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Comment by Pharylon | Hacker News Reader

On the "soda vs pop vs coke" question, as a child I would have never used any of those words. Here in Western NC, we said "soft drink" for sweet carbonated beverages. People my age (late 30s) and older still do, but the younger generation has picked up "soda."

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I'm from Durham, NC and for 22 years hadn't heard 'coke' refer to anything other than, well, a coke (I always said soda or soft drink). It wasn't until I moved to NY that I learned of the 'coke' for soda stereotype about southerners!

(Don't get me started on 'law'yer vs 'loy'er, though...)

In the Piedmont, we said "drink." Growing up, I knew what "soft drink" meant and understood the distinction, but nobody among my family & friends used that phrase.

Also never heard anyone call anything but a Coke a Coke, which is a really common stereotype of Southern English.

I'm from the Piedmont too, Gaston County to be specific. I know what you mean. Most of the time you'd just ask if they wanted a drink, and by context they knew what you meant. I'd say "soft drink" only if I needed to narrow it down.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Tea or a soft drink if you have it."

I too am from the extreme eastern part of the Piedmont (Wayne/Johnston) and we always said "drink" to indicate something other than water or tea. A Coke is a Coke.

I think you're onto something. If you check the "other" responses for NC on popvssoda.com, you'll see "drink" and "soft drink" are way more popular in the NC. Maybe even popular enough to warrant a separate category. I think "soda" is more of a fallback choice for NC folks, because the term "soda fountain" is more common than the term "pop". Calling a non-coke beverage a "Coke" just seems silly though.

I'm from CLT, but when I think of what I would expect to see on a menu if I'm looking for a coke, it's "soft drinks". Likewise, if someone comes over to my place, I might ask, "Can I get you a drink? I've got Sweet Tea and Cokes in the fridge." Though more commonly I would say "something to drink". I've heard that in other parts of the country though, "drink" only implies alchoholic beverages, which was very different from my experience.

Now that I think about, maybe the reason we prefer "soft drink" is because sodas are usually grouped with sweet tea. And sweet tea really is the ultimate sweet, cold, drink of choice in NC. Though Coke or Sprite will do if a restaurant doesn't have any brewed and ready.

> Calling a non-coke beverage a "Coke" just seems silly though.

It's not. Would you force my nose to continue to run because you don't have the Kleenex brand? Or must I continue to bleed because you don't have a Band-Aid brand bandage?

But coke is a flavor.

Will you get me a coke? Sure, what kind? Sprite...

So is Chapstick and others. You use context clues. If someone asks for a coke, they get a Coca-Cola (or are queried for an alternative if not available). But if one drank a Sprite in the morning and was asked what they drank, they might say coke.

Chapstick is not a flavor.

Now this is approaching slapstick.

In Scotland a similar thing happened with Ginger Beer, and for a while (it's probably mostly died out now) all fizzy drinks could be referred to as "ginger" regardless of flavouring.

What? Why would I ever want you to bleed or have a runny nose?

Just because I'm amused by a particular language difference doesn't mean I wouldn't give you whichever beverage you prefer if I knew what that was.

The reason it's silly though is because a Coke is materially different from a Pepsi or Sprite or Dr. Pepper. If someone said they were going to bring me a Coke and I got a Pepsi, I would be confused and maybe a little disappointed. I can't tell the difference between kleenex and off-brand, but I definitely can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. It's not a huge deal, but it would be a misunderstanding that seems avoidable with more specific language, so it's amusing to me.

It's cool if that's not how it's interpreted in your parts. I'm not knocking you for using whichever terms you want. I'm just explaining why I'm not going to adopt that terminology.

I prefer to call shopping carts "buggys", but I get why others would be confused or think that's a silly term if I said that around them. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop using it or feel bad about it, but I understand if it's not really understood outside my region and seems like a silly word.

Tonic was also a popular term for any type of soda (coke, sprite, etc) in the northeast US, at least in the 1980's. And pronounced like tawnic.

How else is it pronounced? Tawn like lawn,ic

Tonic with the 'ton' pronounced like 'on'is the only way I've ever heard it pronounced.

My wife is from Boston too.

I love stuff like this, I've lived in Texas 13 years and have been pronouncing taco wrong until pointed out to me.

They say itmore like tocko than tacko like Brits do.

Heh, this is the issue, which makes me also love this stuff. I pronounce 'awn' and 'on' in 'lawn' and 'on' the same. Grew up in Pittsburgh so that tends to do it.

Take a look at the map in the original article. The areas covered in either blue slashes or blue hatches (i.e. left and right slashes intersecting), which is most of the US, has "Don" = "Dawn". There's also the "on" line, so for those who distinguish "Don" and "Dawn", some Americans pronounce "on" as if it was "awn".

For me "tonic" has a fairly short vowel in the first syllable. Whereas "Tawnic" would have a longer vowel. There's also a different in sound. You might hear my "aw" as if it was a long "o" sound. The Australian vowel system is really nothing like the American vowel system.

Hmm, I was trying to note the distinct New England sound of it. Maybe "tahwn-ick" says it better?

The first syllable is drawn out much more than I would hear that word somewhere other than New England.

Down Eastern tonic pronunciation, as used in a sentence, for those who are curious.

https://vocaroo.com/i/s1Se7U44m2c7

(I was going to go with Bostonian, Southie, but decided this one was better.)

When I grew up I used "soft drink" as well, but where I live now (PNW) nobody understands this, so I just use "soda".

calling soft drinks 'coke' I think is more a TX thing..

so some confusion as TX was part of the confederacy ('the south') but isn't exactly 'the south', as most 'real southerners' would agree (but not southern leaning TXans)

"Coke" as a general term is popular here in the Atlanta area; where the actual Coke HQ is located.

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