Soda? Pop? Coke? Tonic? or Soda Pop? What do you call it?
By Wendy
@jerzgirl (9232)
United States
May 31, 2008 9:19pm CST
Mooch - thanks for inadvertently giving me the idea for this one. 
Around my area, we call carbonated soft drinks soda, but when I moved to Utah years back, they called it pop. Yet, there was a segment of that region that also called it Coke (my inlaws among them). Other places call it Soda Pop (both words together) and today I learn that others still call it Tonic.
So - what's YOUR tonic? What do you call it? And, if you call it Coke, do you have to clarify WHICH coke you mean (7-up coke, pepsi coke, coke coke, etc.)
Around my area, we call carbonated soft drinks soda, but when I moved to Utah years back, they called it pop. Yet, there was a segment of that region that also called it Coke (my inlaws among them). Other places call it Soda Pop (both words together) and today I learn that others still call it Tonic.
So - what's YOUR tonic? What do you call it? And, if you call it Coke, do you have to clarify WHICH coke you mean (7-up coke, pepsi coke, coke coke, etc.)3 people like this
4 responses
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
1 Jun 08
I call it pop. I can't undrstand the places that call it coke, even if it's not actually coke. LOL If someone asks me if I want a coke, I expect a coca cola. I wonder how these interesting slang terms get started.
2 people like this
@spectrum42 (393)
• United States
2 Jun 08
I'm in Michigan and most people that I know say "pop". I sometimes hear "soda pop" or coke though. The first time someone ordered pops as cokes when I worked in a restaurant, I totally messed up the order. They wanted "6 cokes, 2 mountain dew and 4 orange". I brought them 12 beverages and they were so confused.
1 person likes this
@spectrum42 (393)
• United States
7 Jun 08
LOL, yes. That's a drawback. I felt silly too, but I just didn't know that terminology at the time. I thought, "who I am to question the customers? Just do what they ask."
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
2 Jun 08
we call it soda,sometimes just coke though.
when i lived in AZ briefly though,they all said pop there.they kinda looked at me funny when i said soda LOL
@jerzgirl (9232)
• United States
3 Jun 08
I can't remember what they called it when I lived in AZ - I was there for a couple of years, but I'm guessing "pop" because that was the dominant one in Utah as well. But, they also had so many military families where I was (the base was part of the town), they'd heard it all, so I don't think they worried about it as much down there.
@nickspinky (198)
• United States
3 Jun 08
I have always called it coke but any time I say to someone get me a coke they know that I mean diet coke since that is what I drink. At times I do say diet coke though. Around my area we all just say coke I dont hear many people call it anything else except my mom used to call it pop.
