[Ichneumon]

Since there's no serious opposition on this thread to the evidence for evolutionary biology (operative word being "serious")...

And now for something completely different: The Great "Pop" vs. "Soda" Controversy

Now *that's* some interesting scientific research!

And yes, they misspelled "respondent" twice. *wince*

If you're wondering about "Other", the most popular alternatives were, in order: "soft drink", "tonic", and "soda pop", along with a ton of other variants (see website for list).

[Right Wing Professor]

I'm dubious. When I lived in Boston, it was 'tonic'.

[Doctor Stochastic]

The generic name for soft drink is "coke" as in, "What kind of coke do you want?" "Get me a Dr Pepper, thanks."

[malakhi]

Interesting. I wonder what accounts for the clusters of "soda" name use in eastern Wisconsin and southwest Illinois/eastern Missouri?

[VadeRetro]

My favorite "other" is "tonic," an apparent confusion of flavored, sugary water with carnival-show patent medicine. It used to be pretty common, especially among older people, when and where I was a kid.

[Physicist]

That map is absolutely engrossing. And I'm not really sure why.