I was raised in California by Indiana Hoosier parents who called it 'Pop'. I call it 'Soda', just like 80 to 100% of the other people in my area.

That map is DS#1's screen saver. Oooh, I miss that interesting kid...

I've lived in pop, coke, & soda country. I'm all confused!
Funny that eastern Missouri is a soda island in a sea of pop & coke. The first time I ever heard anybody call a soft drink "soda" was when I made a friend from St. Louis, and he pronounced it more like "sody."

Wonder what the "other" terms are?

I think one of the "other" terms might be soft drink. I remember this being used in one of the areas where I lived but I can't remember where.

I'm in solid "coke" country but I don't say that, I say, "soda" because that's what it was called when I was a kid. Well actually, when we first moved to Texas it was called, "soda water" and I thought that meant it was watered down soda.

I say soda, as does everyone who lives around here. I remember when I went to college in upstate New York and the kids called it pop. I nearly died laughing, but the laugh was on me since that's what people say there. I still think pop is hilarious.

The grocery store flyers around here all say soft drinks, so I guess that is the most generic term.

This is making me think of the Saturday Night Live skit about "No Coke! Pepsi! No fries! Chips!"

It's been POP my whole life, but my out-of-state friends tell me that I say it "paaap". Accent? What accent? :)

I LOVE that sketch, ded. Sitting here laughing!

Soda here, too.

Soda here.

I'm a little confused by "coke". Those that use that term use it to refer to all soda? So, even if it's Sprite, for example, they call it coke? Stupid question?

Yes, I remember the SNL skit too. I think we are dating ourselves :-)

"Coke" is the generic term - like when you say "kleenex" when referring to facial tissue.

So it would go down like this:

- "I'll have a coke."
- "Okay, what kind."
- "Dr. Pepper"

I know, totally goofy.

One of the "other" terms is common in the general Boston area, where carbonated soft drinks are "tonic." Not tonic water, just tonic.

As in:

"Do you want a tonic?"
"Yeah, what do you have?"
"Coke or orange or root beer."
"I'll have a root beer."

But "soda" is gradually taking over.

See that little area in Oregon that is colored yellow for soda? That's where I live. My kids always laughed at their Canadian cousins asking for POP. And likewise they laughed at my kids saying SOda.

And the idea of calling all sodas Coke is really strange.

kellyeng that's exactly the type of example they used in the news clip - makes absolutely NO sense to me! But maybe if we sat at a table and ordered tissues the way we order drinks, we'd all call it kleenex and then have to specify Kleenex, or Puffs or Puffs Lotion....... still odd!

"Coke" is what we call it too! We say "Wanna go get a coke?", or, "Wanna coke?". Coke is generic for them all.

Can't get better than an ice cold Coke in a glass bottle with peanuts poured inside the Coke. YUM!

Midwestern gal here drinking my "Coke", globally using that term!

One of the "other" possibilities from the South would be "cold drink". As in, "wanna stop and get a cold drink?"

I went to college at the University of Missouri, which is in Columbia, right smack in the middle of the state. I was amazed at the different slang terms used among those from the St. Louis side of the state vs. those from the KC side of the state. Soda vs. Pop. "40 Highway" vs. "Highway 40." And the addition and deletion of the "r" sound in many words. St. Louis folks would pay with "quotters" and KC people would "warsh" things.

I think another interesting "study" would be the names for athletic shoes. Sneakers, tennis shoes, trainers, running shoes, etc.

I'm a military brat so I think I picked up things from all over. My husband insists that I say "melk" instead of "milk", and I have no idea where that came from!

jakebedy - I went to school in Columbia, too! That was the first place I heard the term 'skosh' for a little bit - as in, I'll have a skosh more more potatoes, please. My dear departed SIL was from a small town in OH and she said warsh and melk until she lived many years here outside of Chicago.

I think another interesting "study" would be the names for athletic shoes. Sneakers, tennis shoes, trainers, running shoes, etc.

I've linked to a website below with maps like the one above for all kinds of phrases and pronunciations across the country. Such as which areas add an "r" in wash, the different ways that "roof" is pronounced, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dialect map

I wear 'gym' shoes, always have. It's a holdover from the days when I actually had gym class in school and in IL, daily gym class is required through the 12th grade so that was a lotta gym classes! Now, as an adult, I work out and go to classes at a gym, so it still fits.

That's a fascinating link, terriks. The ones I've looked at fit me by locations perfectly.

I've lived in several states and they have all been "soda" states.

Looks like Kentucky is split 50-50. I'm in Eastern KY - we say pop.........But mostly I say "Pepsi".

I love this kind of stuff so much!

I grew up in Baltimore where we called it soft drinks.

Wasn't that Saturday night skit hysterical! It was a take-off on a well-known bar called The Billy Goat Tavern located under our famous el tracks in Chicago. The famous lines were "cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger ,no fries, chips and no pepsi coke". The owner of The Billy Goat Tavern placed a hex on the Chicago Cubs. We've enjoyed the ambiance many times.