The great American linguistic divide: Soda vs Pop.

[Tuberski]

I ask for what I want. Sprite, Coke...

This.

However, when the generic term is used in my household, it's soda.

ACK!

[Tupac Shakur]

Pop pop!

[Tupac Shakur]

I use use both words, pop or soda.

You're not allowed to be bi on this topic. Please desist in using "soda" or I will be forced to report your treason to the Iowa State Pop Preservation Commission.

[flash9286]

I have lived in NC almost all my life and I have never heard people refer to all soft drinks as Coke. Almost always people say soft drinks or soda.

[Tupac Shakur]

Now to finish this debate. The areas highlighted on the following map are the regional home of General American, the preferred version of American English.



Comparing this map with the "Generic Names For Soft Drinks" map, it is evident that speakers of General American use "pop" and that pop is therefore the preferred nomenclature for anyone who wants to sound like a real American.

[Tupac Shakur]

On a side note, Michiganders are arrogant...

The fact that the NCS is well established in Michigan is particularly interesting in light of the dominant beliefs about local speech. As research by Dennis Preston has shown, Michiganders believe they are “blessed” with a high degree of linguistic security; when surveyed, they rate their own speech as more correct and more pleasant than that of even their fellow Mid-westerners. By contrast Indianans tend to rate the speech of their state on par with that of Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan. Indeed, it is not uncommon to find Michiganders who will claim that the speech of national broadcasters is modeled on their dialect. Even a cursory comparison of the speech of the network news anchors with that of the local news anchors in Detroit will reveal the fallacy of such claims. Nevertheless, the Michiganders' faith that they speak an accentless variety is just an extreme version of the general stereotype of Midwestern English.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American

[Cort Haus]

Probably not.

No, otherwise you would have said so.

[Guynemer]

On a side note, Michiganders are arrogant...

We've a right to be, given that we're not from Ohio. Or, even worse, Texas.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Boy, no matter how lame the thread topic, count on Alby to call people idiots if they aren't exactly like him.

Indeeds.

I've usually called it Coke.

[Dinner]

No, otherwise you would have said so.

You realize that joke was already done right? If you're going to troll at least try to be original.

[Dinner]

We've a right to be, given that we're not from Ohio. Or, even worse, Texas.

Excellent point.

[Provost Harrison]

I call it a soft drink myself. Coke would be specifically Coca-Cola. Pop is reasonably common here but not used so often. Soda sounds very American

[Cort Haus]

'Soda' here generally refers to soda water - just carbonated water.

Like PH, I'd say 'soft drink' to describe the fizzy sugar solutions being referred to here.

[MikeH]

Pop is more common in the North of England.

In Scotland they call it juice, but they appear to call any cold beverage that isn't water juice.

[DaShi]

I hate the term soft drink. There's nothing soft about it. People don't fill their waterbeds with Pepsi (r).