[78-L] Pop vs popular (was: Doris Day)

Don Cox doncox at enterprise.net
Sat Sep 24 14:49:51 PDT 2011


On 21/09/2011, Kristjan Saag wrote:

> Cary likes Bing but not Amy; the kids like Amy, hardly Bing -
> nevertheless both are pop singers. Don's suggestion to use "popular"
> for the older generation of artists and "pop" for the younger seems
> reasonable, but doesn't really rhyme with the way the word "pop" has
> been used. I checked Billboard magazines from 1942, 1952, 1962, 1972
> and 1982 - the word "pop" (meaning "popular") is used from the
> beginning, a little less in the 1940's but the difference is small:
> about 10/20 per issue between 1942 and 1982. Not a radical change...
> Kristjan
> 
I don't think anyone called Beethoven's music "classical" at the time.
The need for a new usage arises later.

Likewise the modern distinction between a fortepiano and a pianoforte. 

Regards
-- 
Don Cox
doncox at enterprise.net



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