Minerals
Soft drinks. Fizzy drinks. The standard Hiberno-English word for what Britain calls 'fizzy drinks' or 'pop' and America calls 'soda'. Always plural in this sense: 'a few minerals for the kids', 'the minerals are in the fridge'.
Etymology
From the older English commercial term 'mineral water' - bottled carbonated water sold as a soft drink in the nineteenth century. The term 'mineral' came to mean any commercial fizzy drink as the category expanded. Standard English moved to 'soft drinks' or 'pop'; Hiberno-English kept 'minerals' as the everyday term. The drinks industry in Ireland reinforced the word: companies like Cantrell & Cochrane were the dominant 'mineral waters' suppliers from the nineteenth century onward.
In a sentence
"Mind you get the minerals in time - the match starts at four."
Historical notes
Minerals is one of the small Hiberno-English commercial vocabulary items that confuses visitors. An Irish parent saying 'pick up some minerals on the way home' is asking for soft drinks, not bath salts or geological samples. The word is now slightly dated - younger Irish speakers may say 'fizzy drinks' or just name the brand - but it remains the default in older speech and on older signage.
Sources
- Oxford English Dictionary, entry mineral n. (commercial soft-drink sense, chiefly Irish). · dictionary