pop vs. soda

May 27, 2004 11:57 AM

pop vs. soda
what might the "other" terms be? you are from the far north of minnesota or south central new mexico - what do they call "pop" or "soda" in your neck of the woods?
posted by specialk420 (73 comments total)

Pop, though my father (from southern IL) called it "sody pop." Rather sweet.
posted by tr33hggr at 12:03 PM on May 27, 2004

My brother lives near that "other" area of northern Minnesota, but he's originally from Wisconsin, so it's "pop." No clue what other name you could give it besides pop, soda, and coke.

I've seen other maps like this, but this is by far the best one.
posted by MrAnonymous at 12:04 PM on May 27, 2004

I wonder what the people in "other" land call it- Fizzy Drink?
posted by drezdn at 12:04 PM on May 27, 2004

Oh, here we go. Click on the state name to see what was given as "other."

Heh. "Bubbly."
posted by MrAnonymous at 12:07 PM on May 27, 2004

My brother swears the country is divided into PopSacks and SodaBags. I believe him. We never drew the line, though.
posted by coelecanth at 12:09 PM on May 27, 2004

In parts of Florida, the umbrella term is "coke".

"Do you want a coke?"
"Sure."
"Okay, what kind? I have Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew."
posted by 4easypayments at 12:10 PM on May 27, 2004

"True Bostonians" call it 'tonic'.

I hate that.
posted by jozxyqk at 12:10 PM on May 27, 2004

good find. fun.

my sisters boyfriend spent the better part of a morning combing jakarta for ginger ale (a family tonic as long as i can remember) as my sister labored her way through a bad case of food poisoning back in their hotel - when he had just about given up hope, a kind shop keeper figured out what he had been looking for and proudly proclaimed: "ahhhhhhh... you searching for: canada dry"
posted by specialk420 at 12:13 PM on May 27, 2004

Some interesting "other" responses from my state. My favorite is "Happy Coke Drink."

I call it pop.
posted by SisterHavana at 12:14 PM on May 27, 2004

I call it phosphoric acid laced carbonated sugar water.
posted by prodigalsun at 12:15 PM on May 27, 2004

"True Bostonians" call it 'tonic'.

I hate that.

I think it's pretty rad sometimes; I work in an office (near Boston) with a bunch of out-of-towners and a few locals. It's usually 'soda', but every so often the conversation will get so fast and furious that someone lets fly with a 'tonic'. I love it.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:17 PM on May 27, 2004

wait, how did "When i am asking for one i say...Meow" get 2 votes? i call hanging chad!

besides everyone in lousiana knows it's a cold drink.
posted by danOstuporStar at 12:18 PM on May 27, 2004

Someone calls theirs "MARDOC IS A LACEPANTS AND COULDN'T SMITE HIS WAY OUT OF A WET PAPER BAG."

Would you please pass me a can of MARDOC IS A LACEPANTS AND COULDN'T SMITE HIS WAY OUT OF A WET PAPER BAG., please?
posted by jjray at 12:18 PM on May 27, 2004

Just as an FYI - this is a double post (although the URL has changed) - see September 12, 2002 (317 comments)
posted by anastasiav at 12:21 PM on May 27, 2004

suddenly, so many things (image, self link) make sense. (TIC)
posted by shoepal at 12:21 PM on May 27, 2004

When i am asking for one i say "May you please pass me that alumanin can filled with a flavored carbonated beverage so i can drink it?" or i just say "pass me dat fizzy drink" or i call it by its brand name (MOUNTAIN DDDEEW IS GUD FOR YEWWWW) or i call it pop...pop is the correct term! anyone who thinks soda is insane and crazy!!! (YOU TOO GLORIA!!! ITS POP!!!! POP I SAYYYYYYYY!!!) i R SmArT so I thINK iD KnoW If ITS PoP CONVERT THE WORLD NY PERSON THING CONVERT EM ALLLLLLLLLLLLL AND YOU TOO MARDOC!!! KILL THEM SODA LOVERS MAHWHAHWHAWHAHWAHHAWHA KILLLLLLL ALLL SOOOOODAAAAAA MAHAAHHAH WEEEEE WEEEEEEEEE WEEEEEEE POP POP POP ...ps i dont call my dad pop, i call him dad.........POP!!! I LOVE POP POP ROX DEW DEW DEEEEEEEWWWWW MOUNTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG HARHARHARH DEWWW DDDDDDDDAAAAAA DOOOOOOOOOOOO HAMANHHAAAAAAAHUUMAAN RECORCE DEVELOPMENT!!!!!!! HARRRRRRR WEEEEEEE MEEEOOOOOOOW.........Pop.......if you disagree...DIE!!!!!!!!!...AIM SN KenjikuuvanJT Email = [e-mail] SEND ME MESSAGES POP LOVERS!! SEEEEEEND ME ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL...hmm...i hope i have achieved what i wanted and have gotten the longest message yet but im not sure...whats something i can say to fill it all up?..........Meowmeowmeowmeowmeooooowmix tunnnnne weeeeeeee i love this stie! THIS SITE SUCKS pop NOT SODA iv never called it soda...or coke...unless i want coke fo corse...but i ne ver do...mountain dews better...but most places dont have that...i just get sprite when that happens...you like sprite?....i sure do....sprites good....anyways im sure i have the longest message now so.....BYyyyyyyyeeeeeee....ALOHA IM BACK!!! PPPPPOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPP.........Meow

Yes, I am from Illinois. And I'm scared.
posted by tr33hggr at 12:21 PM on May 27, 2004

If it's a cola, then it's "coke" to me. Everything else is a soft drink, although apparently four people from my state (CA) prefer the phrase "freshly ejaculated manbutter."
posted by malocchio at 12:22 PM on May 27, 2004

That is a fantastic map; thanks specialk420. ‘Pop’ is one of those terms that always used to drive me crazy, since I’m firmly from the NE (or ‘soda’) part of the U.S., but I see that soda is actually the least ‘pop’-ular term overall.

When I was at Duke many decades ago, the snack bar that sold students Coke (the liquid kind, back then) was called the Dope Shop. Apparently from the Dutch word for sauce, or doop. “Dope was sometimes also used to mean soda, possibly because Coca-Cola used to contain very small amounts of cocaine.’”

p.s. An interesting point of trivia about the pop/soda map: that giant county in NW Nebraska that insists on ‘soda’ in the midst of all the ‘pop’ is named Cherry. (Wonder what those people call Cherry Coke?)

on preview: Was that a Google bomb that just hit?
posted by lelilo at 12:22 PM on May 27, 2004

I think the "others" make this link. Here's a couple from Alabama:

splooge

Well since I am from the deep south, I grew up with calling it DRANK, and everyone who doesn't call it that is really really dumb. Sometimes people make fun of us southerners because we wait hold on. I have to eat my squirel now cause my momma said so. Im back. Well anyway it is called drank and that is final.
posted by pardonyou? at 12:24 PM on May 27, 2004

I grew up on Long Island and it was "soda". I moved upstate to Rochester where it's "pop". Same state, different world, I guess.
posted by tommasz at 12:33 PM on May 27, 2004

Also, don't forget the old Harvard survey.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:34 PM on May 27, 2004

Another dialect survey (previously discussed here) covers this, too, and many other phrases.

This one goes way back -- anastasiav points to the double; (here's the triple.)
posted by ook at 12:36 PM on May 27, 2004

Ahem.

Can a non-American say something? It's o/t but wth.

Here in Scotland, every non-alcoholic drink, apart from water can answer to "juice". Including carbonated phosphoric acid laced with sugar.

It's irritatingly illogical and unnecessarily confusing, but as Scots make the best "juice" there is I'll forgive 'em for vexing me. To you Americans, I say your government is denying you the best hangover cure there is. Fight the Man. Send a letter or something.
posted by pots at 12:40 PM on May 27, 2004

(dang -- many other phrases)
posted by ook at 12:42 PM on May 27, 2004

I'm from Rochester NY, where it's "pop." But then I moved to Ithaca for school -- less than two hours' drive away -- and quickly started saying "soda" because I was tired of getting laughed at. I suppose I'm a traitor to my heritage, of sorts.
posted by purplemonkie at 12:43 PM on May 27, 2004

lelilo, I think the Dutch derivation for "Dope" makes more sense. I remember my grandparents in Ohio always calling chocolate syrup dope, as in "You want chocolate dope on your ice cream?" Dope, unqualified, seemed to be any kind of syrup.

Good to see my old homeland fighting so strongly for "pop." It's one of the few things I can agree with almost everyone there about. One more time: Why re-use a word that already refers to a specific ice-cream beverage when "pop" is shorter, clearer and just plain better?
posted by soyjoy at 12:48 PM on May 27, 2004

Mass., 'soda', But I have to remember to begin to refer to it as tonic, as in: "That tonic was wikkid pissa."
posted by Davidicus at 12:49 PM on May 27, 2004

In Soviet Russia for many decades the only available sweetened drink was lemonaid. When carbonated drinks began to be introduced "lemonaid" became the defacto name for any and all sweetened drinks.
posted by filchyboy at 12:51 PM on May 27, 2004

Man, those "other" lists are a great read. A handful at random from Arizona:

Ninja Juice
I call them twinkies! I love twinkies! And smashing twinkie cans is soo much fun!
Rocky Mountain Panther Piss
sir lifts a lot
the only time i use pop is when i pop a cap in someones ass for calling it pop....its soda
Crack Roack residue

FWIW, it's "pop" in most of Canada in my experience, but my father - who's from the Ottawa Valley - usually defaults to "soft drink."

Also FWIW, I'm gonna do my best to spread "sir lifts a lot" far and wide. Waiter! A tall glass of sir lifts a lot, please! On the crack roacks, if you don't mind.
posted by gompa at 12:55 PM on May 27, 2004

"Coke" for me, and I've heard exactly the same conversation 4easypayments describes, here in central Indiana. "Soft drink" is sometimes also used if one must disambiguate.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:56 PM on May 27, 2004

Here in the south-east of the UK, "soft drink" or "fizzy drink" seem to be the most common. Saying "pop" would make you sound like an old woman.
posted by reklaw at 12:56 PM on May 27, 2004

In lots of countries (France, Italy, and ex-colonies there of), I've heard them call all sodas Fanta. Didn't Radar O'Reilly call 'em NeHi?
posted by Red58 at 1:03 PM on May 27, 2004

I thought "burpwater" or "fartwater" were fairly widespread, but I only see them in the Dakotas and Nebraska.
posted by joaquim at 1:04 PM on May 27, 2004

Soft drink...wonder the use of the name, because it was usually purchased at the corner liquor stores in California.
posted by thomcatspike at 1:07 PM on May 27, 2004

From the "other" responses: "carbonated beverages in Jasper [Indiana] are called Beer"

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to check real estate listings for Jasper.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 1:09 PM on May 27, 2004

NeHi is an actual brand of soda, dude.
posted by jonmc at 1:13 PM on May 27, 2004

form Mass.

2 Tubgirl Juice
posted by drezdn at 1:23 PM on May 27, 2004

Boisson gazeuse
Liquer
posted by jon_kill at 1:33 PM on May 27, 2004

NeHi is an actual brand of soda, dude.

Ummm... so is "Coke."
posted by soyjoy at 1:41 PM on May 27, 2004

Läsk.
posted by mr.marx at 1:44 PM on May 27, 2004

As someone from deep within the heart of coke territory, I'd like to point out that this usage isn't as confusing as many people assume it must be. Don't ask me to explain it, though. Well, I'll claim that coke is not used exactly as pop or soda is elsewhere. Oftentimes, I think, coke is shorthand for "Coke or some other soft drink".

I'm a soft drink person; but that's deliberate. I betcha we (soft drink people) all have something in common—probably the sticks up our butts.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 1:56 PM on May 27, 2004

Fizzy Lifting Drink.
posted by spilon at 2:22 PM on May 27, 2004

I call it

High-Fructose, Unnecessary, Tooth Rotting, Poison, Obese Children Juice.
posted by wigu at 2:25 PM on May 27, 2004

Soda.

"Pop" is a noise a weasel makes.
posted by falconred at 2:33 PM on May 27, 2004

We call it soda pop.
posted by DailyBread at 2:40 PM on May 27, 2004

"I call it

High-Fructose, Unnecessary, Tooth Rotting, Poison, Obese Children Juice.—wigu

So you want a fucking gold star, or what?
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 2:46 PM on May 27, 2004

I come from "Soda" land, but moved to the land of "PoP" . . . one day my young son asked for a "soda" at the local convenience store. The clerk stared at him a minute then demanded "Ya want a pop?" My son thought he was being threatened and quickly made for the door. Later I explained regional diversity to him.
posted by ahimsakid at 2:51 PM on May 27, 2004

In high school in New Orleans (early 90s), it went something like this:

A: "You want a Coke?"
Me: "Yeah"
A: "What kind?"

I also remember TimeSaver and/or Circle K doing a "Coke in the morning.... Ahhh!" campaign for a while, too.
posted by bafflegab at 2:53 PM on May 27, 2004

"Pop" is a noise a weasel makes.
goes
posted by thomcatspike at 3:07 PM on May 27, 2004

Co'cola
posted by kirkaracha at 3:15 PM on May 27, 2004

The Dutch call it frisdrank, 'fris' for short. Fris means cool/cold/refreshing.
posted by prolific at 3:53 PM on May 27, 2004

I come from "Soda" land, but moved to the land of "PoP" . . . one day my young son asked for a "soda" at the local convenience store. The clerk stared at him a minute then demanded "Ya want a pop?" My son thought he was being threatened and quickly made for the door. Later I explained regional diversity to him.

When my mother was ten years old her family moved from California to southern Ohio. Her father was from the South, her mother was from Brooklyn, and at home the fizzy stuff was called "soda". She went to an ice cream shop(pe) and ordered a "cherry soda", by which she meant a cherry Coke, but the Ohio shopkeeper made her what they called a Cherry Soda, namely a drink containing ice cream, cherry syrup, and soda water. There was an eleven cent difference in price, and my mother (being from a rather poor family) did not have enough money. A stranger ended up paying the extra cents.
posted by quarantine at 4:01 PM on May 27, 2004

Tso-tso-tsola (like the way you would pronounce the word tsar/czar)

[/czech pronunciation]
posted by vignettist at 4:22 PM on May 27, 2004

I'm sorry but I find calling all soda "coke" really really dopey. But hey, look how many people do it!

I'm really enjoying puzzling out this map. What's the deal with the big soda area there in the middle all by itself? Those can't all be northeasterners who moved. Also, you can see the snowbirds in south Florida. And Alaska is all confused. And how weird is it that the border between Texas/NM and Colorado/Kansas is so strongly defined.
As for tawnic, I'm surprised "other" didn't make a showing in the Boston area.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:21 PM on May 27, 2004

it's weird how this subject does the rounds every so often, not just here but on lots of other forums as well.

i call it pop, after growing up with the pop shoppe, where you could mix and match your own case of flavours.
posted by t r a c y at 5:22 PM on May 27, 2004

So you want a fucking gold star, or what?

Whoa, Ethereal Blight, did someone piss in your wheaties today? Why pounce on wigu like that?
posted by beth at 5:34 PM on May 27, 2004

"bibita gassata" -- carbonated beverage, in Italian
posted by matteo at 5:38 PM on May 27, 2004

One of the diverse (a.k.a made-up) "other" entries was 'sugedy smack-smack'. I like it.
posted by dgaicun at 5:47 PM on May 27, 2004

The NY answers are hilarious. There's the crew that looks down on "pop" users - you might as well throw out the rest of the results between the coasts anyway! They are still in the 1950s. When they get electricity and indoor plumbing, they'll switch to soda.
And then there's the crew that feels put upon by "soda" users - People who say "soda" need to get the stick out of their ass and stop pretending to be sophisticated.

Ah the vast complexities of soda vs pop hostility. This is crying out for a PhD thesis.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:28 PM on May 27, 2004

beth> Whoa, Ethereal Blight, did someone piss in your wheaties today? Why pounce on wigu like that?

MeFi is slowly corrupting him. Like a simple Mesopotamian farmer who comes to Babylon he's beginning to freak out. Just kick back, grab a can of [insert regionally appropriate term here] and enjoy the show.
posted by snarfodox at 7:51 PM on May 27, 2004

I used to hear "Get me a coke" all the time when, yes, that could've meant Dr. Pepper. I remember writer at my college newspaper writing that "cokes" had been banned at a particular basketball game, due to the throwing of cups at the court at the previous game. (Curiously, this student was from Illinois, but had been at school in the South for a few years.)

Now, however, I'm more frequently hearing queries to the effect of, "Can you get me a big-ass water?"
posted by raysmj at 12:20 AM on May 28, 2004

It's called sasparilla, you consarned owlhoots!
posted by MrBadExample at 1:35 AM on May 28, 2004

In the UK asking for 'Coke' will get you either Coca Cola or Pepsi. Asking for 'Soda' will probably get you tonic water. The generic term for a soft drink is 'pop', or 'fizzy pop'.
posted by metaxa at 5:22 AM on May 28, 2004

pots,

I'd say the more common Scottish term is "ginger" as in, "sees some o' that ginger a'm feeling guy drouthy."
posted by johnny novak at 5:25 AM on May 28, 2004

The Soda area in the middle is due to St. Louis, which, according to one person I know, is a city full of "northeastern-wannabes." I'm originally from St. Louis and I'm proud of our anti-midwestern Sodaness. I've always thought Pop people sounded kind of backwards.
posted by zsazsa at 7:20 AM on May 28, 2004

North East UK. When I was a kid, my best friend used to call it "pop" and there used to be a lorry that delivered to his house that he called the "pop wagon" (my family bought ours at the supermarket instead) - anyway, "pop" was all a bit common for me - I've always called it a "fizzy drink".
posted by Blue Stone at 11:21 AM on May 28, 2004

growing up with the pop shoppe,
I remember them; which made me think at the time, those calling it "pop", shopped there.
posted by thomcatspike at 11:26 AM on May 28, 2004

'Soft drink' can also mean non-carbonated drinks. In the UK this is particularly obvious due to the prevalence of orange squash (and other cordials). (As an aside, when I was in LA for a couple of months.. I couldn't find any cordial ANYWHERE!! Seems Americans pay $3 a bottle for fruit juice ;-))

I'd generally call a drink by its direct name.. Coke, Diet Coke, Orangeade, Limeade.. This seems to be the same as all the people I talk to regularly. I can't say I've heard anyone except old people use the term 'fizzy drink' except for when I was a kid.

All that said, as someone who thinks of linguistics as a hobby, that map is fascinating!
posted by wackybrit at 12:03 PM on May 28, 2004

I knew a girl From Wales, who called any cheap fizzy drink. Chicken.
posted by ollybee at 12:30 PM on May 28, 2004

The patterns are interesting. For example, it provides strong evidence for the north/south split in Indiana. The tendency What is up with that "soda" cluster around St. Louis? The NE and California "soda" thing are pretty obvious but what is up with Eastern WI? And it reflects the cultural split between California and the NW.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 1:10 PM on May 28, 2004

as I said in the previous thread:

where I come from in the north of england:

- lemonade will get you 7Up/sprite or own-brand equivalent
- 'coke' will get you coca cola or pepsi (within the drinks context at least)
- the generic term for all carbonated drinks is usually soft drinks, or sometimes (usually amongst children), fizzy drinks - as soft drinks is usually meant to denote non-alcoholic drinks, and may often include juices/cordials
- soda will get you carbonated water
- tonic will get you tonic water with quinine
posted by kitschbitch at 1:14 PM on May 29, 2004

'Soft drink' can also mean non-carbonated drinks. In the UK this is particularly obvious due to the prevalence of orange squash (and other cordials).

What's a cordial?
posted by notclosed at 1:32 PM on May 29, 2004

cordial is more generally known as squash, and is a concentrated fruit drink that you dilute with water - though orange, lime and blackcurrant cordial tend to be stocked in pubs to be added to alcoholic drinks too (eg lager with a lime top, or my favoured spirit-based drink, vodka lime and soda - in this case, soda being carbonated water). it is typically a children's drink - though even now, at 22, I tend to guzzle sugar free weak squash as a good way to get my daily water allowance, as I have a disgusting sweet tooth and sugar-free orange or lemon-flavoured water is more palatable than the disgusting old-pipes-flavoured water I get here in my very very old building here in oxford.

when I lived in the US for a brief while, I don't remember ever seeing bottles of cordial/squash sold in any supermarkets - seems definitely to be more a UK thing. though the US does have kool-aid style powders which you dilute, which we don't have here at all, that I'm aware of. though I'd be surprised if bottled cordial doesn't exist in any form at all anywhere in the US (perhaps you have another name for it?)
posted by kitschbitch at 3:00 PM on May 29, 2004