<p>i'd like to hear your theory on why people use pop or tennis shoes. people who get easily offended on a web forum, have other issues to worry about.</p>
<p>My own theory is that it has to do with the amount of travel into and out of these areas. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, pop sounds like its from the distant past, since its derived from soda-pop. Soda as a name became more trendier(hence why its in the northeast and southwest), with soda also traveling to other major cities(Chicago, St. Louis,) or vacationing areas(Las Vegas, Hawaii and Southern Florida). Pop has remained the name elsewhere due to majority rules for people moving into the area and the growth of children in these areas being raised by people who call it pop.</p>
<p>As for coke in the South, its easy to see that the name came from a specific brand. The South has always been stubborn in their ways, so it will probably remain coke forever. Which I don't mind, at least it doesn't sound childish when they're asking for a drink, just a tad confusing at times. </p>
<p>This comes from a person who has traveled up and down the east coast, and has traveled to Chicago, Pittsburgh and Ohio several times, there is a definite disconnect from Eastern PA to Western PA, heck, they even got 2 football teams.</p>
<p>I'm from Ohio and I've always heard both pop and soda... and I use either word, really. I'm not really sure that I hear and use one over the other. I've also heard both buggy and shopping cart, but I prefer using a cart over a buggy. And sneakers and tennis shoes? I generally hear and use tennis shoes, but I also hear sneakers, too.</p>
<p>Of course, I live in sort of a weird place. I'm in Ohio, and right next to the borders of both Pennsylvania and West Virginia and I could get to either state within five minutes from where I live.</p>
<p>Cincinnati - coke is used as the generic cola. When you go to the local fast food places that have the self-serve fountains you will almost always hear people order a coke and then go fill up with whatever. I do hear pop a whole lot more than soda though. As for the shoes it typically is gym shoes...not sneakers or tennis shoes.</p>
<p>We have lived in a variety of locations. It seems like in the northeast, most call it "soda", in the midwest -most call it "pop". If you ask to try on shoes for athletic activity as "tennis shoes" (midwest) in the northeast, they will think you mean shoes for tennis, not "sneakers" (NE) as they refer to it. Also, name confusion occurs with words like hoagies vs. subs, don't "cut" in line (midwest) vs. "butt" (NE)</p>
<p>I just thought I'd point out that soda hasn't really traveled to Chicago, it's almost universally called pop here.</p>
<p>I grew up in Michigan calling it "pop" for as long as I can remember. Then I moved to Connecticut and still say "pop" for the most part (partially just to annoy my friends), though I will say "soda" every now and then at a restaurant or something just to avoid the weird looks (though one time I ordered a Vernors at a restaurant, just for the fun of it...she was so confused!). Things like "tennis shoes" and that kind of thing I don't pay attention to much. I just say what I grew up saying and if they laugh at me, who cares. :P</p>
<p>In Cincy if you didn't hear someone and wanted them to repeat it you will often hear "Please?"... Obviously elsewhere people look at you really funny.</p>
<p>I can't stress this enough on this forum, please don't post if you don't know what you're talking about, especially if there are people who do know what they're talking about.</p>
<p>Faygo came up with the term "pop" back in the 1910s because that was the sound the bottle made when it opened. Since Faygo has been a regional company for pretty much its entire existence, their marketing influence and the term "pop" only spread so far. It also makes sense that national advertisements for things like Pepsi/Coke would not use a regional term that is more directly linked to a brand other than theirs.</p>
<p>Here's a map showing what is said where.</p>
<p>My family's from Dorchester (Boston), we called all soda, "tonic". My older relatives still do and I catch myself asking my kids to take the tonic out of the fridge, occasionally. Tonic refers to all brands/types of carbonated drinks.</p>
<p>I dont really call it anything...... I either say I want Pepsi/Sierra Mist/Dr.Pepper/Coke whatever. Or if I'm asking I'll ask if anyone wants something to drink..</p>
<p>I just find it easier. I suppose I call it Pop more than Soda but, I just avoid both terms.</p>
<p>its soda, subs, sneakers</p>
<p>and hahaha i agree with the person who says ewwww south jersey. much different down there with a (i think) noticable speaking difference. they say hogies which drives me crazzzzzzy. when i was younger i always said down the shore. but now i really just say beach since im only 20 min away.</p>
<p>and the person who said soemthing about the NYC area saying mad a lot is also right. at school people comment how i say mad a rediculous amount of times when im speaking. its the same as people from new england saying wicked and cali saying hella.</p>
<p>another funny one ive noticed. we have a frozen yogurt machine in our cafeteria and there was a difference in the people who said forzen yogurt, fro-yo, or just ice cream. ive never heard fro-yo and that word drives me crazy. my first roommate from the south said it along with tennis shoes.. i just dont understand it. why would you call them tennis shoes when their obviously meant for running or are just regular sneakers??</p>
<p>Beniben,</p>
<p>I was waiting for someone to say that. I grew up in Somerville and we called it tonic.</p>
<p>It's called pop where I live (BC, Canada). It'd be SO weird if someone called it soda...</p>
<p>dilksy... I don't know how accurate that is, because I used to drink Faygo all the time as a kid, and no one even remotely near where I live says pop.</p>
<p>I usually refer to the shore in NJ only if you live at the shore ie 'So you live down the shore?' but if I wanted to go to the beach, I'd just say I'm going to the beach. Of course NJ gots some of the top beaches supposedly so I guess it makes sense why some people would call it The Shore.</p>
<p>As for Chicago calling it pop, I just went by the Wikipedia article, which said they called it soda predominately.</p>
<p>^ Haha, that'd be ironic if he was wrong after that little blurb he put up.</p>
<p>Faygo</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<p>"Faygo is credited with the spreading of the word "pop" instead of "soda" to mean "soft drink" in the Midwest."</p>
<p>Secondly, the split in terminology happened a long time ago (like I said, "pop" goes back to the 1910s), so it's not surprising that a couple stores carrying Faygo in the south during the 90s didn't have much effect on the local nomenclature.</p>
<p>Dilksy is right about how "pop" originated.
Soft</a> drink naming conventions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<p>AUlostchick, you used to drink Faygo as a kid? I haven't seen it in stores in Alabama, but I do know I heard of it before I went to school at the University of Michigan (I'm from Huntsville, Alabama). I'm pretty sure it's distributed nationwide, just a ton more popular in the northern Midwest.
Yeah, I had no idea what they were talking about when they said "pop" the first time I went to Michigan...I thought the debate was supposed to be between soda and coke, and pop was some outdated 1960s term.</p>
<p>Interesting word test: Are</a> You a Yankee or a Rebel? - alphaDictionary * Southern Accent Test
Are</a> You a Yankee or a Rebel? - alphaDictionary * Advanced Southern Accent Test</p>
<p>Pepsi's also from the South, established around the same time as Coca-Cola, so I'm going to guess people from the South call it "Coke" for reasons other than the Coca-Cola brand.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what most foreigners call carbonated drinks. I know a lot of Chinese-speaking people say “Coke,” but I’m guessing that comes from the fact that the words for “delicious drink” in Chinese is very similar to the word “Coca-Cola,” which is pretty cool.</p>