# Regional Americanisms -or- "Pop" vs. "Soda" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 15, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369 "2004-02-15T18:39:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/21 "2004-02-15T22:13:26Z")
Chicago; pop hat bag grocery sub pizza in line ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/22 "2004-02-15T22:27:57Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > My girlfriend from North Dakota on the other hand, calls it “pop”, when I call it “soda”. [sub]It’s “soda”. “Pop” is my father. Here in northern Ohio we call it “pop.” The term derives from the “popping” sound that one heard when opening the old-style pull-tab form of soda-pop can. Now, sadly, with the advent of plastic bottles with resealable screw-top lids our children no longer understand why “pop” is properly called “pop” and another piece of our glorious history is lost. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snuggles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Snuggles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snuggles)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/23 "2004-02-15T22:32:42Z")
These are the terms I hear most frequently around Northern Ontario: “In line” – if I heard “on line” i’d think well… on the internet, and that makes no sense if you’re at the store , lol. “Buggie” or “shopping cart” – I hear both “sub” - I only ever hear “hoagie” on tv and that other term I’ve never ever heard of “pizza” - if someone said “im going to order a pie”, i’d usually assume it to be pizza, because where can u just order a pie for takeout? but it’s never used here “pop” - I hear soda sometimes, or sodapop, but usually pop “bag” --sometimes I’ll hear sack, but not often. My mom calls everything a “sachel” (sp?) LOL “hat” – or cap, but most often I hear hat to apply to any head covering “grocery store” – never ‘market’, but sometimes just ‘store’ “wallet” - never pocketbook I’ve never heard of an EGGCREAM ! sounds odd to me. Heres a new one: I call it koolaid, but my dad calls it “freshie”, for some reason. Heres another one: I call it the 'remote", but my parents call it the “clicker” LOL. for the tv. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/24 "2004-02-15T22:38:41Z")
I just thought of an odd one (to me, anyway). It never occurred to me that there could be a different terminology for turning electric devices on or off. Now, I’ve heard some French Canadians who, when translating to English, will say “open” and “close” a light, because that’s what the expression is in French. But here in Florida, I hear black folks saying “cut it on” and “cut it off”. Is this peculiar to the South? And how about this one? My father-in-law is an ex-fire department guy, and he was telling us stories about people who have been in accidents, except that black people would say instead that a person “fell out”. Even if there was no falling involved. Anybody got any ideas on that expression? Is that Southern, too? P.S.: **Snuggles** - “Freshie” is a trademark, same as “Kool-Aid”. They’re the same thing in different packages. And once upon a time, remote controls only had one button, and for some reason, it clicked. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/25 "2004-02-15T22:47:10Z")
> [@Snuggles](#): > > Heres another one: I call it the 'remote", but my parents call it the “clicker” LOL. for the tv. For some bizarre reason, my stepkids refer to it as “the channel changer”. I always call it the remote. ---
**Author:** ![sirkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@sirkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirkle)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/26 "2004-02-15T23:37:17Z")
Wow, and nobody’s mentioned the creek vs crick In central Idaho, a general small stream is a Creek, but if you are referring to a specific one, its a crick; Big Crick, Bear Crick, Mill Crick, etc. (still spelled creek, just pronounced crick). Its usually a pop, as in a pop and a candy bar. Subs, hoagies or whatever have always just been sandwiches to me cap is a baseball cap, hat is cowboy hat. Gyro here refers to what you put in the pita bread (spiced lamb from a rotissery) But pitas can come w/ anything in them, and the best fast food here is Pita Pit. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/27 "2004-02-16T00:10:31Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Here in northern Ohio we call it “pop.” The term derives from the “popping” sound that one heard when opening the old-style pull-tab form of soda-pop can. 😃 Before there were cans, there were bottles. And they called it a “bottle of pop” in the teens and twenties. Of course, there still could have been a “pop” when opening. ---
**Author:** ![Squonk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squonk)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/28 "2004-02-16T00:17:10Z")
Subs don’t exist in the Philadelphia area. Grinders are toasted hoagies - stuck in the oven for a few minutes. I want paper/plastic bags at the grocery store, but I might bring my own canvas sack if I’m feeling environmentally friendly. For lack of a better definition, i’ll just say old men and cowboys wear hats, the thing **Tripler** is describing is a cap. A visor is a cap without the top. I know a lot of people of all ages who call a remote a clicker, even though they haven’t clicked in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/29 "2004-02-16T00:24:43Z")
> [@Snuggles](#): > > I’ve never heard of an EGGCREAM ! sounds odd to me. A real eggcream is a specific concoction that, interestingly enough, has neither egg nor cream in it. I’d hazard a guess that it’s a New York-ism, but could be wrong. To my mom, who was from near Philadelphia, a “crick” was a little stream. A “creek” was what you got in your back from sitting in one position too long. My sister and I used to try to correct her constantly. Of course, to those folks the national symbol (and the name of a Philadelphia football team) is “iggle.” I agree that you wait \*\*in \*\* line at the store, but you wait \*\*on \*\* line for your page to load. And you wait \*\*for \*\* someone if you are cooling your heels while they get ready to go, but you wait **on** someone if you’re bringing their lunch at the diner. One of my co-workers will write in a status report that the team is “waiting on” some other group to finish something. No, you’re not. You’re waiting for them. Don’t know if that’s a regionalism or not. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/30 "2004-02-16T00:33:54Z")
we call the remote the “flipper” cause we flip channels with it, we used to call it the “clicker” when it actually clicked. How about the “way back”? That’s what we called the part of the car past the back seat for station wagons and hatch backs. Anybody else for this one? ---
**Author:** ![butterflygoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@butterflygoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butterflygoddess)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/31 "2004-02-16T00:50:38Z")
we used to call the back part of the station wagon the backy back but I think that was just us. My family seems to have some odd ones for example flannel instead of washcloth or bureau instead of dresser (although that’s more of a phila thing) also my dad is english so i grew up with my mom constantly calling people she was mad at a “bloody cow” or calling people daft which i particularly love, and final english thing to this day my family eats cheese on toast not grilled cheese (one slice of bread with cheese melted on it instead of two put together and fried in butter) Also phila people have been known to say that they have a sue case (as in i fell in the walmart and now i have a sue case against them) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/32 "2004-02-16T00:52:35Z")
**Tripler** , you may find some useful nuggets in [this thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=229285) ---
**Author:** ![Mooney252](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@Mooney252](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooney252)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/33 "2004-02-16T01:26:58Z")
It may be expensive or costly where you live but in Seattle, it’s _spendy._ > [@](#): > > “I’ll be that new SUV that you bought was spendy.” > > “Pretty spendy ring that you bought the missus!” But people in the Northwest have no idea what a “threeway” is (see: Cincinnati chili or Skyline chili); “sliders” (see: White Castle) are unknown. OTH, they don’t have geoducks. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/34 "2004-02-16T02:59:48Z")
In Oklahoma (and probably surrounding areas), all soda drinks are cokes. When you go to a restaurant or even McDonalds, they will ask what kind of coke you want, and you are to respond “7-up, Pepsi, Coke…” This is a surefire way to identify an outsider 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jweb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71c47a/32.png) [@jweb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jweb)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/35 "2004-02-16T03:01:02Z")
Minneapolis, Minnesota (from a transplanted Iowan): I (and most people from that grew up outisde of the city) call it pop. City-folk call it soda. Pizza has tomato sauce and cheese. Pie has fruit filling. A concoction of psuedorandom foodstuffs baked in a ceramic dish is called hotdish in Minnesota. Iowans call this casserole. Iowans are correct. A man carries his money in a wallet. A woman uses a purse, sometimes a pocketbook. Paper and plastic are bag options at the grocery store. Some people (mainly city folk, from my experience) refer to any SUV as a truck. Again, this is wrong. Headwear: if it’s desgined to keep your head warm, it’s a hat. If it would look natural on a cowboy, it’s also a hat. If it’s worn by baseball players, it’s generally a cap. Another one for the teeming millions: Does a band produce an ‘album’ or a ‘record’? ---
**Author:** ![conczepts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e7dd6/32.png) [@conczepts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conczepts)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/36 "2004-02-16T03:49:42Z")
> [@Mooney252](#): > > It may be expensive or costly where you live but in Seattle, it’s _spendy._ > > But people in the Northwest have no idea what a “threeway” is (see: Cincinnati chili or Skyline chili); “sliders” (see: White Castle) are unknown. > > OTH, they don’t have geoducks. I’ve spent half my life in Seattle and have never once heard anyone call something “spendy”, I hope I’m not being whooshed. I will agree that I’d never heard of “sliders” before (Seattle or Chicago), but they do have them at Athens restaurant in Auburn. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![conczepts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e7dd6/32.png) [@conczepts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conczepts)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/37 "2004-02-16T03:52:43Z")
I’ve never heard anyone outside my family call the refrigerator “the icebox”, does anyone else do this? We’re from Chicago, but I spent so much time in Seattle that I call it the refrigerator and still consider “the icebox” extremely funny sounding, and sometimes confuse it with the freezer. (“Put the milk back in the icebox!”-very confusing) ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/38 "2004-02-16T04:25:24Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > A real eggcream is a specific concoction that, interestingly enough, has neither egg nor cream in it. I’d hazard a guess that it’s a New York-ism, but could be wrong. If it’s a New York-ism, then it stretches south at least as far as Trenton, NJ, where my grandparents had a little soda fountain/luncheonette, and Camden, NJ, where my mom grew up. Eva Luna, Third-Generation Ice Cream Professional ---
**Author:** ![Sonyadora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sonyadora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonyadora)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/39 "2004-02-16T05:14:23Z")
My family is in the military so I get to really confuse people. 😃 I use all the following regionalisms. East Coast: Hoagie Midsized cargo trucks (bigger than your pickup, smaller than a semi) are called “Mack Trucks”. At least I think I picked this up in the East. Refering to grocery stores by the name of the paticular store (or chain it belonged to) rather than saying “grocery store” or “market”. Midwest: Pop Icebox Davenport (not often though, since it sounds bloody stupid) Chow Lazy Susan (that spinny thing you put on the table with all the condiments. My mom is from the East Coast and calls it something different, but I don’t remember what) South: Grits(as in a food made from corn, not food in general) Grub California: You guys (any group, regardless of gender) Dude (any person, regardless of gender) Sweet (“cool”) Anything used to carry money in your back pocket is a wallet, unless it is a money clip. I’m not sure what the hell a pocketbook is. The \ (As in “I took the 5 up to Bakersfield”. This SoCal colloquialism drives people from NorCal and other states crazy.) Gucci (expensive, spendy, or what have you 😉 ) Military: Refer (as in 'fridge. I think only Navy people use this. Unfortunately pronounced the same as “reefer”) FUBAR (You can get lots of blank stares out of this one). > [@](#): > > When I was in California at tech school many moons ago and in need of said beverages, I inquired as to where the nearest ‘packie’ was. I got looked at like I had two heads. Californians would probably recognize “Paki” as an insulting term for people from India and Pakistan, assuming they are pronounced the same. > [@](#): > > I’ve never heard anyone outside my family call the refrigerator “the icebox”, does anyone else do this? Yes, although some people use the same word to mean “freezer”. > [@](#): > > Another one for the teeming millions: Does a band produce an ‘album’ or a ‘record’? Actually, my peers and I talk about a band’s latest “CD”. Rarely we might use the word “album” but never “record”. You can tell I am young no? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369/40 "2004-02-16T05:29:55Z")
Philadelphians have a long history of mangling words. I remember: Acme-the supermarket chain was pronounced _Ack-a-me_ athlete-one displaying prowess in a sporting event became _ath-a-lete_ film-the media for recording photographic images sounded almost Native American as _fill-um_ A suburban town, Warminster, was made to sound like the title of a military official _War-min-i-ster_ Now that I’m in Central PA, I hear people ordering ‘dippy eggs’ for breakfast. I thought one dipped eggs to make colorful items at Easter, or Pysanky, if you were serious about the art. The one that really pushes my apeshit button is going into a convenience store, placing a newspaper and and quart of milk on the counter, and being asked, “Is that everything?” Part of me wants to shout, “NO! I don’t want everything! I don’t need everything, and I can’t afford everything! If everything was on the %#\*&ing counter, you’d see it there, right?” :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-americanisms-or-pop-vs-soda/229369.md?page=3)