There’s a interesting map floating around the Internet today… it’s actually from quite a few years ago (seeming originating from The Pop vs. Soda Page), but probably just about as accurate. Have a peek at it below, it’s about what people call that fun carbonated drink with syrup in it, depending on where they live. In New York City it’s called “soda”, in the South-Eastern US it’s called “coke” and in the Mid-Western states, it’s generally referred to as “pop”.
This reminds me of when I was working on a project for a client in Wisconsin. I was staying in a hotel and called a local pizza joint. I asked them for a Chicken Parmigiana Hero, they hadn’t the slightest clue what I was talking about. In the end I ate pizza.
Oh yeah, the “pop” term is thoroughly ingrained in my Midwestern vocabulary. It’s weird though that it lists the Pac NW as a “pop” land–everyone I know who has grown up here refers to it as “soda” and in southern Illinois/St.Louis area, I have heard “soda-pop” an awful lot. I find regional variations fascinating… It did, however, confuse the heck out of me in Atlanta when I ordered a ginger ale and the waitress referred to it as “ginger coke.” I know Coca-Cola was born there, but come on!
I call it coke and my boyfriend and his family call it pop.