Pop, Soda, or Coke?

http://www.popvssoda.com ^ | 12/21/04 | http://www.popvssoda.com

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

My 80-something mother-in-law calls a vacuum cleaner "the electric sweep." You gotta love it.

When I was young, we had a housekeeper who'd been brought up with a German-speaking influence that pronounced it VAC-uhm (not coom - as in cute).

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Whoa! My kid thinks it is funny that say "crick" for creek... Thought I was one of the few....

My husband, whose speech has apparently been heavily influenced by his mother who grew up in far southern Illinois, has this habit of saying "LAW-yer" instead of "LOY-er". Interesting.......

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Do you have Grinders in Mass and NH too, or is that strictly a CT thing?

When I was an undergrad at Univ. of Illinois in south central Illinois (Urbana/Champaign), my favorite carryout place carried ham grinders. Then when I moved to Chicago, it's now subs (short for submarines) or now, Subway, as in the chain ;-).

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

I do not watch him enough to know if that is what he calls it all the time. An ice box is something in the ole days where people kept their piece of ice. I can remember going to an ice plant when I was very young and seeing all the 100 lbs of ice being taken out of the freezer. What did they use to freeze it?

I grew up in central Illinois. When I was a toddler in the early 1960's, we still had an "icebox" and the Ice Man really did Cometh, every few days. The ice apparently was "imported" from someplace like MN, and stored in a place where it melted VERRRRRRRRRY slowly before being delivered to our house. :-)

[libertylass]

Well...there it is again. I live in Southern California, smack dab in SODA country and I always say "could you get me a coke?"....meaning....get me a soda or a pop. It could be a Sprite or a Root Beer, but I call it a coke. OK, so we're a little confused here on the left coast. Can you blame us?

[Melas]

What about Sody-Pop? Or Co-Cola?

They didn't poll kindergartners.

[Classicaliberalconservative]

This reminds me of a story. This gorgeous girl who was in my German class is from MN. She was quiet liberal and we got into more than one tiff over the Senate race in 2002 involving Norm Coleman. When Coleman finally got elected, she sighed, "I don't want a Republican Senator, especially Coleman. He probably doesn't even say pop". To which I reply, yeah because like all normal people he call it soda. Did I mention this girl is hot.

[Classicaliberalconservative]

What? New Yorkers call it soda. Even in Bay Ridge. You sure the people who were saying Coke were refering to soft drinks or hard drugs?

[Clemenza]

I always called it coke OR soda. Of course, anyone who called it "pop" would be marked as a hick.

[philetus]

I like carbonated prune juice too.

[acad1228]

Unknown to whom, Whiteye?

[Preachin']

I say Co-Cola, or Coke, but drink Dr. Pepper or Mr. Pibb.

My favorite is Cheerwine, which we drink when we visit my wife's family in Greensboro, NC.

[Jonah Hex]

Born, raised, living in the South, and I've always called them "soft drinks".

[winodog]

Coke

[showme_the_Glory]

Sas per rilly if'n ya got it.

[Betis70]

>>How do you pronounce the word BAYOU??

Swamp.

;-)

[spinner55]

Howdy,

Drank my first cheerwine this year, great stuff, pretty 'cheap' in the supermarkets, just done have some shipped to you, $$$$ about had a heartattack after hearing the shipping charges. LOL Oh well, was for my mother in law.

Take care and Merry Christmas and have a great and safe holiday season

Spin

[CollegeRepublican]

I went to college just south of Philly. We took many a late night run to Pat's. I also like Jim's Steaks.

[Fiddlstix]

Sody pop

[Wallace T.]

The "Coke/pop/soda" split probably reflects the preferences of bottlers and wholesalers in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when carbonated soft drinks entered the consumer marketplace. The "Coke" dominance in the South, except for Virginia and North Carolina, reflects the fact that Coca-Cola, one of the first producers, became dominant early in the South, where the warmer weather naturally encouraged more consumption.

The map tells us little about politics. "Black belt" counties in the lower Mississippi Valley, the one remaining area of Democrat strength in the South, are as much "Coke" drinkers as is the Texas Panhandle, where most counties went for Bush by 4:1 margins. The map does show internal migration of recent decades. Note that southeast Florida is "soda" country, probably reflecting the influx of retirees from New York and New Jersey. The plurality of "soda" in Arizona is probably attributable to Californians and Northeasterners migrating there.