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Coke, Pop or Soda? Question #63

April 9, 2010 by Laura 108 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

You knew the Coke/Pop/Soda question was coming after this question, didn’t you? 

We all know that I don’t drink Pepsi anymore. I’ve been Pepsi free for over four years now. However, I still miss my Pepsi so if you’d all kindly whisper while we talk about this subject, I’d appreciate it. Otherwise this will be a difficult topic and I may be faced with temptation. 

Just kidding. I’ll be fine. I won’t give in. I won’t have any. Not even a sip.

However, if you and I are together and you are drinking a Pepsi, I may ask you for a sniff. My sister-in-law always lets me smell her Pepsi when we’re together. She just smiles, shrugs and hands it over…because what else is she supposed to do? She married my brother so she has to love me through my weird Pepsi addicted ways. Ah, everyone should be so blessed as to have a sister-in-law who lets you smell her Pepsi. Michele, I love ya. I can’t wait to smell your Pepsi  sit down for a long visit next month!

So, growing up, I always called sugar filled carbonated beverages ‘pop’. When I went to college, I learned that people from different regions call it different names…names that I (in my immaturity) thought were just plain weird. I thought people only called it ‘soda’ in old movies. Lo and behold, real live people called it ‘soda’ and they weren’t even kidding. And then there were the people that called it ‘Coke’ even if it was a Dr. Pepper or a Sprite…or of all scandalous things…a Pepsi. How dare these people call my beloved Pepsi…a Coke?

Yeah, I’m over it now. In fact, I even started calling it ‘soda’ after a while because everyone around me said it that way. (Although, as a side note, I do get a bit testy when I hear people call ‘margarine’…’butter’. If it’s margarine, it ain’t buttuh. “Don’t you mess with butter’s good name like that,” I scream! In my head. While I smile.)

Well, anyway…I do believe this Coke/Pop/Soda thing is regional. It seems that folks from different parts of the world call it different things. Oh boy, and I even met someone last summer that calls it ‘Soda Pop’. I thought Opie was the only one who called it that…but it sure was cute coming out of the six foot three inch fella I heard it from last summer. 

So what do you call it? Have you found it to be different it different areas of the world?

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Filed Under: Questions for You Tagged With: beverage, coke, pepsi, pop, question, region, soda

Comments

  1. Molly White says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:41 pm

    It’s coke here, for sure! We are in the deep south. In fact, Dr. Pemberton lived in our town for a while, so we are fairly partial to “the real thing” :- )

    Reply
  2. Laurie Plath says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:50 pm

    I call it what it is…if it’s Coke it’s Coke, if it’s Pepsi it’s Pepsi and so on. Although if it’s generic, it’s soda. I have relatives in Arkansas that call it “sodi”. It actually sounds like they’re saying “saudi”. How goofy is that?

    Reply
  3. Sharon says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:50 pm

    In Colorado it is pop.

    Reply
  4. autumn says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:51 pm

    in my world it’s pop!!!

    Reply
  5. Sheila says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:51 pm

    I grew up in CA, it was called soda. My UT bred hubby grew up calling it pop. I thought pop was a weird word. :o)

    The funniest one is his grandparents. The first word is what they say, the second is what it really is.

    mayonnaise=Miracle Whip
    Best Foods=mayonnaise

    I’ll insert right here that I’m NOT a fan of Miracle Whip, so I have to pay attention so I don’t get the wrong thing!

    It’s funny now people say different things for food.

    Reply
  6. Stephenie says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    I grew up calling it all “Coke” but nowadays (well, for the last 6 weeks anyway) I’ve been calling it “GONE”! As in, gone from my home and hopefully, my life! Trying to kick this habit once and for all!

    Reply
  7. Kimberly says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:55 pm

    Soda – definitely soda. Always has been. I’m a So Cal girl and I was shocked when I went to school in Utah that people called it pop or coke. As far as my SoCal brain knows…coke is an illegal drug. Just goes to show you how different things are.

    Reply
  8. Suzanne Rice says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:55 pm

    Phoenix Arizona…it’s Pop!

    Reply
  9. Mia says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:56 pm

    I used to call everything “Coke” when I was young and single, until someone I worked with called it “soda” or “soda pop”. I started calling it soda pop, too – because “Coke” just didn’t make sense. My family really gave me a hard time, even though it is a Southern term – I’m from North Georgia. I now have a family of my own and we live just a few miles away in TN. My kids call it “soda pop” or “soda”. Our youngest (5) despises carbonated beverages, but the other two love Sprite. I like Diet Pepsi a lot better than Diet Coke…it’s sweeter.

    Reply
  10. Ashley says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:56 pm

    I’m in Texas and it’s coke here. If you say pop or soda around here, you get a funny look.
    We’re moving to CA this summer and I’m a little scared of being made fun of…I have quite the accent and say things like ain’t and ya’ll.

    Reply
    • Denita says

      April 9, 2010 at 8:21 pm

      I say just be you. A good friend of mine is from Texas and never stopped saying ain’t and y’all and we just thought she was so charming just the way she was!

      Reply
  11. Michelle says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:56 pm

    I’m from Ky and it’s all coke here, any of it, even Pepsi! ;)

    Reply
  12. Rachel says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:56 pm

    Being raised in KC Missouri, we always called it pop…until I moved to Louisiana. My first year in my new high school, I went to the concession stand and asked for a coke. The guy asked me what kind. ???? A coke. Just a coke. The guy got frustrated with me and asked me again what kind. I told him a coca cola, what else do you want me to say?? He said Finally, why didn’t you just say that!?….,yea that’s when I realized I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

    Reply
    • elizabeth says

      April 10, 2010 at 10:57 am

      That’s funny :) I live in South florida and call everything coke. Once in a while I might call it a soda. But usually coke. Never pop.

      Reply
  13. Cammie says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    I grew up (and still live) in Oregon…always called it pop. Until enough Californians raided the Oregon territory and said soda so much that I now call it soda involuntarily. Although, pop does occasionally pass my lips. Oh and did you know that you can sometimes get Pepsi made with cane sugar at Costco? Not that it is healthy or anything…but just so ya know. :)

    Reply
  14. Lisa says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    We call it pop. I’m in Oklahoma.

    Reply
  15. melanie says

    April 9, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    I grew up in Iowa drinking pop. Lots of pop, I might add. My older siblings said they couldn’t have it plain – it had to be half Pepsi and half milk. (yup, dairy farm)

    Then I moved to Wisc where they called it soda. And when you wanted a drink of water, you went to the bubbler for it. Cute, eh? Now people look at me funny when I call the drinking fountain a bubbler (we’re back in Iowa).

    Oh, and you can go ahead and verbalize that problem to the offensive margarine people, please! Only BUTTER should be called butter, thank you.

    =)

    Reply
  16. Alyson says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:03 pm

    Another Southern CA girl here – we call it soda.

    Reply
  17. Katie says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:03 pm

    I lived my entire life in the south so I call in Coke and then 10 months ago we moved to Chicagoland and everyone calls in Pop. I refuse to give in. It will always be Coke to me…eventhough I do not drink it.

    Reply
  18. Camille says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:03 pm

    I grew up in Michigan calling it pop. My husband is from Long Island he calls it soda. Now I call it soda. We also have issues over “sucker” (he calls it lollipop) and tennis shoes (he calls them sneakers). And out here in the wild west, we non-natives “grill”, but the natives “BBQ”. They even call their grills (as in the noun) Barbecues! WEIRD! :-)

    Reply
    • Kris Mays says

      April 9, 2010 at 8:46 pm

      Yes, I grew up here in the West and we always call it BBQ, the verb and the noun.

      Reply
  19. marcie says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:07 pm

    Grew up in PA farm country- it was soda- now live in Ohio(I took a chance and moved far away-hehe!) and we now call it mostly pop although if you say soda people know what it is. I personally do not like the stuff except MT. DEW which is horrible for you- once a year I get it as a treat and drink it slowly. The last few years I have not been able to finish the single serve bottle- progress!

    Reply
  20. Sheena says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    I grew up in Texas calling it coke. “You want a coke?” “Sure!” “What do you want?” “Sprite.” Now I live in Ohio, and it’s pop. I’ve even started calling it pop. It’s all that silly husband’s fault! :)

    Reply
  21. Denita says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:19 pm

    I was born in SoCal and we called it soda. (My mother was also a Pepsi-aholic.) Then we moved to eastern WA state and everybody there called it pop, so I started saying that too. When I moved to college in Seattle, everyone made fun of me (especially my future hubby) for saying pop so I went back to saying soda. When we graduated we moved to the Bay Area and it was still soda- phew! We now live in the Denver area and it’s still soda, although a few people I know call it pop. The strangest thing to me is how those who say soda have such strong feelings about the word! Those who say pop just grew up saying it that way.

    Reply
  22. Jodie says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:29 pm

    I am from a part of WI that calls it pop. But now i live in a part of WI that calls it soda. I still call it pop and am trying really hard not to drink it! :) (Melanie – where I am from (western WI) it is a drinking fountain, but where I live now (eastern WI) it is bubbler, I never even heard that word until college)

    Reply
  23. Jessie says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:34 pm

    Grew up calling it “pop”. Still do, mostly. Although I don’t drink it anymore.

    My husbands extended family calls it all “Coke”. As in, “I’ll have a Coke.” “What kind?”

    Gah! This is indeed madness. (We’re all from Oklahoma, so I don’t know what gives.)

    Reply
  24. Betsy says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:39 pm

    My husband and I grew up in upstate New York where we drank soda, ate lollipops and wore sneakers. Now we live in Michigan where we drink pop, eat suckers and wear tennis shoes. We sometimes slip into calling soda, “pop” – like the natives, but we can’t say “tennis shoes” for sneakers(that’s just too weird!) Our kids have been saying (and eating) suckers, though. (but most of them have been born and raised here in Michigan – guess assimilation is to be expected – to some extent).

    Reply
  25. Kris Mays says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:42 pm

    I’m from Northern California and it was always soda. Here in Oregon, I hear it called Pop a lot. But there are so many transplants in my town, I’m not sure what the regional name for it is.

    I remember the first time I heard it called Pop -it sounded real strange to me….

    Reply
  26. Em. says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:45 pm

    Here in Michigan we bake with soda (as in comma baking) and we drink pop. At least that’s the running joke. I occasionally say soda when I’m around people who aren’t from here. My husband’s grandparents are transplants from MI to Mississippi and I’m not sure how they’ve learned to adapt to the “Sure, I’ll have a Coke” for everything. I would think that would be terribly confusing.

    (And I’m so far pop free as well … since Ash Wednesday this year. Let’s hope this sticks.)

    Reply
  27. Tara says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:46 pm

    Growing up in AL, everything was Coke. When we moved to north FL (not really all that far from AL) everyone called it soda.

    Reply
  28. Jessica says

    April 9, 2010 at 8:48 pm

    Hubby says he grew up calling in pop in Ohio. We live north of Houston and both call it soda. Although I also grew up here and called it coke in High School. Don’t know why. “What kind of coke do you want?” “Why, Dr. Pepper, of course.” We all did it.

    Reply
  29. Renee says

    April 9, 2010 at 9:13 pm

    VA here. Hubby calls is soda. I call it drink. I never paid any attention to it until this post. Hubby says drink can be anything(water, lemonaide etc.) but anything(water, lemonaide) I call by its name. Even though we dont drink drinks.(see) LOL
    God bless

    Reply
  30. Donna says

    April 9, 2010 at 9:46 pm

    Here in New York (where I grew up) and New Jersey (where I currently live) it is all soda. If you want a specific kind of soda, then you ask for your coke, pepsi, sprite, root beer, etc. But generally speaking it is all soda. I’d love to hear how you conquered your pepsi addition. Yes, you are speaking to a fellow pepsi addict. I gave it up for lent, and boy was it a sacrifice, and I thought maybe I’d be done with it afterwards, but no, I still crave it every day. So not good for me, I know, but oh so hard to resist.

    Reply
  31. Patty says

    April 9, 2010 at 9:48 pm

    Coke is Coke and Pepsi is Pepsi here (we’re in the south, but my mom’s family, from the north, usually calls it pop.

    Reply
  32. Jennifer says

    April 9, 2010 at 10:15 pm

    Here in Georgia, it’s Coke, no matter what it is…..well, unless it’s Mtn. Dew! Whoo-wee! Can I get an amen to the great taste of that stuff? Seriously, I’m not sure I could ever give that up….pretty sure it’ll be in heaven! LOL! :)

    Reply
  33. Vanessa says

    April 9, 2010 at 10:18 pm

    In new zealand we dont say pop or soda we say fizzy drink.

    Reply
  34. Laura says

    April 9, 2010 at 10:40 pm

    Kansas here, our family uses ‘soda’ but I know lots of people that use all the variations you mentioned. The main oddball word usage is my mom calling kitchen cabinets ‘built-ins.’ That always cracks me up! A friend of ours puts things in our ‘ice box’ which is really just our fridge. I love hearing what other people name things, especially when they think nothing of it until they get a puzzled look.

    Reply
  35. Robyn says

    April 9, 2010 at 11:04 pm

    BC Canada – it’s Pop! But we mostly just call things what they are. Oh, and here we have Grapefruit flavoured pop (which is awesome) and everyone calls it pamplemousse (which is french, and since we’re bilingual everything has french labelling as well as english!)
    The worst experience I ever had with butter was when I once sent my sisters to the store for it and they came back with margarine because we had always grown up calling margarine butter! They didn’t realize I meant the real thing!

    Reply
  36. Dawnette Thomas says

    April 10, 2010 at 12:56 am

    Raised in California, currently living in Washington and I have always called it soda.

    Reply
  37. Julie in Australia says

    April 10, 2010 at 5:23 am

    Woo Hoo I know you will all laugh but in Australia we call it “soft drink”. So if someone was wanting to buy Coke, Pepsi or Sprite you would go to the softdrink aisle at the supermarket where all of these drinks (soft drinks) are kept.

    When we met a couple from Canada in our Bible Study group we all laughed and laughed when they said they brought some “pop” to drink.

    Julie in Australia

    Reply
  38. Carmen says

    April 10, 2010 at 7:05 am

    Here in the North East/Mid-Atlantic it is always “soda”.

    Reply
  39. Beth says

    April 10, 2010 at 7:09 am

    I grew up in Montana and we called it “pop”, but my friends from CA called it “soda.” Now I call it “soda” because I think it sounds better.

    Reply
  40. Mermaid says

    April 10, 2010 at 7:23 am

    I grew up in TX and have lived in many southern states. It is all Coke. If I ask for a Coke – I really want a Dr Pepper. When my husband goes to the store for Cokes, he comes back with Dr Pepper or Mtn Dew Cherry (for him). Our addiction runs deep – we are working on it.

    Reply
  41. Cari says

    April 10, 2010 at 7:32 am

    Here in New England the older generation (60 and over) refer to it as “tonic” and the rest of us call it soda.

    Reply
  42. April Driggers says

    April 10, 2010 at 8:03 am

    I’m a native Texan… and we ask people, “Hey, you want a Coke?” And if they say, “Yes.” You kindly ask, “What kind?” My dad, when he was being silly, would ask if we wanted a “soda water.” He, too, native Texan so where he got that is beyond me! :)

    Reply
  43. KD says

    April 10, 2010 at 8:09 am

    I’m in the St. Louis area and we call it soda. Coke is either a brand of cola or something illegal! My husband is from central IL and called it pop growing up – now he says soda pop.

    Reply
  44. Jennifer says

    April 10, 2010 at 8:09 am

    I grew up in MD and then NJ and now live in NoVA… and it’s always been soda. Of course, anyway you say it, it’s all bad for you ;) No judgments here though as this is coming from someone who was drinking 6 or more cans of Coke a day while undergoing chemo a few years ago. It was the only thing that tasted good. Now I don’t touch the stuff, not because I don’t like it… I do (sigh), but because I can’t drink just one… and so it’s better to not drink any. Right?!

    Reply
  45. JudyH says

    April 10, 2010 at 8:13 am

    I grew up in Minnesota and called it pop. When I went to college in Michigan I learned to call it soda as that is what everyone seemed to call it. I live in FL now and we call it soda here. I, too, am a soda sniffer and have been know to ask to sniff a friend’s pepsi as I gave all soda up last year.

    Reply
  46. jamie says

    April 10, 2010 at 8:41 am

    In KY, where it is coke!

    Reply
  47. Kimberlee says

    April 10, 2010 at 9:07 am

    I always call it what it is…a Sprite, a Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, etc. However, when referring to it in general, I call it a soda. Sometimes to be honery, I call it a carbonated beverage. =)

    Reply
  48. Meshellyn says

    April 10, 2010 at 9:28 am

    In Kansas I call it pop, unless I’m calling it by it’s specific name.

    Reply
  49. Catherine says

    April 10, 2010 at 9:29 am

    Soda, all the way! :-)

    Reply
  50. Danielle says

    April 10, 2010 at 9:37 am

    Grew up and I’m still in PA… soda.

    Reply
  51. B. Keefer says

    April 10, 2010 at 9:50 am

    Another Texan here. It’s coke. “I’m on my way to the grocery, what kind of coke do you want?”

    Reply
  52. cheryl says

    April 10, 2010 at 10:07 am

    I’m from Idaho, and we always called it “pop.” But my husband, who is from California, always referred to it as “soda.” My parents (from southern Alberta) called it “pop” as well, and so they fit right in around Idaho. :)

    P.S. Delurking for the first time. I love your recipes!

    Reply
  53. Laura S. says

    April 10, 2010 at 10:18 am

    We call it “pop” here in Kansas. When I lived in Oklahoma they called it “coke” and they call it “Soda” in Maryland.

    Reply
  54. Lori says

    April 10, 2010 at 10:18 am

    Here in Oklahoma, we mostly say “pop”. Occasionally I will call it “soda”, just to be different. Some people call everything “coke”, but the majority just say “pop”.

    Reply
  55. Darcey says

    April 10, 2010 at 10:22 am

    I grew up in Wisconsin and it was definitely “pop”. My husband grew up in New York and calls it Soda. I must only call it Soda now since we now live in New York.

    Reply
  56. elaine says

    April 10, 2010 at 10:25 am

    In Atlanta (home of Coca-Cola HQ) it’s Coke all the way. And, if you’re really feeling southern it’s “Co-cola”

    Reply
  57. Hannah says

    April 10, 2010 at 10:32 am

    Oh its “pop” all the way! And I was born in Oregon, raised in 13 different places and currently live in Oklahoma ;-)

    Reply
  58. Ariana says

    April 10, 2010 at 10:42 am

    I grew up in New Hampsha and we called it “soda.” It wasn’t until I went to college and learned that all my West Coast friends call it “pop.” I now live on the West Coast and can’t myself to call it “pop” b/c I just feel silly calling it that. It’s a hoot that you thought it silly to call it “soda.” Although now that you made me think of it, I think I’ll start calling it “soda pop” from now on b/c I can’t help but smile when I say it.

    Reply
  59. Christy says

    April 10, 2010 at 10:52 am

    I live in Indiana…it’s “pop” here. I also have a Pepsi addiction that I’m trying to recover from (lol) & can’t stand when my Pepsi is called “coke”!

    Reply
  60. Vicki says

    April 10, 2010 at 10:58 am

    Southern Indiana here…in my family we call it either “soft drink” or Coke….eventhough you might prefer Dr. Pepper, Mt. Dew, or whatever. Never Pepsi though..yuck! CF diet Coke for me all the way. (Sorry,all you Pepsi lovers) By the way, butter usually means margarine..if you want butter, we specify “real butter”! Weird, I know! We never had “real” butter growing up and in fact, I didn’t even like the taste until I was an adult. Now that’s all I use! Oh, and mayonnaise always meant Miracle Whip..we never had “real mayo” at home. Now I prefer the “real” mayo to miracle whip. My granddaughter calls all soft drinks “pop”…her daddy corrupted her!!

    Reply
  61. Mombeam says

    April 10, 2010 at 11:15 am

    Where I grew up in northern New England they called it “soda”. When I moved to Oklahoma they called it “pop”. When I moved to Michigan they called it “pop” also. When we go to Syria, they call it (in Arabic) “ghaaz-oh-s” which literally means “gasses”. In Syria they never had Western brands until very recently. They all know Koo-kaa-koo-laa and “Beeb-see” (Pepsi) now but before it was all Canada Dry and local brands. (If you ever venture out to Syria by any chance, I always thought locally produced Ugarit Cola tasted just like Pepsi. Longshot I know, but since you like Pepsi….) LOL. :)

    Reply
  62. Kim says

    April 10, 2010 at 11:18 am

    SODA! I grew up near St. Louis. The first time I heard “pop” was when we moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and I thought it was the stupidest sounding thing in the world. Then I met my husband from Oklahoma who also calls it pop, though I’ve converted him. :-)

    Reply
  63. Shannon says

    April 10, 2010 at 11:42 am

    I live in Oregon and everyone around here says something different. I call it soda becuase when I was a kid my cool, older, Californian cousin said “soda” and I wanted to be like him. I’m totally with you on the butter thing… I also cringe when people call non dairy creamer “cream” or cool whip “whipped cream”. It is just so offensive to my sensibilities!

    Reply
  64. Amanda Y. says

    April 10, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    I’m from central PA and it is soda if it’s carbonated.

    Reply
  65. Angela says

    April 10, 2010 at 12:38 pm

    I grew up and Michigan and we said “pop” or just called all carbinated drinks Pepsi (Coke was like a dirty word). Now I live in Florida and it is soda all the way here, my husband had never heard the term “pop” before he met me :)

    Reply
  66. Steph says

    April 10, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    I am a born and raised Seattleite and my parents and everyone I knew growing up always called it ‘pop.’ For whatever reason though…I have always called it ‘soda.’

    Reply
  67. Mama D says

    April 10, 2010 at 1:31 pm

    I remember southern cousins calling carbonated beverages “a cold drink” or “pop.” I grew up in California, and I think we always called it “soda.” Honestly, I don’t remember, though! :-)

    Reply
  68. Emily says

    April 10, 2010 at 1:32 pm

    I say soda. I live in Michigan but I’m from…all over. :) I’ve heard a lot of southern people say coke, and my Grandpa from Arkansas always said sody-pop.

    Reply
  69. Miracle Quelle says

    April 10, 2010 at 1:44 pm

    We are in coke land here. We even have a Coca-Cola museum, because Coke started right here in Atlanta!

    Reply
  70. Jennifer says

    April 10, 2010 at 2:23 pm

    I have lived in Maryland, Missouri, Georgia, and Pennsylvania and I have always called it soda. ALthough, when I lived in Georgia, some people did say coke, but most said soda.

    Reply
  71. Colleen says

    April 10, 2010 at 3:46 pm

    I grew up in NY and we called it soda. I now live in Nevada and it is definitely regional as it is referred to as “pop” around here. Fortunately I don’t have to call it anything as I don’t drink it all!! :)

    Reply
  72. Glenda says

    April 10, 2010 at 4:05 pm

    I’m in Australia and Aussies ALWAYS call it Soft Drink or Fizzy Drink. :)

    Reply
  73. Jodie says

    April 10, 2010 at 4:11 pm

    Pop, Drinking Fountain, Tennis Shoes, Sucker =)
    I have another one – do you call Physical Education in school “Gym”, “Phy Ed”, or “PE” or something else that I haven’t even heard of? :)

    Reply
  74. Lisamarie says

    April 10, 2010 at 4:21 pm

    I great up in the North Shore of Boston. We called ALL carbonated drinks “TONIC”! It’s true!

    Reply
  75. Megan says

    April 10, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    I call it soda. Many people in these parts refer to it all as Coke. No one here calls it pop. We might have to laugh at them.

    Reply
  76. Brandy says

    April 10, 2010 at 5:04 pm

    Spent a LOT of time in Virginia … and a LOT of time in Michigan. I’ve always called it soda. Only when I was in the deeper south (South Carolina) did I run into people who called it pop.

    We’re in Wyoming now … not sure what people call it around here. I stick with my SODA though LOL

    Reply
    • Joanna says

      April 11, 2010 at 4:02 pm

      You must’ve been visiting some displaced Yankees! Here in South Carolina, it’s always a Coke or a “Cocola”. :)

      Reply
  77. Alison says

    April 10, 2010 at 5:08 pm

    I grew up with soda in California, but my husband (from Wisconsin) insists “soda” sounds ridiculous…it’s supposed to be “pop.”

    Ultimately, we discovered this map, which should clear everything up! It’s color-coded counties in the USA, by what the appropriate term used should be. :) http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/308-the-pop-vs-soda-map/

    Reply
  78. Saph @ Frugal Wife Blog says

    April 10, 2010 at 5:09 pm

    I’m from NY and we call it soda. Now I’m in FL and I still hear soda. :)

    Reply
  79. Abigail says

    April 10, 2010 at 5:46 pm

    I grew up with it called soda, but when I learned some people call it pop, I thought that was fun and old fashioned so I started calling it that, but my sister-in-law has serious issues with it being called pop so my three year old calls it soda pop.
    When I worked at Disneyland it would confuse me to know end when someone would order a “coke” and get upset when I gave them a coke. To me a Coke is a cola not sprite or root beer, etc!!

    Reply
  80. EllaJac says

    April 10, 2010 at 6:02 pm

    In the NW it’s “pop”.

    Regionally, though (and this has little to do with your question)…

    We were in Tanzania Africa some years ago, and there were 3 signs on every little retail outpost. “Coca-Cola,” “Fanta,” and “Blue Omo.” We shortly learned that Fanta was also pop, orange usually. One of our group went to order something to drink, and asked some guy, “what about the Blue Omo, is that good?” The African man burst out laughing, as did the rest of us when we learned it was the powdered laundry detergent that people used to wash their clothes (in the rivers).

    Reply
  81. Heather says

    April 10, 2010 at 6:12 pm

    I live in Wisconsin and call it soda. It may have to do with my parents coming from South Dakota, though. But my husband whose family is Wisconsin through and through also calls it soda, so go figure!

    My parents live in KY and everything there is Coke, even the white sodas. The only one that is different is their beloved Ale 81. VERY regional…say it out “a late one” and it is kind of ginger ale like. A taste they are all in love with and separate from the rest of the ‘cokes’ out there!

    Heather

    Reply
  82. Dawn says

    April 10, 2010 at 6:14 pm

    Growing up in SC, we called any type of soft drink a “drink”. If you meant iced tea or something else, you specified that. When asked if you wanted a “drink”, it meant a soft drink. And a hearty YES!!! to the lady who mentioned that all us true Southerners call Coke “Co- Cola”. Never heard my grandmother call it anything else!!
    And I love Pepsi too…just don’t keep it in the house.

    Reply
  83. Megan says

    April 10, 2010 at 6:45 pm

    We have a Pepsi bottling company out this way. It’s also the only brand of soda they served at http://www.ecu.edu

    Reply
  84. Melinda says

    April 10, 2010 at 7:18 pm

    I grew up calling it pop (I’m from MN, but my parents are from WI), and had no idea about the “coke” thing until high school when a family from Texas started coming to our church. Then I had friends in college who called it “soda”. Now I call it soda, too. I don’t know why. I guess it sounds better to me or something. Go figure.

    Reply
  85. Nicky says

    April 10, 2010 at 8:37 pm

    I grew up in RI and its SODA! A “pop” is what you get when someone punches you. And “coke” is the only yummy kind of SODA made!
    I live in KS now and still find some of these regional word things annoying! Thong/flip-flop, cart/carriage/buggy, beach/lake, bubbler/water fountain…and the list goes on!

    Reply
  86. Marla says

    April 10, 2010 at 9:41 pm

    I live in Oklahoma, I call it a coke. Sometimes I call it pop, but not very often.

    Reply
  87. Lori says

    April 10, 2010 at 9:58 pm

    In populated areas of Wisconsin, it’s usually referred to as soda. In rural areas, pop. When I lived in Texas, it was definitely a coke. When in Rome….

    Reply
  88. blair says

    April 10, 2010 at 10:04 pm

    i grew up here in oklahoma city, and i have always, since i can remember, said “you want a drink?” and then specified what we had like “coke, dr pepper, sprite” etc… if anyone actually eats margarine, you should read about the hydrogenation process.. it makes me wana barf.

    Reply
  89. Marie says

    April 10, 2010 at 10:34 pm

    I had never really thought about it until recently. A new friend moved here from GA and everything is a coke to her. I realized that I call it soda. Maybe it is a regional thing!!

    Reply
  90. Shelley says

    April 10, 2010 at 11:18 pm

    Florida Cracker here- COKE all the way, baby! No matter what ‘kind’ of coke…I, too didn’t realize that other people called it ‘soda’ or ‘pop’ until I was in college. But throughout my entire life, born and bred here in the Tampa Bay area, it is COKE.

    Reply
  91. Crystal says

    April 10, 2010 at 11:18 pm

    I was born in Ohio where we called it pop. When I met my husband 11 yrs ago I called it pop and he said nooo it’s called soda (he’s from Maryland). My family still calls it pop. I usually call it soda unless I want to tease him then I say pop.

    Reply
  92. Tiffani says

    April 10, 2010 at 11:57 pm

    So I am another Texan who always called it “coke.” I moved to San Diego and everyone there called it soda. For the longest I would ask for a coke and get a coke…even though I was really hoping they’d ask me…”what kind?….” to which I’d kindly answer sprite…but now…I always got Coke. So oddly enough, I am now known to ask for a soda and get a coke…now that I am so used to drinking it! lol

    Reply
  93. Samantha says

    April 11, 2010 at 3:28 am

    Another Australian here! It’s either “soft drink” or, if we’re talking to the kids, “fizzy drink”.

    Reply
  94. carla says

    April 11, 2010 at 7:39 am

    Here in Missouri most people seem to call everything Pop. When I traveled to DC to visit my brother I ordered a diet pop and the guy looked at me like I was crazy….my brother corrected me to say it was Soda there!

    Reply
  95. Barbara says

    April 11, 2010 at 1:43 pm

    In Texas is was “Coke” In Georgia it is either “Coke” or “soft drink”

    Reply
  96. Sarah @ Mum In Bloom says

    April 11, 2010 at 3:45 pm

    I’m Canadian and call it “pop” too. It’s a special treat in our family which we can only have when we eat out or when I cook something special and serve ginger ale for the kids. Speaking of which, check out the recipe I found today to make it from scratch
    http://oneperfectbite.blogspot.com/2010/04/homemade-ginger-ale-and-candied-ginger.html

    Reply
  97. Adriane says

    April 11, 2010 at 5:23 pm

    Louisianian here – Growing up I always called it “Coke” – no matter what type of cola it was. Until I went on a school trip to Colorado where I found out that people used words like “pop” or “soda”. (There were people from many states there besides Colorado.) I decided that soda made sense because a Coke is not a Dr. Pepper and such. So I have since used the word soda. I can not recall a time where I’ve heard someone around here use the word pop.

    Reply
  98. Jessica says

    April 11, 2010 at 8:15 pm

    I grew up in WV and we always called it “pop”. Now I live in NC and there are people here from all over, so I hear a variety. Usually never “coke” though.

    Reply
  99. JenW says

    April 12, 2010 at 7:25 am

    I am from Arkansas, and anything with bubbles in it is coke. I recently moved to Pennsylvania and went to a local restaurant here for lunch (dinner for me but lunch for them, HA!). It being the middle of summer, even though it was only 85 degrees (halleluia!), I asked the waitress for tea. She gave me this look as though I had spoken in a foreign language. She then wandered over to a glass front cold case and got me a Liptons ice tea in a bottle. A BOTTLE!!! EWWWWW! That stuff numbed my tongue with all the chemicals and extra citric acid they added to the bottle to disguise the fact that the tea was not from tea leaves. It tasted like powdered tea, which I was an expert on because my step dad from Texas always insisted on having powdered tea.

    Anyway, back to my original point. Apparently they do not believe in iced sweet tea in the north during summer. The best thing about the south in summer, besides a good air conditioner, is sweet tea. With lemon, preferably. The carbonation in cokes, even when iced, is detrimental to staying hydrated, which is the real reason behind drinking at all.

    We also go to the “Wal-Marts.” To most in Arkansas, this is possessive, as in “Wal-Mart’s store.” In my family, unfortunately for me when I was a child, it was plural, and I took it as a threat that we were going to hit multiple Wal-Marts before we came home. My family also says “ideal” instead of “idea,” and “favort” instead of “favorite,” and “yallow” instead of “yellow,” and “deaf” instead of “death.” As in “You liked to scared me to deaf.” And “That death man that I work with..” You get the picture. Sorry for the information overload. Do you have any other funny ones that you hear, or is it just me?

    Reply
  100. Mrs Team S says

    April 12, 2010 at 10:16 am

    “Pop” growing up in Northern California but now I live in Texas and it is definatley “Coke”. :)

    Reply
  101. Step says

    April 13, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    Live in Michigan now and it’s called pop here. Used to live in New York and it’s called soda there. Stubborn thing that I am, I still call it soda. Pop is someone’s dad — lol!

    Reply
  102. Angie says

    April 14, 2010 at 12:28 am

    I grew up in Virginia and it was “soft drink”!

    Reply
  103. DorthyM says

    April 29, 2010 at 1:47 pm

    When I was growing up, everything was Coke. “You want a coke?” “Yeah.” “What you want, we got coke, Pepsi, or Orange.” Or it was a “drink.”

    These days some of my kin has defected to the North (read Michigan and Indiana). They call it pop there and some of us true southernors (not me) call it pop down here too. The rest of us call it soda.
    As for calling it “drink” no one does that anymore. I was informed that a drink has alcohol in it. lol. Fine. I’m trying to give up soda so hand over the Pepsi so I can sniff it too! :)

    Reply
  104. Ashleigh says

    August 25, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    I just had to comment … I have been reading your healthy eating journey … which is a process I have been on for the last 18 months …

    But anyways when you said you “sniffed Pepsi” I laughed out loud. Hard. I think my husband is wondering what is wrong with me :)

    Growing up my mom was much like you … she had her morning “coffee” Pepsi, her snack Pepsi, her afternoon pick-me-up Pepsi … etc, etc

    Well I developed the same habit! I had a Pepsi with everything. When I was a Freshman in college (and terrified of gaining weight) I would have a Pepsi and snicker bar as the only food I would eat before dinner EVERY DAY (wasn’t that healthy …)

    Anyways I’m already rambling on and it’s kind of a long story but after developing an eating disorder and gaining a ton of weight … by God’s grace I was able to kick the Pepsi habit, lose weight, and finally start realizing what healthy eating actually is.

    But, I, like you, love to smell Pepsi. I’ve actually tasted it since quitting and it tasted … umm … terrible … but “ahh” the smell … it used to be like my proverbial “cigarette” (stress relief wise)and I still love the occasional sniff. :)

    Reply

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