pop [LME] Like splash [E17th], crack [OE], and *bang [M16th], pop imitates the sound it describes. It was first used to refer to a blow or knock, the ‘abrupt explosive noise’ meaning coming later. The phrase pop the question, meaning ‘to propose marriage’, is first recorded in the early 18th century. The fizzy pop that you drink gets its name from the sound made when the stopper is removed. It was first mentioned at the beginning of the 19th century. To pop your clogs is to die. Pop here is probably used in the sense ‘to pawn’ [M18th], the idea being that a person who has just died no longer has any need of their shoes or clogs and so they can be pawned. The phrase is recorded only from the 1970s, which is surprisingly recent—it may have been made up as an ‘imitation’ dialect expression, or be an example of a folk expression that existed for generations without being recorded in print. However, pop off ‘to die’ has been around since the mid 18th century, and is likely to have influenced it. In reference to music, pop is short for popular (see people). The first mention of this pop was in 1862—and pop songs were mentioned in Variety magazine during 1921.