow this pop stand!"
If that turned out to be true, it would also hint broadly at the birth region of the originator. Not northern New England where soft drinks were usually called "tonic". Probably not much of the South where all soft drinks were called "Coke" or "Co-Cola", regardless of the flavor. If I'm not mistaken "pop" and "soda pop" are common terms in the Midwest.
So what do you think? Am I nuts?<<<<< I especially like the idea of this expression being a kind of joking description of place that serves much stronger beverages than just pop. What do you folks think?
I have never heard that phrase with "pop stand", only "popsicle stand". (Since you often ask your callers about their location when you are discussing regionalisms: I am from Oklahoma.) When my husband or I are exhausted from a long day at work, we morph this saying into "my popsicle has melted" (i.e. there isn't even any stand left to blow).
I think the irony is this: why would anyone (other than the vendor) be hanging around the pop(whatever) stand in the FIRST place? And even if they were, the phrase (as slangy as it is) seems too formal for such a dinky atmosphere.
Whenever I hear the phrase, I instantly think about (for some reason) the beach and a stand right there in the sand next to like a V-Ball net and people buying things like nachos, hotdogs, and (of course) popsicles—although, you'd need a pretty well air-conditioned facility for storing things that are likely to melt in cool temperatures anyway.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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