Survey: What Is Your Generic Name For Soft Drinks?

Dana Velden
Dana Velden
Dana Velden's first book, Finding Yourself in the Kitchen: Kitchen Meditations and Inspired Recipes from a Mindful Cook (Rodale Books) is available where ever books are sold. She lives in Oakland, CA.
published Feb 3, 2012
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

What do you call that sweet fizzy stuff that you order with your hamburger or purchase by the can in the vending machine? Soda? Pop? Coke? (Even if it isn’t specifically a Coca-Cola?) Your answer might depend on where you live or where you grew up.

I grew up in Milwaukee and live in the Bay Area, both regions that lean heavily towards ‘soda’ usage so I’ve never had to deal with changing my preference. But I have plenty of friends who have moved from their childhood ‘Pop’ usage into adulthood ‘Soda’ territory (or vice-versa) and have had to fumble with the terms. And the primarily Southern use of the word Coke just sounds confusing to me, but then I didn’t grow up with it.

What I’m most curious about is the ‘other’ category. The only other term I’ve heard is a combination of the two, ‘soda pop.’ What other terms have you heard used to refer to a carbonated soft beverage?

• For a larger view of the fascinating county-by-county USA map shown above, go here. Click on your state to see a county by county break down.

Related: Food Science: Why Carbonated Soda Explodes When Shaken

(Image: by Matthew Campbell and Prof. Greg Plumb of East Central University in Oklahoma)

Filed in:
Beverages
Drinks