Sodabread, (and Soda Slope[1]) were, in fact, euphemisms for the colloquial expression Sodomy Slope,[2],[3]. That, in turn, was the antipodean equivalent of a similar obstacle which members of the Arctic Air Route Expedition of 1930-1931 encountered on their way to the Greenland Ice Cap. John Rymill and his colleagues, including Ted Bingham, had politely called it Bug-Bear Bank,[4] but among themselves they had described it as Buggery Bank.[5]
Ted Bingham must have been responsible for introducing these expressions on Stonington Island, (together with the euphemisms “fornicator” [6] and “fumigator” [7] for the katabatic polar winds which descended with such fury down the Northeast Glacier). The contemporary evidence for this lies in John Tonkin’s diary[8], where he mentioned “Soda slope” (and The Amphitheatre) on March 3rd, 1947, and before that, on August 18th, 1946, when he had referred, cryptically, to the feature as “b. bank”.
There appears to be no evidence that Sodabread was named by American explorers of either the USASE or the RARE, and it has nothing to do with bakery products.
Notes:
[1] Hattersley-Smith, G.F., 1991. Page 419.
The history of place-names in the British Antarctic Territory. British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports, No. 113.
[2] Walton, E.W.K., 1955. Page 86.
[3] Darlington, J., 1957. Page 226
My Antarctic Honeymoon (Frederick Muller Ltd.)
[4] Butson, A.R.C., 2010. Page 66.
Young men in the Antarctic: a doctor’s illustrated diary (1946-1948) (The Battered Silicon Despatch Box, Eugenia, Ontario, Canada)
[5] Walton, E.W.K., & Atkinson. 1996a. Page 43.
[6] Butson, A.R.C., 2010. Page 64.
[7] Courtauld, A., 1957. Page 59.
Man the ropes (Hodder and Stoughton, London.)
[8] Scott, Jeremy, 2008, Page 81.
Dancing on ice. (Old Street Publishing, London)
[9] Courtauld, A., 1957. Page 59.
Man the ropes (Hodder and Stoughton, London.)
[10] Walton, E.W.K., 1955. Page 80.
Personal diary; unpublished. (Transcribed by Jane Storey, his daughter). BAS Archives Acquisition 2019/22.