Pop Or Soda What Do You Call It.
By fishtiger58
@fishtiger58 (29820)
Momence, Illinois
December 18, 2015 7:44am CST
While reading a post this morning brought to mind how different areas of the United States call the same item different names. The one that come to mind is Soda Pop.
I have lived in the Chicago area my whole life and we call it Pop. When I am in different areas of the US, and someone calls it Soda it sounds so foreign to me.
Some 10 years ago or so my 2 sons and I went to visit a friend of mine in Texas. One day we went to lunch at a local restaurant. The waitress came to the table and asked what we would like to drink. My friend ordered first. My sons and I sat there with our mouths open because of what she ordered. Had never heard it put quite that way. Here is what she said..... I would like a Coke. The waitress asked what kind. My friend said Seven Up. What???
I have heard that the most common word is Soda, and not many areas of the country use the term pop.
What do you call it?
16 people like this
24 responses
@moffittjc (121499)
• Gainesville, Florida
18 Dec 15
As a Southerner, I got a good laugh out of this. Yes, we call any soda a coke. Probably has to do a lot with the fact that Coca-Cola has their headquarters in Atlanta. I mostly say soda, but true Southerners call everything coke! I have noticed that pop seems to mostly be a mid-western thing, and I've even heard soda pop on occasion. I always get a chuckle when someone orders a pop to drink, because to me a pop is someone's dad, not a drink!
3 people like this
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
18 Dec 15
Very funny, I called me father dad. But why not just order a seven up lol.
@moffittjc (121499)
• Gainesville, Florida
18 Dec 15
@fishtiger58 Because in the south we drink Sprite, not 7-Up! lol
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
19 Dec 15
Soda for us in the UK is usually dispensed into a glass of whisky. We call each drink by its proper term ie Coke, Pepsi, Lemonade, 7up etc.
3 people like this
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
19 Dec 15
When ordering it I call it Pepsi, when getting one at home or a grocery list it's pop.Or just talking about it in general terms it's pop.
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15505)
• United Kingdom
19 Dec 15
true but i've heard people refer to fizzy drinks as pop quite often.
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@DreadPirateRoberts (26)
• United States
20 Dec 15
Another little difference @garymarsh6, besides the name is that it always comes in a glass full of ice where i am. Its my understanding that in the UK and Europe is you don't get ice. True?
3 people like this
@ricki_911 (21625)
• Toronto, Ontario
21 Dec 15
We call it Pop here in Canada, and I had no idea what Soda was until I was about 13 and went on a trip to Florida with the Girl Guides. We were so confused to say the least.
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@ricki_911 (21625)
• Toronto, Ontario
21 Dec 15
@fishtiger58 It's funny how different 1 item can be around the world.
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
21 Dec 15
@ricki_911 It is I love knowing what other's call pop. It's pretty interesting.
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
18 Dec 15
Soda just sounds so foreign to me. But I do think that soda is the most used term.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (470779)
• Switzerland
19 Dec 15
@fishtiger58 Soda is the term I heard in the United States, because of course we use another work in Italian, "bevande gassate" that translates as "carbonated drinks".
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
19 Dec 15
@LadyDuck And yet another term , how fun.
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@DreadPirateRoberts (26)
• United States
20 Dec 15
@fishtiger58 Your friend is exactly right! It's all coke. What kind of coke? Maybe a Pepsi or a Dr. Pepper or even on those rare occasions a Coca Cola.
Why? Just is.
I agree with you that if its not what you grew up hearing it just sounds so foreign and odd.
@moffittjc YesYesYes! It's all Coke! and Pop is a parental unit.
3 people like this
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
20 Dec 15
I can understand pop is a father, but mine was dad. And pop is a drink lol.
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
27 Nov 17
I think most of the United States calls it soda, but for sure those of us from Chicago will always call it pop.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104628)
• United States
19 Dec 15
That has to be a one off thing. I have never heard anyone say "coke" to mean "soda". Yes, Soda is what I say. I've heard it called, Soda, Soda Pop, or just pop. When my best friend first moved down here from Ohio (this has been well over ten years now) she would say pop. Her whole family said pop and I was confused.
Don't worry, they are nice and "Southernized" now. 
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
19 Dec 15
it's pretty amazing how many different words there are to describe the same thing.
@cmoneyspinner (9219)
• Austin, Texas
19 Jul 16
We always called it "soda". But my best friend had cousins who came from another part of the United States and that was the first time I heard it called it "pop". Then I met people who came from somewhere else in the USA and they called it "tonic". My dad was from another country and he called it "soda water". 
Occasionally, I have heard people use the term "soda pop"
Occasionally, I have heard people use the term "soda pop"1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
23 Jul 16
I have heard folks call it soda pop too, for me everything but pop sounds weird.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
19 Dec 15
yes Seven up is made by Pepsi
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
24 Dec 15
It sounds weird when they do to me.
1 person likes this
@shivamani10 (11035)
• Hyderabad, India
20 Dec 15
what you said is right. The Same item having different names at different places. The situation arises while addressing people also. At some places, people use the term 'Anna'(brother) and in another place they use the term 'Ayya" or 'Appa'
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
20 Dec 15
It's really interesting to find all these terms for the same thing.
@Mike197602 (15505)
• United Kingdom
19 Dec 15
In the UK we don't call it soda, that's just an american thing.
I've heard people say pop (for any fizzy drink) most often.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
20 Dec 15
I love all these different names for the same thing. It's so interesting. I am a pop girl.
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
20 Dec 15
Wow really, I thought it was called soda or Coke in the south. You are the first southerner to call it pop. Very cool.
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@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
19 Dec 15
Soda person here. lol I was forced to use the Pop word during a stay in Pennsylvania a few months ago as I didn't want to confuse the waitress. However, with their accent it sounds more like "Paap" to me.
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
19 Dec 15
That's another story, we do have accents all across the country
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
18 Dec 15
Lol no it's pop inside. When I order I always call it Pepsi or what ever I want.
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
19 Dec 15
Yes in the south it's soda, in the midwest where I'm from soda sounds weird.
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
20 Dec 15
Kansas is in the midwest and pop is what we call it.
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@whiteream (8567)
• United States
19 Dec 15
We call it soda around here. But, some of my family call it pop.
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
19 Dec 15
Those in your family who call it pop must be from the midwest states.
@Syllogism (206)
• China
18 Dec 15
We call it cola in China, it means the very kind of soda that your picture shows, brown and caffeinated.
Those transparent ones like Seven Up or Sprite are called soda or soda water here.
They all belong to carbonated drink.
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