I've run out of pop (UK)

[susanna76]

Hi there,

Am reading a British chick lit book, Here Come the Girls by Milly Johnson.

Is the word pop used at all in the UK to mean soda? Because here's what one character, an older woman, in a wheelchair, says,
"I've run out of pop."

I can't think what else pop could mean here. There's not much in the way of context. Olive comes home, where she takes care of her mother-in-law Doreen.
'I've been sat here for ages watching the same channel. The batteries have conked out in the remote.' Doreen Hardcastle huffed with some annoyance. 'And I've run out of pop.'
'Where's David?' asked Olive, falling into automatic 'sorting-Doreen-out' mode and going to the drawer for a pack of AA batteries.

Thank you!

 

[pwmeek]

I was thinking that pop might have meant something like "energy", but with several readings I now think it is bottled, carbonated, sugared, flavored, non-alcoholic beverage in spite of its unlikely location in BE "chick-lit". (Perhaps Doreen has been watching too many American movies.)

 

[Hau Ruck]

Without more context, you will never be able to truly know.

It could mean energy or soda. Your guess is as good as our in this limited context.

 

[susanna76]

Hi again, I forgot about pop as energy. But I'm wondering, is pop used in the UK to mean energy? Also, why doesn't any dictionary list pop as energy??

 

[Hau Ruck]

Pop is more of an idiomatic and rather slang way to express energy.

"I'm full of vigor and pop!"

It's very rarely used. Very.

 

[PaulQ]

is pop used in the UK to mean energy? It's very rarely used. If I heard it, I would expect it to come from a poite old lady who thinks that the word is still current, when, in fact, it existed for a few years about half- a century or more ago.

 

[susanna76]

Many thanks pwmeek, Filsmith, and PaulQ!

 

[Bevj]

I think that given the context of an old lady in a wheelchair who can't get up to change the batteries in her TV remote control, the meaning of 'energy' for 'pop' is rather unlikely.
I would say it means the fizzy drink; maybe from the book it is possible to find out if the lady was in the habit of drinking cola or lemonade while watching TV.

 

[Loob]

I'm with Bevj....

 

[Myridon]

I think that given the context of an old lady in a wheelchair who can't get up to change the batteries in her TV remote control, the meaning of 'energy' for 'pop' is rather unlikely.

If she has had to change the channel by pushing herself in the wheelchair across the room and back several times, she may not have enough energy to do it again.

 

[Beryl from Northallerton]

Yes, it seems pretty clear that the lady is in need of a soft drink. As a side issue, pretty few people still refer to fizzy drinks (sodas) as 'pop' any longer, and those who do are often using it in an ironic capacity.
I suppose the word 'pop' is in keeping with the (sadly) somewhat defunct names of 'Olive' and 'Doreen'.

 

[Bevj]

I always had the impression that 'pop' was quite a regional word (I'm from the Midlands) but as far as I know it is still in wide use. A few weeks ago I heard my niece ask her daughter if she would like a drink of pop.
Not forgetting the expression 'to go off like a bottle of pop'.

 

[Beryl from Northallerton]

Well you maybe entirely correct. I was merely reporting my sense of not having heard it in many a moon. Bear in mind that, like names, these things ebb and flow in cycles, and it could be that 'pop' is due a revival.
I've just checked a Northern Irish sitting room, where I have been assured that the regional umbrella term for all such drinks is 'lemonade'.

 

[Hau Ruck]

Yes, it seems pretty clear that the lady is in need of a soft drink. As a side issue, pretty few people still refer to fizzy drinks (sodas) as 'pop' any longer, and those who do are often using it in an ironic capacity.
I suppose the word 'pop' is in keeping with the (sadly) somewhat defunct names of 'Olive' and 'Doreen'.

I'd have to greatly disagree with this. In the Midwest of America, it's way too common. I, myself, say soda. An alarming number of people here (the Midwest) say pop. It's also very common in the North. Every time someone says "pop", I cringe. I hate that word.

It's been passed on as vernacular for many generations from what I gather. Definitely back to the great grandparents of my generation at least.

 

[Loob]

I'd have to greatly disagree with this. In the Midwest of America, it's way too common.

But, Fil, the question was

Is the word pop used at all in the UK to mean soda?

I'd say that Beryl and Bevj are both right. Yes, "pop" is used in BrE to mean fizzy drink - but not by everyone.

 

[Hau Ruck]

But, Fil, the question was I'd say that Beryl and Bevj are both right. Yes, "pop" is used in BrE to mean fizzy drink - but not by everyone.

Ahhhh, so true Loob. I do seem to have overlooked that.

 

[panjandrum]

<< Moderator note.
The topic of this thread is the meaning of "pop" in the context set out in post #1, not the terminology used to refer to fizzy drinks.
See Pop / soft drink / fizzy drink / soda. for discussion of the terminology. >>

 

[ewie]

I also vote for 'fizzy drink' in this context

I'm not sure I've ever heard of pop meaning 'pep'

 

[susanna76]

Right, ewie, pep is the word I knew for energy, not pop, although pwmeek, Filsmith, and PaulQ here say pop could mean energy as well. Again, though, I can't find any dictionary entry to say that -- which might not mean much, because, as Filsmith says, pop might be yet another slang word that isn't listed in the dictionaries.
Many thanks, everyone, for your comments on pop as soda in the UK.