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May-4-2005 08:56

Discuss...

Aug-9-2005 04:18

Ah thanks Dogberta. So if someone says "Do you wanna coke", and I say yes. Then they will still say "What would you like to have?"......man that would confuse the hell out of me. I'd be like "I thought you offered me a coke?"

What is pronounced as coffee? *confused*

Aug-9-2005 14:41

Interesting, this is more convoluted than I realized. ... if I wanted to offer a soft drink to some visiting friends (and I happen to have coke, diet coke, ginger ale and rootbeer) I would say - can I get you a coke or something? If I only had the gingerale & rootbeer, I'd be more likely to say "can I get you something to drink" thus avoiding the entire soda/pop issue but opening it to hot drinks and alcoholic drinks - which I might not have intended to offer.

Of course, we won't even start on the relationship between gingerale and Vernors. ;-)

Aug-9-2005 14:46

LOL@Dogberta Not too many people know about Vernors

Aug-9-2005 16:11

Sigh. What's Vernors? (Am I annoying yet with all the questions.)

Aug-9-2005 22:57

Pennsylvanians and Ohioans = pop.

Aug-9-2005 22:58

Not annoying, jstkdn. It's just that you hit on a question about one of the strongest dialect markers in American english. Vernor's is one of the old fashioned regional brands that hang on in a few local markets.

Aug-9-2005 23:02

Vernor's, Moxie, and most euphoniously, Dr. Brown's Celery Tonic are all still bottled for small groups of loyal drinkers.

Aug-10-2005 13:42

For me, anything that you drink should be pronounced "Coffee" or, more specifically, "Coffee, the Ambrosia of the Gods, the only liquid that, had I my druthers, would pass my lips"
hee

Aug-10-2005 14:25

I'm from West Virginia. I grew up on the west side, close to Ohio and it was pop. Nine years ago I relocated to the eastern side, close to Virginia and Maryland, and it is soda. Now when my parents say pop, I always do a double take because it sounds "wrong". Funny how two sides of the same state differ so much. Oh yeah, and we don't say ya'll here either here on the northern side as they do in the southern half.

Aug-12-2005 01:07

Steve, I'm with you. Pennsylvania also has the dubious distinction of being unable to agree from one side of the state to the other. I'm in Philadelphia, and we definitely use the term soda. But, I was at summer camp in high school with people from across the state, and anyone say, west of Harrisburg, said pop.

It goes along with the Water Ice/Italian Ice controversy. According to research done by four bored college students, the change occurs in Quakertown, from Water Ice (in Phily) to Italian Ice.