This map purports to show regional generic terms for soft drinks. I came across the use of "coke" to mean "soda" when I lived in Louisiana, but I did not find it all that prevalent, even on my sporadic visits to gawk and throw stones at rural folk. When I was growing up, we said "fizzy drink." We also wore an onion on our belts, which was the style at the time.
Apparently, the word ‘pop’ was first introduced by Robert Southey, the British Poet Laureate (1774-1843), to whom we also owe the word ‘autobiography’, among others. In 1812, he wrote: A new manufactory of a nectar, between soda-water and ginger-beer, and called pop, because ‘pop goes the cork’ when it is drawn. Despite this unimpeachable genesis, the term ‘pop’ is considered unsophisticated by many, possibly because it is onomatopaeic, but most likely because it is popular in the midwest
4 comments:
Thanks for making laugh out loud at 5:40 in the morning. I can testify that during the 1970s and 1980s in eastern Washington, the term 'pop' was used almost exclusively to designate any carbonated beverage that was not beer or champagne. A local concern, The Pop Shoppe, enabled families to create their own custom cases of flavored pops. After they were drunk, the family would return the empty case of bottles to the Pop Shoppe for credit towards the next case. Hence my crappy teeth.
Always been coke around these here Memphis parts. Next time I'm in Missouri, I'll have to remember to call them "other."
I admire the maverick "soda" counties in North Dakota, Idaho, and a couple of other states, where they fearlessly buck the regional "pop" trend. Give me soda or give me death!
I'm a Coke man.
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