What do they call soft drinks in Tennessee?
The majority of people in Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia use the term "coke." The map also proves that people from the Northwest and Midwest prefer using the word "pop."
Most Southerners, meanwhile, tend to call any soft drink a 'Coke,' no matter what brand they're sipping." (Aside: There appears to be a soda pocket in St.
Soda and Pop are the most common terms for soft drinks nationally, although other terms are used, such as, in the South, Coke (a genericized name for Coca-Cola).
According to texashillcountry.com, native Texans (like most native Southerners) call all soft drinks “coke”—a generic use of Coke, as in Coca-Cola, invented in Atlanta.
soda, the state of Kentucky is divided. It seems like eastern Kentucky and Lexington are more likely to call it "pop," while Louisville and western kentucky call it "coke."
Soda is the preferred term in the Northeast, most of Florida, California, and pockets in the Midwest around Milwaukee and St. Louis. Pop is what people say in most of the Midwest and West. And coke, even if it's not Coca-Cola brand, is what people call it in the South.
That's because in Rochester, Buffalo and the rest of Western New York, the sweet, carbonated drink is typically called a pop. In the rest of the state, it's a soda.
Pop, soda, coke — those words get thrown around in various parts of the country when talking about soft drinks. Minnesota is widely known for its use “pop”, and a titan in the restaurant world wants to know why.
One of the most notable examples of regionalisms is what people call a carbonated beverage. In Michigan, parts of Ohio and Indiana, and the upper middle states, people call the beverage “pop.” The word “soda” is used on the East Coast, West Coast, Hawaii, and Southern Florida. People use the word “coke” in the south.
"Coke" became a generic term in the south because it was the first widely popular soft drink and it wasdefinitively southern. A Harvard Dialect Survey conducted in 2003 measured usage of terms like "soda" and "pop" and how they were used by region.
Is it called soda or soft drink?
Soda is water that comprises of several bubbles. It is also one of the main ingredients used in the production of soft drinks. In fact, carbonated drinks are most commonly known by the name soda, this is why most of us use these two terms interchangeably.
Carbonated soft drinks are commonly known as soda. The name “soft drink” infers that the beverage does not contain alcohol, which is considered a “hard drink.” Carbonated soft drinks are available in types that are sweetened with sugars or with the sugar substitutes that are described in Chapter 4.

What about carbonated beverages, do you use "soda," "pop," or "Coke?" Now across the U.S. the answer is pretty mixed, but Chicago and most of northern Illinois, use "pop," while the rest of the state say "soda."
On the West Coast and in New England, people are more likely to say "soda," whereas in some parts of the South, people say "Coke" or "Coca-Cola" to refer to any type of carbonated beverage. You'll likely hear "pop" in states like North Dakota and Minnesota.
People in Oregon call a fizzy soft drink, [Both] Pop. [Both] Pop. It's a pop with an op.
Seems "Coke" is the preferred term of the South, while soda is preferred in New England and the southwest and pop is preferred the Mid and North West. And then there's Hardee's.
WESTOVER, W.Va. — Some people call it pop. Some people call it soda. Odds are Pop The Soda Shop has your favorite carbonated beverage often with a little twist, no matter what side of the debate you fall on.
Pop or Soda are interchangable terms. However, Coke only refers to Coca-Cola.
According to the National Peanut Federation's site, the practice likely originated in the 1920s, when workers with dirty hands didn't want to touch their peanuts, so they just dumped them in their Coke.
“Pop” is used predominantly in the Northwest, the Great Plains and the Midwest. The word was originated by a British poet in 1812, who wrote, “A new manufacture of a nectar, between soda water and ginger beer, and called 'pop,' because 'pop goes the cork' when it is drawn.”
What do Midwesterners call soda?
"Pop" is a word for what others call "soda."
One of the most common words Midwesterners get teased for saying is their word for "soda." You may get strange looks for saying it elsewhere in the US, but a fizzy, flavored drink is called a "pop" in the Midwest.
What do we call carbonated beverages? Seventy percent of people in Bethesda said "soda," followed by 11 percent with "Coke." "Pop" and "soft drink" were less popular. "Coleslaw" or just "slaw?" We're split. About 46 percent in Bethesda say it's OK to just say "slaw," and another 41 percent say it's not.
And “Coke” (which is used not only to describe the actual Coca-Cola brand but all types of soda in general) is used by people in states like Texas, South Carolina, Mississipi and Georgia.
What does NJ Call soda? People in states like Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Minnesota say that they use “pop.” People in states like California, Missouri, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Wisconsin say “soda.”
An unscientific Harvard survey more than a decade ago found that nearly 80 percent of Iowans prefer “pop." The Midwestern preference gets attributed to the sound that vintage pop bottles made when opened, versus the soda fountains more common on street corners back East.
California, Arizona, New England and a small pocket of the Midwestern choose to call their soft drinks "sodas." And then there are the states that really don't know where they stand in the pop vs. coke vs. soda war, like North Carolina, New Mexico, Alaska and Virginia.
- pop.
- tonic.
- soft drink.
- drink.
- soda pop.
- libation.
- potion.
- nectar.
Seems "Coke" is the preferred term of the South, while soda is preferred in New England and the southwest and pop is preferred the Mid and North West. And then there's Hardee's.
That's because in Rochester, Buffalo and the rest of Western New York, the sweet, carbonated drink is typically called a pop. In the rest of the state, it's a soda.
Carbonated Drinks:
On the West Coast and in New England, people are more likely to say "soda," whereas in some parts of the South, people say "Coke" or "Coca-Cola" to refer to any type of carbonated beverage. You'll likely hear "pop" in states like North Dakota and Minnesota.
What do they call soda in California?
And Californians and Northeasterners say “Soda”. Midwesterners and Pacific Northwesterners say “Pop”.
People from the West Coast and Northeast would call it soda. Folks from the Midwest and Mountain areas call it pop. And folks in the South? When they order a sweetened carbonated beverage, they ask for a Coke, even when they're ordering a Sprite (as in “I'll have a Coke.
So where does the word “pop” reign supreme? People in states like Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Minnesota say that they use “pop.” People in states like California, Missouri, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Wisconsin say “soda.”
States such as New York, New Hampshire, Virginia and Florida call the beverage “soda”. Other states such as Oregon, Maine, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Montana call it “pop” while southern states such as Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana refer to any version of the bubbly drink as “Coke”.
The Rum and Coke is also known as the Cuba Libre, a 3-ingredient cocktail made with lime, cola and rum that originated in Cuba in the early 1900's. “Cuba Libre” means “Free Cuba” in Spanish. It's a rallying cry that came from the Spanish American war in 1898, calling for Cuban independence from Spain.
Essentially, in western Pennsylvania, saying "pop" is a part of claiming the greater region as home, as is saying "soda" in the east. Johnstone says the "soda"/"pop" divide is interesting in Pennsylvania because it's one of the only states to be split by the word choice.
In Michigan, parts of Ohio and Indiana, and the upper middle states, people call the beverage “pop.” The word “soda” is used on the East Coast, West Coast, Hawaii, and Southern Florida. People use the word “coke” in the south.
The majority of people in Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia use the term "coke." The map also proves that people from the Northwest and Midwest prefer using the word "pop."California, Arizona, New England and a small pocket of the Midwestern choose to call their soft drinks "sodas."
What about carbonated beverages, do you use "soda," "pop," or "Coke?" Now across the U.S. the answer is pretty mixed, but Chicago and most of northern Illinois, use "pop," while the rest of the state say "soda."