Talk Elections

Well?

Whee...

Coke, but like everyone I know says pop.

I say pop, but soda doesn't sound weird to me either.  Coke does, however.

Soda. Why do some people call it coke? Wouldn't that be confusing since Coke is also short for Coca-cola, a specific drink?

The South is very heavily into brand loyalty and Coke is from Atlanta. Obviously there are other types that even Coca Cola offers (Sprite), but c'mon, it's not even that big of a market. 99% of the time people mean cola, no?

All three interchangeably

Soda

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This is the map, apparently.

Green - Pop
Blue - Soda
Red - Coke

POP

Soda says I. "Pop"is something that popcorn does, and "coke" is short for at least three things that are not soda! Cocaine, Coca-Cola, and residue of coal.  

Soda (normal).

Soda is the end word of Baking Soda

Pop is a sound that carbonated water does when poured.


...Just being the devil's advocate.

Pop. "Coke" is ridiculous. Are Sprite and 7-Up "Coke"?

Yep basically

Pop.

depending upon what kind of party it is, calling for a coke can cause confusion.

I voted other.  I think I probably say "soft drink" more than anything else, but I say "carbonated beverage" or even "fountain drink" when it seems appropriate (for example, at Burger King where it's always from a self-serve fountain.)  The only one that I ever drink is Coca-cola, and I always say Coca-cola when I want a Coca-cola.  I have been restaurants where the waitress says, "Is Pepsi okay?"  (really?  that's like asking if whitefish is okay when I just ordered filet mignon.)  I've noticed this in all parts of the United States, by the way, and not just in some regions, so I don't buy into the notion that waitresses in only the South try to substitute all sorts of other soft drinks for "coke."  This has happened to me in California, in Massachusetts, and in many places in-between.  If I order a coca-cola and they don't have coca-cola, then I always drink water, because I don't much care for any of the other brands.  But most of the time I don't order a Coca-cola anyway.  I usually drink alcohol with my evening meal and water with my noontime meal, except when I drink a Coca-cola.

Soda sounds okay as well, and I know what people mean when they say it, although I don't think I regularly call it soda.  Most of my relatives say Pop.  It's very annoying.  And most of them are from Minnesota so they have that long Minnesota drawl way to say it (Paaahp).  My sister does that all the time.  When I lived in Iowa, I noticed that the markets actually had the label POP on the soft drink aisle.  Like it wasn't even slang there, but actual, formal usage.  I studiously try to avoid ever calling anything pop except maybe when I'm looking for the onomatopoeia for the sound of an over-inflated bicycle tire exploding.  

Of course, it's christmas day, so there have been no burger king trips.  So far today, I've had only coffee, sparkling wine, red wine, and a bit of tequila.  No need to worry about what I might or might not call a soft drink on such a conspicuous and festive day.  Happy Christmas, by the way.

 :)

Well, Sprite is tehnically made by Coca-Cola. :P

In Britain we refer to them as "fizzy drinks".

I've heard that here as well, along with "fuzzy drinks."

I just call them by their names.

I grew up in a county where most people referred to it as pop. I personally refer to carbonated soft drinks as both pop and soda (depending on the day). I currently attend a university where most use the term soda (according to the map)

Pop. Also, can anybody explain the St. Louis area on the map?

The lack of any dominant term in the Indianapolis area is the strangest thing to me.

Like everyone from St. Louis, soda.

"Pop" is a generic name for all types of soft drinks, as is "soda" or even "soda pop."  I generally use "pop".

"Coke" means cola, it doesn't have to be Coca-Cola.  When ordering, I generally ask for diet coke, to which I sometimes get the response, "is diet Pepsi okay?"  Yes, I don't care what brand of diet cola you bring me; asking for a diet coke does not specifically mean Diet Coca-Cola.  If I were going to specify a brand, I would ask for a Coke Zero (which most restaurants don't carry).

Soda, but I grew up saying pop.

I say Soda and so do most people I know, contrary to that map

yup

I moved away in 94 and have spent most of my life since then in non-"soda" places.  I still call it soda.  "pop" sounds stupid and "Coke" is even dumber.

Other (Austrian):

1) Limo
2) Kracherl
3) Cola
4) Sprite
5) Spezi
6) Soda (-Zitrone)
7) Fanta

Soda, although my corner of Ohio overwhelmingly says 'pop'. I am from NYC originally, so it makes sense.

mostly pop, sometimes soda, tolerate both, very intolerant and hostile of the idea of having my mtn. dew referred to as coke

Now that is a bizarre idea, but I've never heard any one do that.  I've yet to order a coca-cola and hear the waitress ask, "is Mountain Dew okay?"  It seems that Pepsi is mainly what they're pushing.  Someone earlier in the thread said that any cola might be called "coke."  I think that's what I've heard as well, but I've not heard the term applied to Fanta, Mountain Dew, Mellow Yellow, etc. 

The thread made me curious, and the map certainly looks suspicious.  (For example, 80% of the residents of all those south Texas counties calling un refresco anything other than "un refresco" is especially suspicious.)  Sure enough, it's just a silly straw poll skewed by whatever factors cause people to respond to them as they do.

I really haven't heard anyone call a Mountain Dew or an orange soda a "coke".  (The myth of the South?  I lived in columbus, MS for three years, and in the DFW area for several years, and I have no recollection of anyone saying coke for those types of drinks, although I have several times heard waitresses ask me about Pepsi when I have explicitly said "Coca-Cola.")

Anyway, here's a map compiled from US Census data:
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For most of the US, there's either insufficient data, or no dominant form.  Soda seems to be in the plurality, which is not surprising.  But it's important to note that this was compiled with a leading question "pop or soda?" rather than a more honest, open-ended questionnaire.  Still, apparently it is true that there are a few spots where people use the term "coke" as a generic one.  Those spots do not seem to be concentrated in any one region, but are rather spread out geographically.

Here in Southeastern Pennsylvania, soda wins out.  That seems to be the case all along the BosWash corridor, except in some northern New Jersey counties.

I use "Fizzy Drink" or "Soft Drink" for a general term, but I don't use a collective term often. Although, I'd use "Coke" to refer to colas and the brand or generic product name otherwise.

Pop (real American)

Pop (Great Lakes/Upper Midwesterner), unless I'm in formal conversation.  In that case, I'd probably use "soft drink" or "carbonated drink/beverage."  I only use Coke if I'm referring to the Coca-Cola brand--I don't genericize it (and believe me, I hear it a lot; it's not just a Southern thing.)

Apparently that's what happens in the deep south, or so I've heard.

Most people in my county say 'Coke' but I say Soda.

Why don't you just call it by the brand? Can I have a coke? Can I have fanta? etc

It's more like if you're asking for a drink in general...

"Would you like something to drink?"

"sure."

"What would you like?  I have pop, coffee, tea, juice"

"what kind of pop?"

"Coke, sprite" etc
You get it.

Just one of those weird things.  I used to be really interested in this, and the Midwest patterns are weird.  Most everywhere says pop except for some fiercely loyal soda enclaves.

See the few soda counties in Central Illinois?  Yeah, that's Peoria.  Everyone there says soda. B)

I assume that most do, what is surprising is having the food service worker immediately asking, "Is Pepsi okay?"

"No, it's not okay.  A coke would be okay."
"We don't have coke."
"You don't have coca-cola?" 
"No, we have other stuff, not coca-cola."
"Okay, then, just bring me water.  You have water, don't you?"
"Yes, we have water."
"Okay, then one water please."

That's pretty typically how it goes here.

Pop.  (Yinzer normal)

"Pop", of course.  Though living on the East Coast when I order pop I usually ask people "What soft drinks do you have?" That way I don't need to say the accursed "soda" but people don't give me weird looks.  Like, in Minnesota, if you order a "soda", people will know what you're talking about.  In Maryland, if you order a "pop", people will look at you like an alien.


I've had people stubbornly refuse to believe that people have a generic word for pop no matter how much confusion I show.  I've basically word for word given them that dialogue, and they just go, "That never happens, you just say something like 'what do you have to drink?'" and I don't even know how to respond.  THERE'S A GENERIC TERM, GOSH DARN IT, FOR FIZZY CARBONATED BEVERAGES.  I KNOW YOU HAVE IT SOMEWHERE.  REVEAL TO ME YOUR SECRETS.

Soft Drink. I'm from that green corridor in Virginia in North Carolina. I mainly hear soft drink or just drink around here.

Because they're Americans.

I mostly just use the term soft drink/its brand name.

Carbonated soft drinks I'd just call soft drinks in English; in Dutch I'd use the word frisdrank. Coke is called cola in Dutch.

I'd mostly just use the brand name, and if referring to general, "soft drink" in English; "Saftl" in my German dialect, and probably something like "Limo", "Saft" or generally just "was zum Trinken" in High German - but since I practically never speak High German, that's not that important. Rather just "Saftl".

Pop, obviously. (Midwesterner)

I usually just call it "soda" or call it by the brand name.

Soda. Pop is a sound, we re-educated a lot of FIBS in college.

Fizzy drink.

"Pop" is used across Canada, except in Quebec.

Soda, my entire life. To be honest, until I saw maps, I always thought "pop" was quite hillbilly.

I suppose it's not quite "hillbilly", but it's definitely Midwestern, as opposed to soda which is more Northeastern and West Coast, so that impression has a little grain of truth to it.

I use that too.

I always called it soda. It's weird down here to hear people calling it a  "coke" down here, but it doesn't really effect me... I drink soda maybe 2 to 3 times a year. If I'm not getting water with my meal, it's usually an unsweet tea.

Lol, don't hear this used much anymore. I appreciate the reference, cheesehead.

I use 'pop' and 'soda' both. Calling any soft drink a 'coke' is indeed ridiculous to me.

Pop (ubiquitous Ohio).

I remeber a couple times my dad ordering in Florida a rum and coke, only to get a rum with Pepsi. Urg! we were v ery much a Coke household. at least one time the waiter said when told he'd ordered a rum and coke rather than ruma and Pepsi  "same thing". ::)

Same here.  A lot of folks where I live genericize Coke to mean any sort of cola (like Pepsi, RC, or a generic brand).  I rarely hear it used as a generic name for any other type of soft drink.

That has to do with a lot of places really only having Coke or Pepsi and not both from the Cola Wars. Usually in Wisconsin you get asked "is Pepsi ok" if they don't have it.

It's usually used in regards to Illinois drivers. A lot of Wisconsin drivers are crap (well, should say Midwestern drivers) refusing to move over from the left lane. But you get those from Illinois who are either driving way too fast or they think they're driving fast but aren't and refuse to move out of the left lane. I'd rather they fly then putt along.

I use "soda" and "coke" interchangeably.

No one is worse about driving slow in the fast lane than America's Dairyland, my friend

That's what typically happens in Michigan, too.  Someone will order a Coke at a Pepsi outlet and the waiter/waitress/cashier, etc. will ask, "Is Pepsi all right?"  That really irritates me for some strange reason.  I try to know beforehand whether I'm going somewhere that has Coke or Pepsi products so I can phrase my order accordingly. 

BTW: Did a lot of places have both Coke and Pepsi before the cola wars?

"Mixer".

I am from Ohio and semi-regularly drive back and forth between Ohio and Wisconsin, passing through both Indiana and Illinois along the way. The drivers in Ohio, Indiana, and Wiscosnin are all basically the same. The Wisconsinites are more likely to stop when they aren't supposed to in order to let someone else go but that's about the only difference.

Illinois on the other hand is a totally different world. It never fails when driving across the midwest and see another driver do something nuts, that the driver is from Illinois. Whether you're in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, or Wisconsin it doesn't matter; the car who weaves in and out of traffic, switches lanes without signaling, tailgates, slams on the brakes, or can't seem to make up their mind whether they'd like to cruise the left line going 60 or 80 always has an Illinois license plate. You check but you don't need to. You already know the answer.

> mfw when Americans call bubblybubblysugarjuice "soda"

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My guess is that it is shortened from "soda water" (kinda like we shorten French-fried potatoes to "fries" in restaurants) from the latin word sodium, which is what we call the alkaline earth element that the Egyptians called Natrium, and it stands for sodium bicarbonate, which is a very misleading name for a compound that should be called, and that the IUPAC suggests that we call, sodium hydrogen carbonate, which is the source of bubbles.  

When it's just straight-up sparkling water ("fizzy" water), we usually call it "soda water" although that stuff has a fairly unappealing taste and look, so most folks would rather have something with artificial colors and artificial flavors, as well as a liberal amount of high-fructose corn syrup.  Saying "soft drink" seems to be the main vernacular in the United States, in my observation, and it invariably implies all these things (artificial color, artificial flavor, corn syrup, and a bit of carbonic acid, which is what you get when you mix phosphoric acid with sodium hydrogen carbonate, and, of course, water, which is the main ingredient.)  "Soda" and, in some regions, "pop" are also acceptable homonyms.

Oddly, "Soft Drink" wasn't an option in this poll, even though it was used in the thread's title.  That alone makes me think that the OP probably agrees that it is the main term used, though why it wasn't a choice is not entirely clear to me.  Presumably the phrase "soft drink" is used in places where if you said that you'd like a "drink" it might render you a bit squiffy.  At least when I say drink I mean a drink.  Qualifying drink with soft sort of means that you don't want a regular drink, which might make you crash into the back wall of your garage if you don't stop drinking soon enough, but rather one that makes you fart and burp.

Soda, sometimes fizzy drink. Most Australians call it soft drink or cool drink, with a fizzy drink minority.


Sounds like Wisconsin/Illinois drivers are America's equivalent of Western Australian drivers - lane hogging and craziness is all too common here...

"Tonic" used to be popular around here but now I think it's mostly old people who still use it.

I think that this term specifically refers only to the UV-fluorescent, bitter, carbonated beverage that folks often mix with gin or vodka. 

Here's one, for example:

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