popty ping

English

Etymology

From Welsh popty (“oven”) and English ping (“high-pitched sound”).

Noun

popty ping (plural popty pings)

1. (UK, humorous) A microwave oven.
   • 2014, F. John Hurr, Light of the Damned

     First, could it be warmed up in a popty ping — a microwave oven — or consumed straight from the container?

   • 2014, Pete Barry, You're Having a Larf!:

     In Wales it is known as popty-ping! / In our house it is chicken ding! / Whatever you want to call it now / It's a very clever thing somehow

   • quoted in 2020, Simon Walters, The Borisaurus: The Dictionary of Boris Johnson

     'Pop it in the popty-ping.' Interview with Welsh journalist Guto Hari, 10 December 2019. Describing his Brexit deal as a meal ready to go in the microwave.

   • 2023, Matt Pritchard, Dirty Vegan Fast and Easy:

     Most of us don't want to bung a microwave meal into the popty ping (only for it to come out hot enough to burn your mouth off).

Usage notes

• Often falsely claimed to be the Welsh phrase for a microwave oven, and thus may be used in Welsh contexts.