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by CapTenOblivious on November 22nd, 2007

CapTenOblivious

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"Let's blow this pop-stand." Can anyone actually tell me where this phrase derived?

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  • by VSPrasad on November 24th, 2007

    VSPrasad

    The origins couldn’t have been earlier than the 1920’s. The San Francisco invention of the Popsicle was in 1924. “Let’s blow this joint” (leave this less than interesting place) may have been first and later the many variations including "Let's blow this fire-trap" or “Let's blow this popcorn stand”. In some parts of the U.S. a soda shop was called a pop stand so the phrase may have originated with “let’s blow this pop stand”.

    http://www.english.wesli.com/cgi-bin/webbbs/slang/index.cgi?read=700

    let's blow this Popsicle stand, pop stand, lemonade stand, taco stand, hotdog stand OR this fire trap.

    "Blow" in the sense of "damn" or "curse" was fairly common in the UK up until about 50 years ago - I remember my mother when surprised or irritated using "oh blow" undoubtedly as a euphemism for some swearword exclamation. I imagine it originally comes from a wish for the offending issue to be blown away - possibly to Hell - though i have no evidence of such. "Blow this for a lark (or laugh)" would still be understood here, though we'd be more likely these days to use "screw" rather than "blow". We might even say "screw this for a game of soldiers".

    "Blow" in a pejoritive sense has of course recently got a new lease of life, courtesy of US English from what I understand, as in "let's blow this popsicle stand" or even the more vulgar "that blows".

    As a side note, and to jump eagerly onto one of my favourite hobbyhorses, Terry Pratchett is of course one of the finest writers writing today.

    Well...in the U.S. "blow" does mean leave. "Let's blow this firetrap." But it also means oral copulation.

    http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/18/messages/319.html

    http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blow_this_pop_stand

    http://bits.westhost.com/idioms/id80.htm

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  • by The Dean on November 23rd, 2007

    The Dean

    A "pop stand" is another word for a Soda fountain, which was a place where you went for sodas (Soda Pop) and milk shakes and sometimes a hamburger after school. When a group of guys got bored of just hanging out, someone would say, "Let's Blow this pop stand", which meant "let's get out of here."

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  • by Bottle099 on November 18th, 2010

    Bottle099

    “Let's blow this popsicle stand” is a saying derived from a phrase from the old west. Gangs would ride into town and stay a few days to scope out the town, specifically the bank. When they had completed making their plans, they'd say "Let's blow this town", meaning it was time to blow up the safe at the bank and ride out of town with the loot. (The phrase, “Let’s get what we came for and get out of here.” might also apply here.)
    Now, even though frozen juice bars had been around since the 1800s, the Popsicle wasn’t officially invented until 1905 by a man named Frank Epperson, who later patented it in 1923, and then sold the rights to the Joe Lowe Company in 1925 to be mass produced.
    Around the same time, two patents were issued; one for a Peddlers Stand in 1924 (inventor unknown) and one for a Vending Cart in 1926 by Frances E. Coffey from Kansas City. Coffey’s cart, which is similar to the ones used today, contained a cooking plate, steam table, storage bins, and even an ice box.
    But why blow the popsicle stand? Well, in 1876, Carl von Linden patented the process to liquefy gas, i.e. refrigeration technology. The toxic gases of ammonia (NH3), methyl chloride (CH3Cl), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) were used as refrigerants before the invention of Freon in 1929. But prior to 1929, there had been several fatal accidents due to methyl chloride leaking out of refrigerators.
    Therefore, it could be concluded that any vendor selling cold products like Popsicles could have a refrigerator leaking toxic gas. Not wanting to stay around a potentially hazardous refrigerator, one might say, “Let’s get a popsicle and get out of here.” or “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
    There have also been other variations, which would also apply to any vendor with a cooling unit, like, “Let’s blow this pop stand.” or “Let’s blow this taco stand.”

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