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?