I was on MSN's homepage today and saw the advertisement for an article called "Soda, Pop, or Coke?" Living smack dab in the middle of Missouri, there is much debate over whether to call the generally brown, bubbly liquid Soda or Pop (I mean, no one around here really calls it Coke.) People from St. Louis think it's Soda, but the more educated folk from Kansas City say Pop... So I clicked on the article hoping for answers. Unfortunately, I didn't find any. But I did find some semi-interesting information about the different dialects of the U.S. and how every area has different vocabulary.The lack of answers to what I really wanted to know spurred me to research a bit and I found the above map. As you can see, the state of Missouri is pretty much split down the middle between Pop and Soda. But if you look at the rest of the country, Pop seems to dominate... then comes Coke, and Soda is used the least! (One more reason why St. Louis is inferior.) Anyway, if you are at all interested in this silly debate you can go here to read more. All you really need to know is that Pop is used the most, Kansas City is the best place in the world, and St. Louis is... well, you can choose the vocabulary from your own regional dialect to negatively describe it.
2 comments:
Hey Abby, I grew up in Dodge City, KS calling soft drinks "pop". When I entered high school, it changed to "going out for a coke" with friends. Once we moved to Indiana I heard more and more people using the term "soda" and that kind of stuck with me to this day. Guess I like saying something different from others. Fun blog.
Soda! which I grew up on the East Coast saying and when I moved to Indiana everyone called it pop. Funny. Guess it depends on where you live in IN.
Post a Comment