Which word do you typically use for carbonated soft drinks?

[DavidB.]

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.

[Cranberry]

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".

[Bojack Horseman]

Pop, obviously. (Midwesterner)

[101spotted]

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

[MasterJedi]

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

[Phony Moderate]

Fizzy drink.

[Hatman 🍁]

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

[politicallefty]

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

[Goldwater]

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.

[Mr. Smith]

Fizzy drink.

I use that too.

[AndrewTX]

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.

[Mr. Illini]

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

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.

[Badger]

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".

[Oldiesfreak1854]

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. 

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.

[MasterJedi]

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. 

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.

[MasterJedi]

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

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.

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.

[Wells]

I use "soda" and "coke" interchangeably.

[Kingpoleon]

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

[Mr. Illini]

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

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.

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.

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

[Oldiesfreak1854]

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. 

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.

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?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

"Mixer".

[TJ in Oregon]

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

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.

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.

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

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"

[angus]

> mfw when Americans call bubblybubblysugarjuice "soda"

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.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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