# Do You Say Pop or Soda **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2001, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618 "2001-11-21T17:40:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2001, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/81 "2001-11-24T00:41:42Z")
Thank you **cornflakes** and **Wracket** for the Big Red / Dr Pepper correction. I guess I had confused it for a Dr Pepper like beverage for some odd reason. Probably because they are both red (at least in my mind – I beleive Dr Pepper is actually the color of other colas), they were both popular in my junior high and high school in Texas, and I drank neither of them. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2001, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/82 "2001-11-24T01:24:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nineiron \* > \*\*Just wondering… > I’m currently drinking a soda, and the can says “Orange soda.” Are the labels on the cans worded differently depending on what part of the country you’re in? I wonder the same thing with advertisements: the ones I’ve seen advertise for “orange soda” or “grape soda” or whatever. > \*\* The closest I’ve seen to something like this was on a trip I took this past spring from New York to Fargo, N.D. The same brand and same product carried three different labels depending on where it was bottled: In New York, it was Canada Dry Seltzer, in Texas it was Canada Dry Sparkling Water, and in Illinois it was Canada Dry Club Soda. Same blue-on-white design, lettering, everything, tasted the same. ---
**Author:** ![silverfrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@silverfrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silverfrog)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/83 "2001-11-24T01:39:54Z")
i call it soda, but if its either coke or pepsi i just call it coke 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EandCDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e274bd/32.png) [@EandCDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EandCDad)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2001, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/84 "2001-11-24T15:48:30Z")
I’ve lived in California all my life but I must have a Texas influence because I say “coke” for almost everything. If not, its soda. My father and uncle are from Illinois and they said pop. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2001, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/85 "2001-11-24T19:40:40Z")
Here in Texas all soft drinks are generally referred to as Cokes. However, when you get technical, like at restaurants, they serve soft drinks, not pops. Soda just is never used, but it doesn’t sound weird like pop. ---
**Author:** ![Infectious\_Lass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e56c9b/32.png) [@Infectious\_Lass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infectious_Lass)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/88 "2001-11-24T23:50:41Z")
In England it is generally ‘fizzy drinks’ or else generic Coke for everything. One of my brothers would say ‘pop’ sometimes but he was on some kind of americanophile kick, I am sure. No one in England ever says soda. Here soda is baking soda and nothing else! Oh apart from cream soda of course. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/89 "2001-11-25T00:45:06Z")
Growing up in Levittown NY it was always soda–or soder. Then we moved to Colorado when I was 14, and it quickly changed to pop. These days, with the influx of Californians and other out-of-staters, anything goes. I like the old-fashioned sound of “soda pop.” Reminds me of the S.E. Hinton novel. ---
**Author:** ![lesa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/34f0e0/32.png) [@lesa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lesa)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/90 "2001-11-25T02:12:52Z")
I’m from Arkansas, and most people say “coke” for everything. Sometimes I’ll hear soft drink or cold drink. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say soda, or pop, or soda pop. Looking at the handy dandy map PigBoy linked to, I think it’s interesting that Oklahoma is some kind of transition point. ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/91 "2001-11-25T03:04:23Z")
Another North Carolinian chiming in with “coke” for the generic term for carbonated beverages. (Example: “Y’all want me to bring ya back some cokes? What kind?”) If you were speaking more formally, you might use the term “soft drink.” (“Would any of you like a soft drink?”) When I went to Kentucky as a kid, we laughed at our cousins who called it pop. When I travelled to Great Britain, I heard the term “fizzy drink.” I was surprised to learn that over there a lemonade was a fizzy drink akin to Sprite or 7-up rather than a non-carbonated mixture of water, lemon juice, and sugar. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/92 "2001-11-25T03:25:11Z")
In GA it’s soft drink. If someone wants a hard drink we pull out the Jack Daniels. LOL! I also hear cold drink a lot. And BTW a beer is not just a beer it’s a cold beer. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/93 "2001-11-25T03:56:21Z")
I was watching the MN Timberwolves game tonight and the had a segment where a high school player asked Kevin Garnett a question. The high schooler was in a gym (I’m assuming the school gym) and on the wall was a sign: No Food or **Pop** Allowed in the Gym. So we can end the debate once and for all, it was on a sign, a real sign, not a hand-lettered sign. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/94 "2001-11-25T05:59:25Z")
We do say coke (not Coke) in the south, unless we want an **RC** ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/95 "2001-11-25T06:16:41Z")
Soda. “Pop” is what happens to balloons that have been stuck with pins. My parents tell me that their older relatives (from the southern MA area) used to use tonic, but I’ve never heard anyone say it. ---
**Author:** ![Bedrosian\_Bixby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@Bedrosian\_Bixby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bedrosian_Bixby)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/96 "2001-11-25T06:59:07Z")
Philly-area here! I call it soda. I lived in Louisville, Ky for a while and most over there call them “cokes”. Man, did that screw me up for a while. It’s a bit confusing for a Yank to hear, “Get me a couple-a-three cokes”. ---
**Author:** ![catdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@catdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catdog)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/97 "2001-11-25T07:41:31Z")
SODA checking in here. Originally from Wisconsin, but now everybody here in the western burbs of chicago calls it pop. And it’s a SOFA, not a couch! Same thing, it’s a drinking fountain not a bubbler! it’s ok… I’m better now. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/98 "2001-11-25T08:02:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by King Hobo \* > \*\*I thought everyone in Texas drank Dr. Pepper. > > Isn’t it true that when y’all get _the doctor_ it ain’t what the rest of N.America drinks? > I heard that it was made differently or something? > > T or F ? \*\* There is a Dr. Pepper bottling plant in Dublin, TX that is supposedly the only place where DP is still made with 100% cane sugar. I have friends that buy a couple of cases every time they’re in the area. Of course, they’re strange in other ways, too. Regarding the OP, growing up in rural parts of southern Oklahoma and northern Texas, I remember an instance when someone offered to bring me back a coke from the store, and I was surprised when they returned with a Coca-Cola. I’d wanted a Dr. Pepper. The other generic name for soft drinks was “soda pop”, but was used interchangeably with just soda or just pop. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/99 "2001-11-25T10:47:36Z")
Texan here. I say coke, too. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/100 "2001-11-25T10:55:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarlGauss \* > \*\*_Canadian_: Last week, I was on holiday and bought a mickey. I tried mixing it with some pop but everything spilled all over the broadloom. I wiped it up with a serviette. > > _American_: Last week, I was on vacation and bought a fifth. I tried mixing it with some soda but everything spilled all over the wall-to-wall. I wiped it up with a napkin. \*\* Eh? Who calls carpeting “wall-to-wall”?? I’ve never ever ever ever ever heard anyone say that. Everyone just says “carpet” “carpeting” or “rug” ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/101 "2001-11-25T11:07:35Z")
Btw, it’s SODA. Saying “pop” just sounds goofy as all hell. And calling it all ‘coke’ is just plain lazy. 😛 Not to mention weird. FREAKS!!! FREAKS!!! ---
**Author:** ![Wind\_Sorceress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@Wind\_Sorceress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wind_Sorceress)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618/102 "2001-11-25T13:16:17Z")
SODA SODA SODA SODA! or “the caffeine boost that my parents say okay to” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-pop-or-soda/94618.md?page=6)