Present participle of pop; making a short, sharp explosive sound, or moving quickly and suddenly.
Imitative word, representing the sharp sound. First recorded in 15th century as 'poppen', evolved to mimic various quick, sharp actions and sounds.
The word 'pop' is beautifully onomatopoeic - it sounds like what it describes. In genetics, 'population' is often shortened to 'pop', creating amusing scientific papers about 'pop genetics' that sound more like music than biology.
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