AstroBoy Online Forums

A week ago in one of my college classes, we talked about dialectal differences in the US. What people call something in one area of the country may not be what people call that same thing in another area of the country. One of the examples brought up in that class, and probably the most prominent example of dialectal differences, is what people call that fizzy drink that so many people love. Is it called soda? Is it called pop? Is it called coke? Maybe its called something else? You can find images of maps on the internet of what people call it in different areas of the US. However, for the purposes of this thread, I'll use this site's map since people can live vote on it:

http://popvssoda.com/

For this thread, I'm curious to ask you all: what do you call those fizzy drinks? If you don't call it soda, pop, or coke, what do you call it?

When I was younger, I called it coke since most people around me called it that. However, I call it soda now.

I call all the fizzy drinks 'soft drinks' here in NZ we called it 'Cola' (coke) but we do call it coke anyway, we also called them 'Peppsy' which is a different name for coke but I don't know some of you are same. also a well known in NZ called L&P which is a New Zealand's kinda own vision of coke.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_%26_Paeroa my favourite!!!

Great idea! Never really throught of that. I'm pretty curious now.

Where I live, it's called several things. Primarily, at least in my family, it is called 'pop,' but 'soda' and sometimes 'soda-pop' are also said. Of course, if I wanted to be more formal, like for an essay, I would maybe use 'pop', but more likely 'soda' or even 'soft drink.' If there was a news story on the subject, it would be referred to as 'soft drink' or 'soda.'

If someone asked me if I wanted a 'coke' or a 'cola,' I would assume they were offering the specific pop Coca-Cola. If offered a 'Peppsy,' I would assume they meant Pepsi, another specific kind of 'pop'.

Reid958 - "World famous in New Zealand" is a great slogan. Adding "since AGES ago" makes it even better, but my favorite is "since quite recently."

Oops, I had the wrong idea, as my current carbonated beverage is SUNKIST 10, & thought the survey was about which brand I prefer.

But anyway, I am specific when talking about it, so, if I am at a FF restaurant, I would say which ever brand/flavor I wanted, though I might be serving myself:

"No Coke; Pepsi." though I prefer the former.

The discussion about culture/sub-cultures' terms/words for things is interesting; as I read classic literature, I find archaic terms frequently.

Well, in Ohio we're supposed to call it pop, but I like the word soda too, so I either switch between the two words, or say "soda pop". Mom always gripes on me for calling it "soda". Gah! As for coke, I just use that for Coca Cola products like Diet Coke.

Also my mom's a heavy Pepsi drinker, and my mom's boyfriend loves Diet Coke. I actually prefer root beer, and fruit flavored sodas, especially Faygo.