I always associate the word “pop” with America. It has at least two uses in the US ( fizzy drink / father ) that don’t exist in the UK.
Businesses often use “soft drink” regardless of region but people rarely say that (but it’s not that weird if they do)
Haha. Can confirm. I am from Arkansas, and before they passed on, my grandparents usually kept a variety of soda in the house for us grandkids (they never drank it, they of course loved their coffee).
it didn't matter what kind of soda was actually in the fridge, every soda was a coke. my grandma would grab a dr. pepper or a pepsi and say "ya'll want a coke?"
good times. miss those two.
^ Roughly accurate but not 100% because my mother's family used "pop" in N. Texas.
Note for non-UK people, any references to “north” in the thread are for the north of England only. English people will call the north of England “the north” even in a UK context.