Pop Goes the Soda

posted by Zach Patton

That dark fizzy drink -- what do you call it? Soda? Pop? Cola? Coke?

It all depends on where you're from.  Check out this great map (via Strange Maps, which I've written about before). It charts the -- surprisingly strong -- regional differences when it comes to what exactly you call a soft drink.

As someone from the south (Tennessee), I can definitely attest that we called everything "a Coke."  Seriously.  Here's a typical exchange at a restaurant -- an exchange I must have had hundreds of times growing up:

Customer:  "What kinds of Coke do y'all have?"

Server: "Coke, Diet-Coke, 7Up, Sprite..."

Customer:  "I'll have a Coke."

Server: "Okay.  It's Pepsi.  Is that all right?"

Customer:  "Yeah, sure."

Comments

[Ellen]

Funny. And I remember during a family trip driving across the country that I ordered a soda with a burger and was served an ice cream soda. Whoa. Not bad when you're a kid!
When I tried to order a soda in England they looked at me completely blankly. Finally, the woman asked, "Oh, you mean a "fizzy drink?'"

[David Adams]

Restaurants that serve Pepsi products are required to ask if Pepsi is an acceptable substitute for Coca Cola products when a "Coke" is ordered because of a lawsuit Coca Cola Company v. Doris.

[Kevin Graves]

Hilarious! My section of the country is very dark red, and your analogy (what you heard growing up) is so spot on and what I hear weekly that I had to laugh.