Philotic Web

You go to a restaurant. You want a bubbly carbonated beverage. You ask for... what?

A soda, of course! All other choices are just wrong. I'm just wondering how many other pwebbers know this.

I think all of these are used by at least some regions of the US, UK, or Canada. Sorry if there are other terms in other regions I'm not aware of.

No saying "soda pop"; if you do you're just trying to not take sides. And if you're going to say that it's just something which has evolved different terms in different regions and that there's no "correct" term.... you're not welcome here.

You go to a restaurant. You want a bubbly carbonated beverage. You ask for... what?

A soda, of course!

I concur. 100%.



I love that we have one of these on this Pweb, now. 2.0 had one. And I posted this map in that thread. I like it...being a geography major and all.

What about naming it by brand?

i chose soda; the older generation in boston did say tonic. but no longer.

Pop.

Pop. Silly people that don't know better...

When Nicole came down earlier this month, we were ordering lunch and when she said pop instead of soda the waitress didn't understand her. Needless to say, I had to come in and save her by saying she wanted a soda.

i chose soda; the older generation in boston did say tonic. but no longer.

I thought tonic was a UK thing, interesting.

And eri, say you're at a place where you're just given a cup and you get the drink yourself. Or be a normal person and don't care what the brand is.

soda, unless I'm ordering specfically.

In which case it's a Dr. Pepper.

When Nicole came down earlier this month, we were ordering lunch and when she said pop instead of soda the waitress didn't understand her. Needless to say, I had to come in and save her by saying she wanted a soda.

She probably just didn't hear me right...

Oh... in that case a soda

I guess that I just don't think of it that way... hmmmm.... odd.

If I'm ordering a drink I tend to ask for it by name. The general term for carbonated beverages is "pop" though.

In case anyone cares

It is unquestionably "pop".

And I posted this map in that thread. I like it...being a geography major and all.

Forgot to say, thanks for this! I saw this awhile ago, but never really bothered to find out where it came from or where I could get it from.

I still find the prevalence of "pop" to be very unnerving, though, especially since I'ved in a "soda" area all my life until I came to my college's half-pop, half-soda region. When I hear someone say pop, it just... I dunno, it sounds like you're from the 20's or something.

Usually soft drink or coke.

I still find the prevalence of "pop" to be very unnerving, though, especially since I'ved in a "soda" area all my life until I came to my college's half-pop, half-soda region. When I hear someone say pop, it just... I dunno, it sounds like you're from the 20's or something.

You think that "pop" is the outdated term? "Soda" makes me think of those old soda shops from the 40s.

People in Ohio say "pop," but I have called it "soda" ever since I went to New Jersey like 6 years ago. It just sounds better. I mean, do we really need to resort to onomatopoeia to name things?

(I had to look up how to spell "onomatopoeia" and it still looks weird.)

i always say soda. anything else is just weird.

haha a lot of Kentucky on that map is in the "coke" region. most people in Louisville just say coke. i hate it when people say that.
"what kind of coke do you want?" it just doesn't make sense.

pop, pop, pop, pop....


Tonic? That's just weird.

I moved from "soda" California to "pop" Colorado. I still say soda, though. Pop is just wrong.

Coke, to which the waitress/waiter then responds, do you want pepsi, sprite, dr. Pepper or rootbeer? for example.

or as my grandma puts it, a 'so-dee'

Soda is what you use to make baking rise, not what you drink.

Pop goes the weasel.

Soda is what you use to make baking rise, not what you drink.

No, sodium bicarb is what makes bread rise.

Which is what baking soda is.

Right, BAKING soda. Not soda.

Which is the correct term, in NY anyway.

I generally find that people understand you, either way, and people will say either way. But then, maybe Idaho is weird.

I mean, do we really need to resort to onomatopoeia to name things?

It doesn't even pop! It's more of a fizzling, really.

Hmmm... according to the map, 50-80 percent say "pop" where I'm from ... I think I hear "soda" more often, but that also sounds weird to me. "Soda Pop" sounds normal.

But I think most everyone I know just calls it by the brand name.

EDIT: I think I'll vote for "Soft Drink" that, I think I've heard people use. And it's not listed on the map, except for in the title: "Generic names of SOFT DRINKS"

"coke"

I grew up in Texas, what can I say?

In the words of Caspian from Pweb 2.0, "Pop is what the weasel goes. Soda is a cracker."

I've given up and say "pop" these days just because I'm living in North Dakota and it's not worth the fight. But I feel wrong doing it. I long to be in restaurants where servers ask me what kind of coke I want.

Around here we call 'em fizzy drinks.

Coke!

When asking for an actual coke, you probably say something that sounds like "Co'Cola."

Leastwise, round here ya do.

I say "pop". That's what is generally accepted around here.

However, I remember a few times when in the states trying to get away with saying pop and having people look at me funny until I "correct" myself and say soda. It's clearly a regional thing, as almost all the Canadian pwebbers have said pop, whereas all the 'mericans have said soda. Give or take a couple oddballs....

Coke!

When asking for an actual coke, you probably say something that sounds like "Co'Cola."

Leastwise, round here ya do.

In Texas, they say "regular coke" when asking for a Coca Cola.

And it's not just Canada that says pop -- North Dakotans and Minnesotans (at least, Western Minnesotans) do as well.

I thought tonic was a UK thing, interesting.

yeah, my grandparents and my older aunts and uncles all say "tonic," which used to irritate me SO much as a child. they're all Bostonians, born and bred. It's pretty much died out, though, and "soda" is now the general term.

of course, if you are ordering something specific then you ask for it by name.

but when speaking generally, it's soda. as in, "i'm trying to cut down on soda and drink more water instead."