The Great Pop Vs. Soda Controversy

Here in California, usually when we're at a restaurant, and you don't want milk or water or juice, you say, soda, please.

But have you ever thought about what they call soda in, let's say, Indiana?

In Indiana, they call it pop. You would know if you ever lived in Alabama, they call our word for soda, Coke.

They use the word "Coke" in a lot other places, too. Like Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, etc. People say "pop" in places like Minnesota. I should know because my best friend, Kayla, who used to go to Hillwood, lives there. Anyway, in Nevada, they only use the word "Coke" for the word we use in California, which is "soda."

If would like to see more about the uses of these words, go to the website Generic Names for Soft Drinks to look and play with a map of America’s different words for soda. Designed by Matthew Campbell, a student at East Central University in Oklahoma, and based on thousands of responses collected at popvssoda.com.