Is a Coke by any other name…
Among the great historical either/or questions in history—Catholic or Protestant? North or South? Cake or death?—ranks the topic of “Pop or Soda”.
Personally I grew up in a county right on the border between the two lexiconic alternatives, but always called it “pop”. Then I went away to college, and it’s been “soda” ever since, though the city I live in now is a “pop” town.
If you’ve ever wondered how the Pop/Soda/Coke monikers are distributed through the United States, the Strange Maps blog has a comprehensive map (via the popvssoda website) showing just that. The post also sites some interesting information from a research article by a philology professor and senior editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English1.
(via Strange Maps)
- Luanne von Schneidemesser, PhD. Journal of English Linguistics (Soda or Pop?, #24, 1996) ↩
I grew up in Chicago, which is supposedly a “Pop” area, but I can’t recall saying pop…and now I live in San Francisco, which is a “Soda” spot, but now I most definitely say Coke. I think this means either (a) I am terminally unique or (b) that map is WRONG.
Sep 21, 2008 at 12:41pmLately I have been calling it “soda pop.” I think this means (a) I am terminally unique (b) I want to fit in with both the “soda” and “pop” crowds and/or (c) I am still obsessed with The Outsiders 26 years after Coppola and the Brat Pack stole my little heart.
Oct 4, 2008 at 8:25pm