The Great Pop vs Soda Debate Analyzed by County

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

From: http://popvssoda.com/

Drink up!
-Ed

[The Burgomaster]

Many hardcore Massachusetts residents call it "tonic."  As in, "I'll have a cheesburger, fries, and a tonic."  This word was much more prevalent when I was a kid.  Now, a lot of people in this area say "soda," especially when they talk to people from other states.  But the diehards still call it tonic.  It's great to walk into a pizza shop in Boston and see something like, "Today's special: two slices of pizza, chips, and can of tonic: $5.00."

[Jack]

I'm in an 80 - 100% pop county.  What's with Eastern Missouri / Western Illinois?  An outbreak of soda people right in the middle of a pop/Coke  area?  And New Mexico?  Man, talk about indecisive. 

[Criswell]

In Tennessee no matter what soda it is. It is always referred to as a "coke". Its pretty strange when you think of it. People are also starting to say Soda more here now as well.

[akiratubo]

In TN, you might get your ass kicked for saying "pop".  "Soda" is slightly acceptable.  Generally, someone will just say "coke" or the actual name of the soft drink they want.

[HappyGilmore]

Most around here in the Philly/South eastern PA/Jersey area noticeably say soda. Some people moved in from the midwest and called it pop, and we looked at them strangely. And they looked at us strangely when we pronounced water as 'wooder' but that's another topic entirely.

[Flick James]

Typical to transplant regions, you get all types here in Phoenix, AZ. I would say I hear "soda" more than most, however. In my neighborhood growing up, most people just said the specific brand, or "soda."

[Mr. DS]

In many parts of RI they ad an "R" to the end of "soda".  Its lame.

[Olivia Bauer]

Why would you say Coke if it wasn't Coke?

I like to say Soda. I don't like the sound of Pop. Up here in Minnesota they call it Pop.

[AndyC]

Calling everything Coke does seem a little confusing.

It's pop here in Ontario, and pop seems to be the standard in parts of Canada I've visited.

[Sleepyskull]

In many parts of RI they ad an "R" to the end of "soda".  Its lame.

I have a LOT of relatives from New England, I understand. Popular joke in the family: "Where did the "R" in Bar Harbor go? It went to Africa."    It only makes sense if you understand New England accents, though.

[AndyC]

Interesting statistics on the site. It does indeed show "pop" in the majority for everywhere in Canada except Quebec, where they prefer to call it a soft drink.

[The Burgomaster]

Let's not even get into the fact that iced tea is called sweet tea in many parts of the country.  If you don't say "iced," don't you get confused between cold tea and hot tea?  Here in Massachusetts, we say "iced tea" if we want something cold (like Nestea Iced Tea) or just "tea" if we want hot tea.

We could also have the great sub / grinder / hoagie / hero sandwich debate . . .

[Ash]

For most of my life I've called it pop.  Only within the last ten years or so did I start calling it soda.  I'm not sure why either. 
If you look at eastern Iowa on that map, you'll notice one little county that's yellow.  I live in the county right above it so maybe that's why.  Still, I sometimes get weird looks from people when I call it soda instead of pop.

I have relatives that live in Arkansas and they all call it coke no matter what kind of soda it is.  That always baffled me.  If you want a Sprite, ask for a Sprite.  If you want a Pepsi, ask for a Pepsi.

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

Interesting statistics on the site. It does indeed show "pop" in the majority for everywhere in Canada except Quebec, where they prefer to call it a soft drink.

Le Soda?  Une Drinque Carbonique?