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Glite Dictionary
to pop a mint

to pop a mint

1 3.4
To put a mint in your mouth to make your breath smell fresh
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : tomar un caramelo
  • Whenever I feel nervous, I like to pop a mint to help calm my mind.

Examples

  • Can you pop a mint for me?

  • He discreetly popped a mint after his coffee break.

  • People often pop a mint after lunch to freshen their breath.

  • Whenever she feels her breath isn't fresh, she will pop a mint before meetings.

  • I just popped a mint before the meeting.

  • Before heading into the meeting, she decided to pop a mint for fresh breath.

  • He quickly popped a mint in his mouth after eating lunch to freshen up.

Surface Forms

pop a mint infinitive
popped a mint past
popped a mint past participle
popping a mint present participle
pops a mint third person singular

Morphology

pop + a + mint

The meaning is directly derivable from the constituents: 'pop' (take/consume quickly) + the indefinite article 'a' + 'mint' (a small breath-freshening candy). This is a literal, compositional verb + object construction that B1 learners who know these words can predict without prior exposure.

Etymology

Pop a mint comes from the quick action of putting a small mint into your mouth with a tiny 'pop' and feeling instant freshness. So, it means 'to freshen your breath' quickly before you speak.