The next time you drink a Pepsi, you are actually consuming something called “Digestion Soda.”
You may have seen an article going around saying: “Pepsi fans just realizing drink’s original name that ‘sounds like a rock album'”. I’ll save you the click. In 1893, the original name for Pepsi-Cola was “Brad’s Drink”. The interesting part comes in the last two paragraphs
Roughly five years post-launch, Bradham purchased the rights to the name ‘Pep Kola’ from a competing business and eventually transitioned to ‘Pepsi-Cola’. The brand was finally abbreviated to merely ‘Pepsi’, as we know it now, back in 1961.
Many linguists contend that the brand name Pepsi derives from the Greek word, meaning ‘digestion’. This connection was emphasised in 1904 when the brand adopted the slogan: “Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids Digestion.”
It is true that Pepsi in Greek means ‘digestion.’ Google Translate confirms it.
Take the name “Pepsi Cola” and replace ‘Pepsi’ with ‘Digestion’ and you have Digestion Cola. I’m going to call it that from now on. “I’ll have a ‘Digestion Cola,’ please.”
Does this phrase exist online? Surely it does, right? Pepsi is a huge brand. People would have discovered that Pepsi means digestion, right?
A search for “Digestion Cola” on Google results in only 16 results. All 16 do not refer to the string as a phrase. It’s all results like, “Aid to digestion: Cola nut extract may help digestion.”
Original of the word “cola”
We covered what the “Pepsi” part of “Pepsi-Cola” means. Now, what about the “cola” part? What does “cola” mean?
Cola is a term based on the African kola nut. Wikipedia says: In folk medicine, kola nuts are considered useful for aiding digestion when ground and mixed with honey, and are used as a remedy for coughs.
Pepsi Cola = Digestion Kola Nut.