Where is the geographic line when it comes to "Soda" vs. "Pop or Soft" drink?

Old Salt

Old Salt

Senior Member
Location
New Brunswick, Canada!
Silly subject I know, but I have always wondered where "pop" and "soft drink" stopped and "soda" began! Well, I have nothing better to do at the moment! :) What do Aussies and Brits call it? And in the U.S. where does soda stop and pop (or soft drink) begin? Ot does it?
 

I still tend to call any fizzy drink coke. However, if I have to actually ask for a fizzy drink I do it by name Coke, Pepsi or 7-up, all diet.
BTW I grew up in California.
 
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  • Soda is the preferred term in the Northeast, most of Florida, California, and pockets in the Midwest around Milwaukee and St. Louis
  • Pop is what people say in most of the Midwest and West
  • And coke, even if it's not Coca-Cola brand, is what people call it in the South
Previous research reveals even more regional divides. According to Jason Katz, the graphic artist who wrote "Speaking American: How Y'all, Youse, and You Guys Talk," there are even more regionalisms that most Americans may not have heard of. Among them:
  • A solid 6% of Americans simply call them soft drinks, especially in Louisiana and North Carolina
  • In small pockets of the Deep South, cocola is the preferred term
  • And in Boston, tonic is what a decent amount of older residents grew up saying, although that term is quickly falling out of favor
Whether you call it pop, soda, coke, or something else entirely, there's no question that Americans won't be agreeing on its name any time soon.

https://www.businessinsider.com/soda-pop-coke-map-2018-10?op=1
 
RadishRose said:
  • Soda is the preferred term in the Northeast, most of Florida, California, and pockets in the Midwest around Milwaukee and St. Louis
  • Pop is what people say in most of the Midwest and West
  • And coke, even if it's not Coca-Cola brand, is what people call it in the South
Previous research reveals even more regional divides. According to Jason Katz, the graphic artist who wrote "Speaking American: How Y'all, Youse, and You Guys Talk," there are even more regionalisms that most Americans may not have heard of. Among them:
  • A solid 6% of Americans simply call them soft drinks, especially in Louisiana and North Carolina
  • In small pockets of the Deep South, cocola is the preferred term
  • And in Boston, tonic is what a decent amount of older residents grew up saying, although that term is quickly falling out of favor
Whether you call it pop, soda, coke, or something else entirely, there's no question that Americans won't be agreeing on its name any time soon.

https://www.businessinsider.com/soda-pop-coke-map-2018-10?op=1
Click to expand...
Thank you @RadishRose your link is fascinating! Most Canadians (I think) would ask for a pop or soft drink! At least they do in the Maritimes. That's why I am surprised that Soda is preferred in the North East! I thought there might be a clear North .. South .. divide! North Pop, South Soda! And "tonic" is a real surprise!
 
Old Salt said:
Silly subject I know, but I have always wondered where "pop" and "soft drink" stopped and "soda" began! Well, I have nothing better to do at the moment! :) What do Aussies and Brits call it? And in the U.S. where does soda stop and pop (or soft drink) begin? Ot does it?
Click to expand...

I used to call it pop as a child in the UK. The adults around me at that time called it pop when I was in their presence. As an adult I call it a soft drink. But when children are around me I call it pop.

As a child I asked my grandmother why it was called pop. She said because carbonated drinks used to have a glass ball stopper, and when she pushed the stopper into the glass bottle it would make a popping sound.
 
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Growing up in New Jersey, soft drinks were always referred to as soda unless you were referring to a brand, as in “Coke.” In Pennsylvania, I find the term “pop” more commonly used. Even within a state, though, there can be regional preferences depending on background… 🥤
 
I grew up in Idaho and all I ever heard it called out there (Washington, Idaho) was “pop”, and then you found the brand and flavor that you wanted. In the convenience stores, they have the pop machine.
I never heard it referred to as soda until I moved down here to Alabama. When I asked someone at a gas station where their pop machine was, they just gave me a strange look and had no clue what I wanted. I had to learn to ask for a soda, but in my mind, it is still called pop.

Another new word was “buggy”, which has always been called a shopping cart everywhere else I have lived; but here it is a buggy. Instead of asking for a ride somewhere, people ask if you can “carry them” to wherever they want a ride to.
And bedrooms have bedroom suits, and not suites, even on the radio sales announcements.
 
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