Quezi

Blue areas show where pop is the dominant term for a carbonated soft drink, with yellow and green for soda and red for Coke used generically. Map entered into the public domain for attributed use by the Spatial Graphics and Analysis Lab at East Central University in Oklahoma.

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, I always referred to carbonated soft drinks as “pop,” or maybe “soda pop.” So I became confused sometime later when I moved briefly to California and was surprised to hear cans or bottles of pop referred to as “sodas” — to me, a soda is (and always will be) a dessert drink made of ice cream with carbonated water poured over it and flavored syrup added to the top.

Surprisingly, in an era when the English language is becoming homogenized (even across national borders), the generic word for a carbonated soft drink is one of those rare geographic language markers. The geographical differences have been described fully on the The Great Pop vs. Soda Controversy site, which based its conclusion on surveys of thousands of Internet users. Various studies on English dialectical differences have also found the same variation.

Here’s are the terms used in the United States and Canada:

• Pop is the most common term across the northern half of the contiguous United States from the West Coast to the Great Lakes region. It is also the most common term in Canada other than in Quebec (even among English speakers), where a variety of terms is used, including “soft drink.”
• Soda is by far the most common term in California and Arizona, New York, New England and scattered other places throughout the country.
• Coke, although a brand name, is used in much in the South as a generic term to refer to all kinds of carbonated soft drinks, not just Coca-Cola (and not even just colas).

Other terms that have significant use in North America are tonic (especially in Massachusetts), soda pop and simply drink. Various brand names also have acquired some generic use.

Outside the U.S. and Canada, the terms fizzy drink, cold drink, cool drink and soft drink are frequently used, depending on the region.