Pop or Soda?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Which is it in your world?

Pop

Soda

[Tom M King]

Doesn't exist.

[Pat Germain]

It's soda pop. You know, like Ponyboy's brother in the SE Hinton books; Sodapop Curtis.

What I never did understand is people who called all soda pop "Coke". They would go to the theater and order an, "Orange Coke". On a picnic they would say, "Who brought the Cokes?" and "Where's the cooler with the Cokes?". Maybe it's like calling all copiers a "Xerox", all cellophane tape "Scotch tape" and all tissue "Kleenex"?

[Bill Howatt]

While you will hear both in Canada, pop is by far the dominant one. My impression is soda is dominant in the US.

[Bill Dufour]

West coast is Soda. Coke and Pepsi headquarters are in the east.
Bill D

[Howard Garner]

At family home in Minnesota it is POP
Down here in South Carolina it is SODA, but for some old timers it is COKE.

Howard Garner

[Prashun Patel]

Soda. And nowadays it's only Club Soda for me.

[Pat Germain]

West coast is Soda. Coke and Pepsi headquarters are in the east.
Bill D

I'm from Orange County, California. The whole time I was growing up it was, "Pop and beer".

[Barry McFadden]

Always been pop up here

[Derek Meyer]

We call it pop where I live. I had a friend in college who grew up in Missouri and called it soda.

There used to be a local place in Twin Falls, ID, that bottled their own. They were called The Popp Shopp. They had orange, grape, cola, lemon-lime and root beer. The drinks came in 12 ounce glass bottles, and you would take the empties back for a credit on the next case of 12. They closed in the mid 80's, when I wasn in high school.

[Barry McFadden]

We call it pop where I live. I had a friend in college who grew up in Missouri and called it soda.

There used to be a local place in Twin Falls, ID, that bottled their own. They were called The Popp Shopp. They had orange, grape, cola, lemon-lime and root beer. The drinks came in 12 ounce glass bottles, and you would take the empties back for a credit on the next case of 12. They closed in the mid 80's, when I wasn in high school.

Thanks for reminding me!!!! I always went to the Pop Shop up here years ago..... used to love the cream soda flavor

[Lisa Starr]

We had Mehler's Bottling here in Erie and it was pop.

[Stan Calow]

Soda here, although soda pop would pass without comment. In the south it's called "coke" no matter what brand or flavor. But there are actually maps you can find online that show the regional variation in what it's commonly called, although the many maps dont agree.

[Jim Koepke]

During my younger days, Coke was so prevalent, every soft drink was a coke, it just wasn't a cola.

Now, my soft drink of choice is usually flavored seltzer water.

jtk

[Jim Becker]

When I was at Penn State quite a few decades ago, we could easily tell whether someone was from the eastern or western ends of the state by what they called such beverages; soda to the east and pop to the west. To this day, I often refer to Pittsburgh as "the land of pop". :) :D

[Patty Hann]

In the military (doens't matter which service) you meet folks from all over the country, and even from US territories.
I heard the different names for "carbonated beverages" (no hard and fast rules, of course) .
Midwest (where I'm from), SODA
Northern middle states (MI, MN WI) POP
East coast: POP
South: COKE... yep all soda was called Coke; how you actually differentiated between, say a Pepsi and a Dr Pepper, I have no idea. Also a "Soda" meant an ice cream soda.
SW (where I am now)... because there are so many transplants/snowbirds here from other states and also Canada I hear SODA and POP about equally.

[Ole Anderson]

Should have done the question as a poll. In Michigan, it is pop.

[Bill Howatt]

I hadn't realized there was so much use of "pop" in the US. Part of this might be because in movies and TV programs I always hear "soda" being used. Is this my imagination?

The bit about the South using Coke for everything was a surprise. We frequently use Coke for any cola drink but never for an orange or other drink.

[Patty Hann]

I hadn't realized there was so much use of "pop" in the US. Part of this might be because in movies and TV programs I always hear "soda" being used. Is this my imagination?

The bit about the South using Coke for everything was a surprise. We frequently use Coke for any cola drink but never for an orange or other drink.

I heard three people from the South use "Coke" for any soda... two from MS and one from LA... and I asked one of them "What about, say, 7-Up?" And she said, it's still "a Coke", until you actually order it.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

It's soda pop. You know, like Ponyboy's brother in the SE Hinton books; Sodapop Curtis.


Same here.

[mike stenson]

I say bubbler, which should letcha know.

[Earl McLain]

For me...
Sprecher's Root Beer
Hank's Birch Beer
--or--
Sioux City Sarsaparilla

One of the above every few weeks. I'm not what you'd call a drinker of pop or soda.

[Robert Hartmann]

I'm from southern Ohio and it was always pop. I'll second the comment about being in the military and meeting people from all over, most said pop.

My all time favorite was from my first assignment in San Antonio. I made friends with a guy from "rural" TX. He had a friend from his hometown that would stop by and he always asked for a "sody water."
* not sure if the spelling is correct :)

[Steve Wurster]

It's not like nobody asked this question before: https://popvssoda.com/

[Pat Germain]

In the military (doens't matter which service) you meet folks from all over the country, and even from US territories.

I had this experience when I moved to rural Oklahoma when I was in high school. If I said something, people did not hear it or did not understand it, they would say, "Do what?".

I was baffled by this and thought, "I wasn't suggesting you do anything".

Eventually, I figured out, "Do what?" was a local way of saying, "Sorry, I didn't get that".

When I enlisted in the Navy, oh yeah, major cultural differences!

[Dave Anderson NH]

Growing up in western NY state it was POP. In eastern New England it is SODA or in eastern Massachusetts sometimes TONIC.

[Lee Schierer]

I heard three people from the South use "Coke" for any soda... two from MS and one from LA... and I asked one of them "What about, say, 7-Up?" And she said, it's still "a Coke", until you actually order it.

Years ago, I had a date with a young lady near Pensacola Florida. We went to her house for dinner before going to a movie. Her Dad asked me "do you want a coke?" I said yes, then he said, we have Dr. Pepper, 7 up, Cocola, etc.

[Stan Calow]

I'm guessing the Coca Cola company decided not to sue the whole population of the south for violating their trademark:).

[Pat Germain]

Growing up in western NY state it was POP. In eastern New England it is SODA or in eastern Massachusetts sometimes TONIC.

"Tonic" is technically tonic water which is soda water with quinine. The British military started drinking it with gin when they were deployed to tropical areas because the quinine keeps malaria at bay. After a while, they started drinking Gin and Tonic even when they weren't in the tropics. And rest is history...

[Bill Dufour]

Saw. a superbowl add for a new carbonated beverage company. Healthly good taste etc. They used the word Soda over and over. never pop.
Looked like cool and trendy people use "Soda."
BilLD

[Patty Hann]

Saw. a superbowl add for a new carbonated beverage company. Healthly good taste etc. They used the word Soda over and over. never pop.
Looked like cool and trendy people use "Soda."
BilLD

HA! Could have told you that. "Cool and Trendy" is my middle name :D

[Rich Engelhardt]

I grew up a 'Coke" and married into a pop. ;)

[Curt Harms]

Growing up in western NY state it was POP. In eastern New England it is SODA or in eastern Massachusetts sometimes TONIC.

Growing up in the upper midwest it was always "pop", never heard of "soda" until I moved to eastern PA. I thought the term "pop" was limited to the upper midwest, didn't know the term had made its way to western parts of PA & NY. The things I learn on Sawmill Creek:)

[Jim Becker]

When I was growing up it was mostly "soda" but some relatives used the term "Soda-pop". :)

[Patty Hann]

When I was growing up it was mostly "soda" but some relatives used the term "Soda-pop". :)

The only time I heard "Pop" when growing up was exactly that way: "soda-pop"... and I didn't hear it very often.

[Mike Null]

Another southern Ohio boy here. It was always pop but sometimes coke was used instead of pop.

To this day the best drink I ever had was when the family was traveling from Ohio to Warner Robbins GA during WWII. We stopped for gas and got a real Coke, in the bottle from one of those 5 cent machines that stored the Cokes on hangers in a tub of ice. For a boy of 6 that was heaven.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Here it was either Pepsi, Coke, or soft drink.

[Brian Deakin]

I live in the United kingdom and the word I use is pop

This article is about the British soft drink. For the Mexican beer, see Corona (beer) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_(beer)).

Corona
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c8/Corona_-_Family_drinks_logo.png/250px-Corona_-_Family_drinks_logo.png (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Corona_-_Family_drinks_logo.png)


Company type
Public (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_company)


Industry
Drink


Founded
1880s


Founder
William Evans, William Thomas


Headquarters
Porth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porth), Rhondda (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhondda)
, Wales, UK



Area served

Great Britain


Products
Corona bottled carbonated drinks


Corona was a brand of carbonated soft drink (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_drink) produced by Thomas & Evans Ltd in South Wales (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Wales), and distributed across the United Kingdom. The firm was created by grocers William Thomas and William Evans when they saw a market for soft drinks caused by the growing influence of the temperance movement (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_movement).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_(soft_drink)

[Bill Dufour]

Words to make the count
Bil lD

[Earl McLain]

Another southern Ohio boy here. It was always pop but sometimes coke was used instead of pop.

To this day the best drink I ever had was when the family was traveling from Ohio to Warner Robbins GA during WWII. We stopped for gas and got a real Coke, in the bottle from one of those 5 cent machines that stored the Cokes on hangers in a tub of ice. For a boy of 6 that was heaven.

Try a Coke made in Mexico, icy cold. You may relive that moment.

[Bryan Rocker]

Pop, you cook and clean with soda.

[Rod Sheridan]

Rich, being Canadian it's definitely pop.

Regards, Rod.