I think the former is meant to be ironic… as in “I could care less, but it’d be a struggle”.
Here’s a US Map of Generic Names for Soft Drinks, by county. [Personally, I’ve only ever lived in “Soda” territory in the US. Growing up in the UK, it was “soft drink” IIRC, but I started on beer at a young age so my recollection might be faulty. ;)]
This is a long one. Forgive me–I’m a language geek.
The nouns/adjectives americano (American) and estadounidense (“United Statesian” in the most literal sense; compare rioplatense, “of or from the River Plate region”) are equally acceptable. IME, the use of americano is probably only frowned upon in the few cases when it can cause confusion. For example, if you’re talking about something Latin American or latinoamericano it’s probably wise to use estadounidense. That probably varies by region, though.
Similarly, the use of words like “hospital” and “university” as anarthrous or “strong”, ie, not requiring an article (“My mum is in hospital”) is a dead giveaway, the other way 'round. As an American, whenever I see a construction like that, my Pedant Sense tingles–I think it’s in my amygdala, and operates on a purely instinctual level–and I am only soothed when the logical part of my brain gives the amygdala a swift kick and says, “Hey, dumbass, that’s how they’re supposed to say it over there”.
Or, what Robot Arm said, only geekier.
“The Americas” is a good clue that the poster is not from the Americas, where we divide the region into North, South, and sometimes Central. (Or norte, sud and centro, if you like.) “North America” vs. “Latin America” is also a popular way to divide it up here, although it’s (a) confusing, since Mexico, Guatemala, Central America and much of the Carribean easily fit into both categories, and (b) fairly useless, since all that’s really left is the US and Canada, and maybe Jamaica as an afterthought.
In California, you get in a lot of trouble if you talk about going out to smoke a couple cigarettes, too! El Cajon, an eastern suburb of San Diego, recently made smoking illegal except in private residences.
Similarly, if someone says “hella” as a modifier, it’s a good bet they’re from San Francisco or less than a few hours away.
Really? Over here (at least in San Diego), it’s used pretty commonly as an entire sentence.
I’m pretty sure that’s Western Pennsylvania.
Wouldn’t know, but it’s still taught in Spanish class here.
Then there’s “I and I” in Jamaican English.
I beg to differ. It’s certainly not generally preferred in American English, but I’m American and I use it exclusively. I’ve fought every English teacher I’ve had about it since I was about 15, too.
Both “rip into” and “tear into” would be understood that way here, though I can’t say I specifically remember hearing them recently. “Tear [him/her] a new asshole” is a more vulgar favorite here, especially in a professional or military context; “cuss out” is a milder form that can be used when there was a fair bit of profanity involved in the tongue-lashing itself (there always is, though, isn’t there?); “read [him/her] the Riot Act” is used to some extent by the over-50 crowd.
I have read it in a Kiwi’s work.
In the US, “bar” means any establishment specifically oriented around serving alcohol that isn’t a club, or the area of a restaurant or hotel which is specifically placed for easy access to alcoholic beverages. “Pub” is mostly used ironically or specifically to refer to UK-themed bars.
Actually, Americans are split regionally between “soda” (most of the coastal and Western states), “pop” (the Midwest) and “coke” (the Southeast).
If you say “means” in this context (I assume you mean “food” - we don’t use “means” in this context at all - we’d be more likely to say “pub grub”), you’re probably an Aussie.
Thongs is more of a generational thing here - we used to wear thongs on our feet when I was a kid, now we wear them on our bums.
Same here. ETA: Except that by the time I was a kid, thongs were already for asses.
And if he complains about the last performance from la Furia Roja it’s probably Red Fury…
Complaints about the national team of wherever doing badly mean that the speaker is either from that place or has been living there long enough to “love the colors.” Complaints about the national team of wherever being a bunch of nasty bastards who would play dirty against their mom means the speaker is from the country whose national team just got several wounds from the team he’s complaining about.
Both americano and estadounidense have the problem of being inexact. America is the continent; United States can be “of Mexico” or “of Brazil” (nobody uses those names except in conversations about “what do we call them people-from-the-iú-es-éi then?” but hey, in those, it comes up all the time). Norteamericano gets the Canadians and Mexicans up in arms. Yanqui offends Texans, and gringo offends all the gringos… it’s not so much a problem as a neverending source for jokes, though.
Well kiwi’s do say completely different things to Aussie.
If someone says “bro” or “cuz” when referring to someone they are generally a New Zealander.
How many hours are ‘a few’? I’ve been hearing that for years now, and I’m in Arizona. The last person I actually heard it from is originally from Maryland. 
More specifically, from the North Island, where there’s a stronger Polynesian influence- it’s not generally used by European NZers in the South Island (or at least, it wasn’t when I lived in NZ…)
Hence bro’Town.
If someone says that one thing is “different to” another, they’re British or Aussie.
If someone says that one thing is “different from” another, they’re Canadian or American.
B. “I was in an accident and the boot, the wing and bonnet were destroyed.”
A. “I was in an accident and the trunk, the fender and hood were totaled.”
B. “Switch on the light.”
A. “Turn on the light.”
B. “Johnny drank too much and was pissed.”
A. “Johnny’s wife found out and was pissed.”
B. “I shagged Mary on the carpet.”
A. “I screwed Mary on the crappy shag carpet.”
B. “Let’s table the conversation.” (talk about it)
A. “Let’s table the conversation.” (stop talking about it)
B. “John is mean.” (never buys a drink for anybody)
A. “John is mean.” (kicks puppies and calls you bad names)
B. “I’ll knock you up.” (stop by sometime)
A. “I’ll knock you up.” (get you pregnant)
B. “Have you got a rubber?” (to erase the error I made with my pencil)
A. “Have you got a rubber?” (to put over my penis to avoid HIV and pregnancy)
Not the case in Britain, where e-logic’s answer is uniformly correct.
Or “turn on the light”, either is fine.
DMark Just a slight error.
A. Fender
B. Bumper
The wing is the wing
Sorry, my automobile does not have wings. So what exactly is a wing on a car?
The sides
I remember about twenty years ago, I was at a friend’s place and we were watching tv and playing easy-chair darts, which involves sitting in a chair, drinking, and lobbing darts at a dartboard in a desultory and half-assed fashion. His girlfriend, a recent arrival from Scotland, was over, and he said to her “Honey, as long as you’re over there, could you shag those darts for me?” The look on her face is the image I get when I hear or read the word “nonplussed.”
Yes, that’s true; I am originally from Maryland. 
In all seriousness, if the last time you heard that was exactly two years ago, and “on campus” means UA, it may very well have been me!
Anyway, I can’t say I have any scientific data to back my assertion up. But in Southern California it’s very specifically perceived that Northern California is the home of “hella”. And they do say it much more than people from any other region I’ve met. But maybe the real truth is something of a corollary: only Southern Californians go to great pains not to say “hella”, so that we don’t sound like we’re from Northern California.
I had a coworker who dropped enough hellas to warm the meeting room (100+ people meetings). He was form Sah Cahlina an’ then some - the project we were working on was his first time away from home.
That would be cool, but no. The last time I heard it was a few days ago, and the Marylander is someone I know from going to school at NAU. 