A View From My Porch: American Idioms and Colloquialisms—“Let’s Blow This Popsicle Stand!”

Several weeks ago, my nine-year-old grandson, William, was introduced to the expression, “Let’s blow this popsicle stand;” and he asked his dad what was it all about. He was referred to me with a, “He used to say it all the time,” which I do not recall.

Please note that he now prefers to be called “Will,” like the playwright; and so, I told him that this might be a good subject for a future “View,” and promised to get back to him with some information. 

So in this essay, I set out to answer my grandson’s question regarding ”popsicle stand” and will consider the broader subject of American idioms and colloquial expressions in a subsequent “View,” in which I will provide abundant examples of this form of “figurative language,” suggest several that are worthy of retirement from the lexicon; and consider a few “Britishisms” like “everything is tickety-boo.”

I have “peppered” this essay with familiar idioms to illustrate just how frequently they appear in conversation.

”Let’s blow this popsicle stand” is really just a cool and humorous way to say, “Let’s leave this place;” or more obstinately, to express one’s boredom with the current situation and your readiness to quickly move onto something new. You can use it to refer to your departure from any location or activity—wherever you are at the time. The expression is not inherently derogatory when used casually, but might be inappropriate in some settings (see “Thoughts” below.)  

I anticipate that William will master the two terms defined below and, as importantly, keep his younger brother, Henry “in the loop.”  He may need to read this essay with his dad, who will help him understand the more arcane references that might otherwise “go over his head.” 

The Terms:

An idiom is a phrase that has a figurative meaning, which is different from its literal meaning. Hence, keep him “in the loop” means keep him informed; and “go over his head,” as I have used it, suggests that the information may be too complex or subtle for him to understand.

Idioms are often specific to a particular language or culture, and can be difficult for non-native speakers to understand. For example, “kick the bucket” is an idiom that means to die.

A colloquialism, on the other hand, is a word or phrase that is often used in everyday conversation, but may be specific to a particular region or group of people. 

If William travels south from his home in Maryland, he will hear “y’all” used as a contraction of “you all,” the farther south he travels.

However, in Pittsburgh and areas of western Pennsylvania, just a few hundred miles north of his home, “Yinz” developed as the local equivalent of “y’all.”  And then there’s also the term “youse” or “youse guys,” commonly heard in some neighborhoods of Buffalo, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia; and New Jersey; to convey the same meaning as “y’all” and “yinz.” 

These forms of address are all part of the regional dialects that developed to distinguish between singular and plural forms of “you” in English. 

William’s father did his graduate work at M.I.T. in Cambridge, Mass. He and his classmates were “wicked smart,” and when he walked amongst the buildings early on a February morning, he felt “wicked cold.” 

“Wicked” is not used to connote something evil. It means “very” or “extremely.” in the Greater Boston area and some other parts of New England. I suggest viewing the movie, “Good Will Hunting” to observe Bostonians using “wicked” in their conversations. Another interpretation can be found in the Harry Potter series of books by J.K. Rowling, where the kids often say, “That’s wicked,” when excited or fascinated.

Clearly, this can be confusing for we “non-English majors,” and there is overlap with “dialect,” “vernacular,” or “slang.”

I do not want to further “muddy the waters” for William—i.e., create confusion or make this even more complex; but “… popsicle stand” has both the characteristics of an idiomatic expression and a colloquialism.

Origin and Variations:

“Let’s blow this popsicle stand” began to grow in popular culture in the mid-20th century, but is not as commonly used today as in the past. I thought that this quest to find the expression’s origin would be a “piece of cake” rather than what Mercutio referred to as a “wild goose chase” in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” 

The actual origin is murky, but it had to have been coined after 1924, the year a patent for popsicles was issued to Frank W. Epperson; who is generally considered to have invented the “frozen confection” as a youngster in 1905 on an unseasonably cold night in San Francisco. 

One theory, which I consider as no more than an urban myth, attributes the expression to a Jamaican “conspiracist” in the late-1940s, Antoine Cleo; who planned to somehow establish world supremacy by selling popsicles in radioactive popsicle stands. 

According to the myth, his plans were thwarted by the “Kindred Spirits” cult, who attacked popsicle stands in major cities, killing Antoine. Some have asserted its origin as the “Beat Generation” in San Francisco or New York City’s Greenwich Village or Columbia University neighborhoods. 

Others have attributed the expression to an old (but unnamed) Humphrey Bogart gangster movie from the 1940s, i.e., “it just sounds like Bogart.” There were five Bogart films released in the 1940s: “The Maltese Falcon” (1941), “Casablanca” (1942), “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948), “The Big Sleep” (1946), and “Key Largo”(1948). These are all on the shelf at the Phoebe or available via inter-library loan.

Some consensus seemed to be developing around the 1955 film noir, “Kiss Me Deadly,” which was based on a novel by Mickey Spillane, as the earliest known use of the phrase in a movie and the likely origin of the expression.

I watched them all, a couple with Christina, and did not find the exact phrase, although there were several scenes in the movies when I/we thought it would be coming right up.

The expression, or a variation, has also appeared in older movies and television shows (below). 

Variations:

Many may use “pop stand” or “joint” instead of “popsicle stand;” and, “Let’s blow this joint,” is probably in greater use across all age groups, especially with Gen X and the Boomer generation. However, Millennials and the “Zoomers” of Gen. Z will also be familiar with this phrase.

Movies and Television:

The following are a few examples of the expression used in the entertainment media. 

• Marlon Brando, as Johnny Strabler, says, “Where’s my gold? I’m ‘gonna’ blow this joint” in the 1953 movie ,“The Wild One.”
• Robin Williams, as Mork, an alien from the planet Ork sent to observe human behavior on Earth; used the expression, “How about you and me blow this Popsicle stand?” in a 1980 episode of “Mork & Mindy,“ which is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from 1978 through 1982.
• Danny Hassel, as Dan Jordan in the 1989 movie, “A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child.” thinks about the world after high school and says, As adults, we must now prepare for our new life outside this wonderful environment known as Springwood High; So, let’s blow this pop stand!” 
• Sonic said the line “Yo Sal, we’re going to blow this pop stand.” in rescuing his good friend, Sally the Hedgehog in an episode of “The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog,” an animated television series that ran on ABC from September, 1993, to December 1994; and was based on the Sonic series of video games and followed with a movie released in 2020.
• I also include “We Gotta Get Out of this Place,” a rock song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and released in 1965 by the English band, The Animals, because it expresses the same sentiment as “… popsicle stand;” and it was the song most requested on Armed Forces Radio by American soldiers during the Vietnam War, according to the late radio personality Adrian Cronauer, whose life inspired the 1987 film, “Good Morning, Vietnam.”

Author’s Thoughts: I did not fully answer William’s questions, but it was “not for the want of trying.”  However, I believe that I did provide him with enough information “to chew on.”

William: keep in mind that not everyone will understand the expression, so use it in casual conversations or when you hang out with your friends and family. I would not use it at a town meeting or at the end of a church service or any formal school event.

In closing, I’ll “catch you on the flip side,” (goodbye.)  

A Note to the Editor: Kevin Ganey, who writes “The Movie Man” column on LymeLine, may have some insight on the origin of “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” I would appreciate his wisdom.

Editor’s Note: This is the opinion of Thomas D. Gotowka.

About the Author: Tom Gotowka is a resident of Old Lyme, whose entire adult career has been in healthcare. He will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sit on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK. A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960. He hopes these experiences give readers a sense of what he believes “qualify” him to write this column.

Sources: “Let’s Blow This Popsicle Stand” – Part 1
Aldrich, R. (Director). (1955). “Kiss me Deadly.” [Film]. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios
Butler, S. “Frozen History: The Story of the Popsicle.” History Classics. 08/24/2023.
Lighter, J. (1994) “The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang.” New
York: Random House.(1994) 
Perlman, M. “Yinz, youse, and y’all.” Columbia Journalism Review. 01/19/2016.
Rowling, J.K. (1998) “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Pittsburgh: Scholastic
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Spillane, M. (1952) “Kiss Me Deadly.” New York E.P. Dutton & Co.
Van Sant, G.(Director). (1997) “Good Will Hunting.” [Film]. Miramax
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Winter, L. (editor) ““Slang Origin: Why Does New England Say “Wicked” (and What Does It Mean?.” Owlcation.11/19/2023.