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"Soda" vs. "Pop" vs. "Coke"

Started by Live Forever , Aug 03 2006 07:02 PM

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25 replies to this topic

#1 Live Forever

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Posted 03 August 2006 - 07:02 PM

Here is an interesting site comparing what people say ("pop", "soda", or "coke") to what region of the country that they live in, (US only as of the moment, sorry) The best map is this one showing a county by county statistical breakdown.

It appears that "pop" is said more in the northern states not including the northeast, "coke" is said more in the south, and "soda" is said more in California/Nevada and the northwest corner. Interesting, I thought.

I was raised in Arkansas and now live in Georgia, and everyone I know says "coke" for whatever they mean. Sprite is coke, Coca Cola is coke, Pepsi is coke (although why anyone would drink Pepsi is beyond me), Diet Coke is coke, Fanta is a good way to get a beat down.

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#2 DJS

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Posted 03 August 2006 - 07:07 PM

That's such a cool map. I always wondered what the geographic distribution was for soda vs pop (or coke, never knew that about the south).

Obviously as a Jersey boy everything is soda for me. Why in the world would anyone call sprite coke? That makes no sense to me. Coke must have really wrapped their coils around the southern market.

#3 Live Forever

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Posted 03 August 2006 - 07:12 PM

Well, we use coke like you would say soda I suppose. If you walk into a restaurant and say you want a coke, it would be like you saying soda, and they would say, "What kind of coke do you want?".

Soda just sounds weird to me, like soda water or something. I imagine a strong Wisconsin accent when I imagine someone saying soda. Pop, just sounds like a noise something makes, so I wouldn't ever want to say that. Coke just "feels" right, but I know that is just regional, and would be different if I was raised somewhere else.

#4 Athanasios

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Posted 03 August 2006 - 07:15 PM

Yeah, it was weird when I first moved to texas. I told them I wanted a coke, and they said what kind...I was like.....classic?.....we were all confused

Generally coke is a generic term for soda or pop and is used in contrast to beer, water, lemonade, etc...from there it is narrowed down....so when the waitress says, you want water, coke or beer? You answer, yeah, a sprite.

#5 Live Forever

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Posted 03 August 2006 - 07:24 PM

I like how Florida is kind of Soda-ish in some of the counties. You can tell some New Yorkers retire there. Also, it is interesting how there is kind of a red state/blue state divide as it applies to politics and coke/pop/soda. Also, apart from politics, you could look at it through a religious lens:
Soda: Catholic
Coke: Evangelical Protestant
Pop: Mainline Protestant

As a side question, I guess I could have asked, what is your favorite coke? (or pop or soda, or whatever you say)

I don't drink soft drinks all that much, but an occasional Coca Cola Classic out of a glass bottle on a hot day is the best.

Edited by Live Forever, 06 August 2006 - 01:07 AM.

#6 Athanasios

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Posted 03 August 2006 - 07:52 PM

side question:

I drink the lo-carb version of monster every once in a while

#7 DJS

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Posted 03 August 2006 - 08:48 PM

When I do drink soda it is diet. Diet A&W rootbeer and creme soda are really good.

#8 quadclops

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Posted 03 August 2006 - 09:47 PM

As for the "Soda" vs. "Pop" vs. "Coke" question, I call them fizzy lifting drinks!

#9 stephen

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Posted 03 August 2006 - 09:59 PM

It is bizarre how "soda" is distributed in such a strange fashion. Highly concentrated in New England, California, and one spot right in the middle.

I wonder if you'd find that usage is correlated to advertising campaigns back in the early 1900s...

-edit-

As someone who grew up in a number of Southern states, coke does often lead to ambiguous ordering at restaurants. When I moved to Michigan... people use "Pop". Sounds SO weird. Far stranger than coke...

#10 mitkat

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Posted 03 August 2006 - 10:32 PM

I can safely say that I've never met anyone who has said "soda", unless in reference to the difference between Canadian and American phrases. Not that I drink the shit, but it's "pop" to me. [thumb]

#11 Live Forever

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Posted 04 August 2006 - 02:41 AM

I wonder what they would have counted a response of "soda pop" as?

Looking at the map again, I like how Pennsylvania is split directly down the middle and North Carolina seems to just be really confused.

As a side note, I recently went to the World of Coke Museum (Coca Cola) in Atlanta. It was pretty neat, you get to taste soft drinks that they market in different countries all over the world. Some of them were really good, and some were way nasty.

Don, I like an occasional root beer as well. mmm

#12 mitkat

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Posted 04 August 2006 - 02:46 AM

I lied, I had to try a Thums Up when I bought lunch at an Indian shop two days ago. It was also called "pop"

#13 jaydfox

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Posted 04 August 2006 - 03:21 AM

It's "soda" for me, which I guess fits my upbringing in San Jose, CA.

I can see "Coke" being a generic term for colas (Coca-cola, Coke, Pepsi, RC, etc.), but "coke" for a sprite or grape soda? WTF?

Coca-cola is based in Atlanta, so the tie to the South makes sense. The Coca-Cola corporation bottles Sprite and other non-colas, so I suppose it's not terribly wrong to call a Sprite "coke", just quirky and retarded.

I can almost hear it now..."Them's fightin' words!"

"Pop" is strange, but not in a "you're retarded" kind of way.

While "soda" is preferred to me, as a sense of "feel" of the expression, the other acceptable one to me is "soft drink" (acceptable by feel, that is, not because it makes sense). Not sure why's it's soft, since I doubt it's a reference to "hard drinks" like whiskey, etc.

#14 DJS

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Posted 04 August 2006 - 03:56 AM

North Carolina seems to just be really confused

Virginia appears to be confused as well.

#15 bender

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Posted 04 August 2006 - 06:05 AM

Diet soda is bad for you... worse then regular

#16 jaydfox

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Posted 04 August 2006 - 06:21 AM

Diet soda is bad for you... worse then regular

I won't try to argue that diet soda isn't bad for you, but how is it worse than regular soda?

Outside of the obvious exceptions (starving people, for which the extra sugar would actually be beneficial, or people who only drink sodas when their blood sugar is dangerously low, etc.), how is drinking diet soda worse than drinking regular?

#17 eternaltraveler

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Posted 04 August 2006 - 06:26 AM

how is drinking diet soda worse than drinking regular?

I imagine he is refering to the supposed dangers of artificial sweeteners. It would depend highly on the artificial sweetener involved.

#18 Live Forever

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Posted 04 August 2006 - 03:15 PM

So, the more coke you drink, on average, the more likely you are to be wealthier, healthier, and freer. (a perfect example of how statistics could be used to show causation when it really just shows correlation) The consumption for different countries is interesting as well, I thought.

#19 bender

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Posted 05 August 2006 - 08:27 AM

Elrond, you're absolutely right. Aspartame can cause brain cancer... much worse then good old sugar.

#20 jaydfox

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Posted 06 August 2006 - 12:33 AM

Okay, but what's the incidence of brain cancer with aspartame (not saying it's not true, though this is the first I've heard of it).

Let's say it causes 5,000 cases of brain cancer a year. I think that's extremely generous. How many people die of type II diabetes and other obesity-/sugar-related diseases? Hundreds of thousands. All traceable to regular soda? Of course not. But there's plenty of evidence that sugar kills people.

Aspartame? The best link I've heard to increased mortality of any level to actually worry about is that it actually increases appetite and can cause people to eat more calories from non-soda sources. A very indirect route, and one that, if a person is aware of it and takes proper measures, isn't too bad.

#21 jaydfox

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Posted 06 August 2006 - 12:39 AM

LF, those charts of coke consumption versus health and wealth are pretty funny.

So, the more coke you drink, on average, the more likely you are to be wealthier, healthier, and freer.

While technically true, the ordering implies a causation that simply isn't there. It should better be worded:

So, the wealthier, healthier, and freer you are, the more coke you are likely to drink, on average.

Hmmm, it still implies a sort of causation. Damn. Well, I gave it the good ol' college try.

Hmmm... Maybe:

So, the wealthier and freer you are, the healthier you are likely to be, and the more coke you are likely to drink, on average.

Anyway, funny stuff.

#22 mikelorrey

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Posted 06 August 2006 - 12:42 AM

I can safely say that I've never met anyone who has said "soda", unless in reference to the difference between Canadian and American phrases. Not that I drink the shit, but it's "pop" to me. [thumb]

Pop is my father. Coke is a brand. Soda is any beverage based on carbonated water.

Pepsi-Cola started in the northeastern US. Coca-Cola was invented in Atlanta, GA. The beer company Schlitz, in Milwaukee, invented the first "pop top" can in 1963. I believe these are the respective provenances of the respective geographic distributions of the words.

"Soda water" was the first iteration in 1798, and flavors were added by purveyors called "soda jerks" at "soda fountains". It wasn't until 1881 that the first cola flavored drink emerged, with Coca-cola appearing in 1886.

While California's use can be explained by the influence of both Northeasterners and hispanics (Pepsi beat Coke into Mexico's market), the island around St. Louis is an interesting oddball, likely a result of agressive marketing and monopolization of bottling and distribution in the area.

Edit by jaydfox: fixed quote bug

#23 Live Forever

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Posted 06 August 2006 - 04:20 PM

LF, those charts of coke consumption versus health and wealth are pretty funny.

While technically true, the ordering implies a causation that simply isn't there. It should better be worded:

Hmmm, it still implies a sort of causation. Damn. Well, I gave it the good ol' college try.

Hmmm... Maybe:

Anyway, funny stuff.

Yes it is much more correlation than causation. I did a project in high school statistics class one time showing how on average for the world, the more TV you watch the longer you live. Of course it was just because the richer the nation you live in, the more access to TV you have and therefore have better healthcare, nutrition, etc. Of course, no one is suggesting that watching TV will be the contributing factor to living a long time.

It is an thing to keep in mind when looking at studies that compare populations. Just because one population eats something different, or has something else that is different about them (genetics, exercise, etc etc.) does not mean that is the cause of what makes them live a longer or shorter life. There are quite probably things outside the individual study's parameters that contribute more or less than the thing being tested for.

Oh, and yes the Coke studies are kind of funny I thought.

#24 Live Forever

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Posted 06 August 2006 - 04:31 PM

Pop is my father.

Heh, I call my dad "Pop" as well.

Coke is a brand.

Coke is a brand, but coke is a generic term. Yeah, I know, just in the South. We eat grits, fried everything, and drink sweet tea, too. (If you are deep enough south and ask for iced tea, you will be getting sweet tea, there is simply no other option)

Soda is any beverage based on carbonated water.

I can see soda more than pop, (pop is a sound, or like you said a name for father), but I just hear a strong northern, almost a Canadian accent when I hear the term "soda". I realize, of course, all this is based on where you grew up. If I went up north, people would make fun of my southern accent too, I would assume. [tung]

"Soda water" was the first iteration in 1798, and flavors were added by purveyors called "soda jerks" at "soda fountains".

At the World of Coke, they have a neat little thing where they have a guy that re-creates (through a little presentation) how the "soda jerks" did their job, and some of the history behind them. I thought it was entertaining.

Also, Coke had an opportunity to buy Pepsi when it was first coming around, but Coke thought that they would never get very big, so they passed up the opportunity. I am sure they are kicking themselves now, haha.

#25 jaydfox

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Posted 06 August 2006 - 04:42 PM

(If you are deep enough south and ask for iced tea, you will be getting sweet tea, there is simply no other option)

I don't know about the rest of the South, but I remember that whenever I went to lunch with my coworkers in Atlanta, "tea" was sweet tea, and "unsweet tea" was iced tea.

#26 Live Forever

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Posted 06 August 2006 - 04:55 PM

I don't know about the rest of the South, but I remember that whenever I went to lunch with my coworkers in Atlanta, "tea" was sweet tea, and "unsweet tea" was iced tea.

Yes, I perhaps should have stated it that way. Sweet tea is considered the "regular" tea, and unsweetened tea is the "specialty" tea (if even available at all). I have been several places that do it that way, but several other places (like The Varsity, which I am sure you were familiar with Jay, while you were in Atlanta

) that only serve sweet tea, and no unsweetened tea.

Also, for the grits, I never really got into eating them, but my dad loves them.

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