pop, soda, coke???

U.S. study

How do you say it?
We do tend to take our local "dialects" for granted, until we go out of town, or an out-of-towner comes around. Around here, it's exclusively "coke". I go over to someone's house, they ask "you want a coke?"...and I reply "sure, what kind you got?"
But I guess especially "pop" is the most foreign here...you'll get a strange look saying that round here.

Here in the midwest (Indiana) we call it pop or coke... Soda is pretty exclusive to the northern states as far as I know... When I lived in New York it was always "soda" or "soda-pop"

Rusty

I work in advertising and I'm pretty aware of the power of advertising and comunication media, so... as you can see "coke" it's pretty common, but take a second and think how many time you get to see some add (print, web, TV or radio) in one day?... that is called a "hit" so you get so many hits a day that you relate the product to the brand.

Many products have that.. for instance, the machines that "repair" the ice in the hockey arenas are comonly called "samboni" or "THE samboni" but Samboni is the brand, not the machine and it's called like that even if is not made by samboni, or Jacuzzi, the real name is hot tub or hidromasage tub Jacuzzi is a brand too... so you get the picture.

Soda for instance is a generic way (if you ask me is the way to go) and some people prefere other flavor of soda besides cola (perhaps for the caffeine issue) so they don't use Coke anymore cause they are not using the brand.

And pop... there I'm lost... it's like old fashioned isn't it?, Soda pop I think it was the whole description name, but why people use that... I really don't know. :confused:

Sure, I know they want brand recognition. I'm sure Pepsi is envious of Coke's culture status. But regardless, with my usage of it the specific brand doesn't even enter into my mind. So I'm not exactly sure what advantage is gained. And I'll always buy the cheap brands of "Q-tips" and "Kleenex".
I think having an initial monopoly on a market is a factor on the most common substitutions.

Oh...and every beverage dispensing machine is also a "coke machine" regardless of what brand is sold.

Its usually coke around here. A lot of times at diners I'll ask for a coke and they'll say they have Pespi and if thats okay. Its all the same to me, as long as its not RC Cola. :D

Originally Posted by: R. ShackleferdU.S. study

How do you say it?
We do tend to take our local "dialects" for granted, until we go out of town, or an out-of-towner comes around. Around here, it's exclusively "coke". I go over to someone's house, they ask "you want a coke?"...and I reply "sure, what kind you got?"
But I guess especially "pop" is the most foreign here...you'll get a strange look saying that round here.

That's interesting, Rustee. Up here (or at least in my household), it's pop. Soda is one of those things no one ever says, and Coke refers to any type of cola besides Pepsi.

Originally Posted by: earthman buckThat's interesting, Rustee. Up here (or at least in my household), it's pop...

Well note what's stated near the bottom:

CONCLUSION
People who say "Pop" are much, much cooler.

How exactly they reached that conclusion I dunno. Unless of course it's referring to temp.:)

I hate it when you go to McDonalds or whatever and say you want a Coke and they go "Do you mean Pepsi".

Arghh..... who cares just gimme a friggin coke, they all taste the same.

Or the dummy in front of you who wants a hot chocolate with mushrooms.

Originally Posted by: elklandercc...A lot of times at diners I'll ask for a coke and they'll say they have Pespi and if thats okay....

The same happens to me, and it's not OK.... :mad: If I wanted Pepsi, I would have asked for ****ing Pepsi! Why not sell Coke instead? It's what everyone asks for. There should be hot,cold and coke taps in the kitchen... :D

Pepsi tastes totally different to me.... hell, even coke out of a bottle tastes different than coke from a can.

In the UK, no-one says 'soda'... some Northern people say 'Pop', but you'd only say Coke if that's exactly what you want....

I haven't been able to drink Cherry coke since I was a kid, and we have less of a choice than you guys in the US...

I always say pop...yeah, pretty much always. Always. It's pop. If you ask for Coke, you get whatever kind of cola they have, Coke, Pepsi, whatever. They don't ask you here. Coke is Coke is Coke.

Originally Posted by: renThe same happens to me, and it's not OK.... :mad: If I wanted Pepsi, I would have asked for ****ing Pepsi! Why not sell Coke instead? It's what everyone asks for. There should be hot,cold and coke taps in the kitchen... :D

Pepsi tastes totally different to me.... hell, even coke out of a bottle tastes different than coke from a can.

In the UK, no-one says 'soda'... some Northern people say 'Pop', but you'd only say Coke if that's exactly what you want....

I haven't been able to drink Cherry coke since I was a kid, and we have less of a choice than you guys in the US...

When its from the tap, I'm good either way. From a can its pepsi and from a bottle its coke. But yea, bottle vs. can is 2 different tastes. Same thing with beer as well.

thats hilarious. "pop" is most often used around here, but my mom is old, therefore she says "soda". we where in michigan a long time ago when i was about 12 and i remember my mom asking a safeway employee where the soda was, and he looked at us like he had no idea what we where talking about for like, 5 seconds. then he goes".....oh! you mean pop! its on isle 6."

Originally Posted by: elklanderccWhen its from the tap, I'm good either way. From a can its pepsi and from a bottle its coke. But yea, bottle vs. can is 2 different tastes. Same thing with beer as well.

mickey's from the can and mickey's from the bottle are two different experiences. both good, in my book. but yes, very true.

Hmm... I hear all three quite often, but pop is probably used the most here(Michigan), from what I can tell.

If you go to a resturant and ask for a coke, the same thing happens as mentioned already, "is pepsi alright?".

One thing I don't get is when I'm in England, hardly any stores refrigerate their pop. I stopped at one roadside store on a really hot day and asked the girl if she had any pop that was cold and she looked at me like I was nuts. I end up drinking coke at room temperature all the time.

That and fish and chip stores with no ketchup. Same reaction, in Chesterfield they looked at me like I was nuts or something when I asked where the ketchup was.

Originally Posted by: schmangeOne thing I don't get is when I'm in England, hardly any stores refrigerate their pop. I stopped at one roadside store on a really hot day and asked the girl if she had any pop that was cold and she looked at me like I was nuts. I end up drinking coke at room temperature all the time.[/QUOTE]

Really? I've not noticed that... only crappy shops?


[QUOTE=schmange]That and fish and chip stores with no ketchup. Same reaction, in Chesterfield they looked at me like I was nuts or something when I asked where the ketchup was.

And in London they don't do gravy... all very odd. But then, in Chesterfield I understand that marraige between first cousins is very common.... :D

Could be crappy shops or maybe just a string of bad luck. Then again, when you go down to Cornwall it's like going back in time 50 years.
One of the bars still has Asteroids as their video game and there's one of those old red phone boxes on the corner. You only get 3 TV stations and there's never anything on. You have to use a 56k modem if you want to use the internet.. The milkman drives a little open electric cart with silver and gold top milk and you have to put money in the meter in the morning so you can have hot water. The stores all close at 5pm and nobody's open on Sunday.
It's kinda quaint for a couple of weeks then ya just start to go nuts.