P.E.P.? Pepsi
Wilson Gray
hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Sat Aug 11 18:35:38 UTC 2007
Check this out, y'all.
According to a note in the textbook, A Reading Course in Homeric
Greek, by Raymond V. Schoder, SJ, & Vincent C. Horrigan, SJ, that I
used in high school, 1952-1954, Pepsi-Cola originated as a
19th-century snake-oil specific for digestion. The first part of its
name, Pepsi, is a derivative of Greek peptein (pepto, pepso, pepsa),
"cook," hence "digest" in what was known as, in those days, "Learned
Latin" or "Scientific Latin." (I'm aware that these terms may have
been in use beyond 1954 and may even still be in use to this day.)
Needless to say, this word is also the source of the pepto "I cook" (>
"I digest") in Pepto-Bismol.
There has since been a second edition of this work, updated to 2007.
Unfortunately, I haven't seen it, so I have no idea as to whether this
claim re Pepsi-Cola is maintained.
-Wilson
On 8/10/07, Darla Wells <dlw3208 at louisiana.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Darla Wells <dlw3208 at LOUISIANA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: P.E.P.? Pepsi
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From Wikipedia:
> Pepsi was first made in New Bern, North Carolina in the United States in the
> early 1890s by pharmacist Caleb Bradham. In 1898, "Brad's drink" was changed
> to "Pepsi-Cola" and later trademarked on June 16, 1903.[1] There are several
> theories on the origin of the word "pepsi".
>
> The only two discussed within the current PepsiCo website are the following:
>
> 1. Caleb Bradham bought the name "Pep Kola" from a local competitor and
> changed it to Pepsi-Cola...
>
> Another theory is that Caleb Bradham and his customers simply thought the name
> sounded good or the fact that the drink had some kind of "pep" in it because
> it was a carbonated drink, they gave it the name "Pepsi".
>
> Okay, now add Britney Spears and Bob Dole and you have the "vigor" you have
> been talking about, connected in more ways than one.
>
>
> Darla
>
>
> With magic, you can turn a frog into a prince. With science, you can turn a
> frog into a Ph.D and you still have the frog you started with. (Terry Pratchett)
>
> ---------- Original Message -----------
> From: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Sent: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:02:30 -0400
> Subject: Re: P.E.P.?
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: Re: P.E.P.?
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > During The War, there was a dry cereal named "Kellog's Pep." I also
> > recall a C&W song with the verse:
> >
> > Shoutin' out, full o' _pep_
> > Watch yo' step! Watch yo' step!
> >
> > Or something like that. I can't recall its date. It was some time
> > between 1945 and 1955, as a WAG.
> >
> > -Wilson
> >
> > On 8/10/07, David Borowitz <borowitz at stanford.edu> wrote:
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster: David Borowitz <borowitz at STANFORD.EDU>
> > > Subject: Re: P.E.P.?
> > >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > >
> > > On 8/10/07, ronbutters at aol.com <ronbutters at aol.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > > -----------------------
> > > > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster: ronbutters at AOL.COM
> > > > Subject: P.E.P.?
> > > >
> > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> > > ------
> > > >
> > > > I was amazed to see that the word "pep" is in use for a new commercial
> > >
> > > > product, much less one for erectile disfunction. I got a spam ad today wi=
> > > th
> > > > the folllowing testimonial";
> > > >
> > > > "I pleased how swiftly P.E.P. worked on my boyfriend, he can no way stop
> > > > babbling about how hot he is having his new calibre, length, and libido!"
> > > > Amelia B., Washington
> > > >
> > > > Is "pep" making a vernacular comeback? It also occurs to me that some
> > > > Bulgarian scammer may have selected "pep" from a dctionary without really
> > > > unbderstanding how dated it is?
> > >
> > >
> > > This is pure speculation, but consider the target audience of erectile
> > > dysfunction ads. Using a slang term from baby boomers' youth for that kind
> > > of product could help recall their own younger, more vigorous days. (I say
> > > this without being particularly confident that the timing matches up.)
> > >
> > > Dave
> > >
> > > (If Dennis or a,yone needs to see the full ad, I can forward it to
> > > > individuals")
> > > > Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Dennis Preston <preston at MSU.EDU>
> > > >
> > > > Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:35:18
> > > > To:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > > Subject: Re: [ADS-L] The earth v. Earth
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Colleagues,
> > > >
> > > > You all turn out to be right after all; I'm
> > > > really slow to catch on, and this time it wasn't
> > > > dialect pronunciation. It took me several
> > > > milliseconds to correctly (re)process "American
> > > > mfrs."
> > > >
> > > > dInIs
> > > >
> > > > PS: Was it a joke in the fist place? Are there
> > > > other exciting stories about abbreviation
> > > > ambiguity out there?
> > > >
> > > > >---------------------- Information from the mail
> > > > >header -----------------------
> > > > >Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > >Poster: sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM>
> > > > >Subject: Re: The earth v. Earth
> > > >
> > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> > > -------
> > > > >
> > > > >>
> > > > >>Of course, I'm abstracting away from the fact that any noun or
> > > > >>adjective in English can be made proper and, therefore, require
> > > > >>capitalization, as is the case with Tarzan's son, Boy. OTOH, cf,
> > > > >>German, in which every noun is capitalized. There's nothing intrinsic
> > > > >>about this sort of thing.
> > > > >>
> > > > >>-Wilson
> > > > >~~~~~~~~~~~
> > >
> > > > >The fastidious French, on the other hand, honor a proper noun by removin=
> > > g
> > > > >its capital when it has become so well-incorporated into French life tha=
> > > t
> > > > >it is recognized as a fully-fledged French word. American mfrs, with
> > > > their
> > > > >jealous & zealous protection of their precious brand names might be
> > > > >comforted by adopting the French attitude when some miscreant uses, e.g.=
> > > ,
> > > > >"kleenex" w/out cap or =C5.
> > > > >AM
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >~@:> ~@:> ~@:> ~@:>
> > > > >
> > > > >------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Dennis R. Preston
> > > > University Distinguished Professor
> > > > Department of English
> > > > Morrill Hall 15-C
> > > > Michigan State University
> > > > East Lansing, MI 48864 USA
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --=20
> > > It is better to be quotable than to be honest.
> > > -Tom Stoppard
> > >
> > > Borowitz
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> > --
> > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint
> > to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > -----
> > -Sam'l Clemens
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> ------- End of Original Message -------
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Sam'l Clemens
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
More information about the Ads-l
mailing list