Ditto… “tonic” is used mostly by older people – my mother-in-law, for example. Personally, I like the word. I still think of Coke as being a bit of a tonic, in the pick-me-up sense. Must have been even more of a tonic when it still had cocaine in it.
Someone should start a thread on disappearing New England regionalisms. When was the last time you heard anyone ask for a spuckie, for example?
It gets really strange in England, where any device that sucks dirt off the carpet is a hoover. Even the latest Dyson hoover.
As for the beverage, I grew up in Chicago, so it was pop. Out here, the norm is soda, but I randomly call the stuff soda or pop.
And yes, my sister in law living in South Carolina will ask for a Pepsi Coke at restaurants. Caused no end of confusion at restaurants when she was visiting here a few months ago.
1.) I’m pretty sure this, or one like it, has shown up on the SDMB before, but it’s been a while.
2.) I have heard “tonic” used colloquially in Boston, but even back then in the 1970s it was rare, and now it’s disappearing.
3.) The map gives the area around Rochester a preferred “pop” . My experience, having lived there many years, was that I heard “soda” much more often.
4.) Salt Lake city was indeed a “soda” place, but I wouldn’t have guessed it was a “soda island”, surrounded by “pop” sayers.
5.) You gotta ask – if “tonic” doesn’t give at least a blip in New England, what are the terms used in those green areas on the map? “Soft Drink”? “Belly wash”?
Oh, yeah – bsed on the map, clearly Oklahoma and Kentucky are the FRont Lines in the great “pop” vs. “Coke” wars, and NY, PA, Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin for “pop” vs. “soda”.
It’s pop in Chicago.
lol - hilarious! Thanks for the link!
VCNJ~ (born in Coke-land, living in soda-land)
Of course not. It might be- “Do you want a pop?” “Sure” “What kind?” “Coke”
Oh, I wouldn’t say angry. More irritated at what seems silly. If I listened to the “want a coke?” “sure, what kind?” “coke” routine just once I’d be like Kramden watching Norton warm up to play piano.
It’s 50-80% “pop” in my area. I tend to say “soda” more myself, though. In fact, it’s “pop” for the entire region in which I live.
When I was a kid a friend of mine (who was also born and raised here in Idaho) always said “Coke”, which I thought was odd. One time he asked me, “I’m looking for my Coke, did you see where I left it?” I told him no, but would keep my eyes open for it. A few minutes later he said, “Here it is.” It was a can of 7-Up. Had I known this, I would have told him since I had seen the can, thinking it was someone else’s.
No, it’s like using “Bandaid” for all bandages. You don’t say, “Would you like a Curad Bandaid?” You say, “Would you like a bandaid?” “I’m allergic to some–what kind?” “Curad.”
Ask, O Doper, and ye shall receive:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7666247#post7666247
My parents grew up in Reading and moved to upstate New York to have me and I’ve only ever used “soda”.
Not with me.
Chicago’s got plenty of “soda” speakers, too. And they’re not all transplanted from elsewhere. I was born and raised here, and I know several speakers with the thickest Chicago accents you can find who also call it “soda.” I will admit that the predominant word around here is “pop,” but “soda” is popular enough, too.
Growing up in the suburbs of Baltimore, it was always soda. Here in western Maryland, soda wins out on the survey, but pop gets a respectalbe standing, too; probably because we’re right on the line of parts of WV and PA that use pop commonly.