In Eastern Mass it was tonic (not so much now) and in RI it was and still is soda. :beer3:

Boomer---As you know Lynch is 5 miles from Cumberland. Benham was between Lynch and Cumberland. Lynch was a coal mining town developed by United States Steel, Benham was developed by International Harvester---Cumberland was "town"---where we went to get our "pop"--as that is where all the stores where.. I lived with my grandparents (my mother's parents) Grandfather was a coal miner. Went to Richmond, Va. after graduating from High School in '64--where I stayed until our move to the Villages in 2007. My mother also was raised there---she went to Detroit during the War to work in the factories.

Yup. In Endicott NY where I grew up, it was soda. In western NY, it is pop.
Also, I was told we are the only place in the counrty where Pepsi is king and Coke is a distant 2nd.....

Frank

Born in RI - lived all over RI - moved to southern MA and not once did I or any of my friends or anyone I knew in RI call it pop or tonic. It was soda.

Now, I do know people from the Sommerville/Dorchester areas near Boston and parts of the South Shore that call it tonic.

I do know people that call any version of cola Coke even though it says Pepsi right on the can!!

I loved those little grocery stores in Cumberland. There were two within walking distance and sometimes I was allowed to get something extra when I was sent on an errand to the grocery. And sometimes it was a "pop" which was a really, really big deal in those days.

Such a talk we could have. I am wondering if we ever played together in the summertime when I visited there. I could not wait to get back and look up the friends from the summer before -- even though they did make fun of the way I talk....

I still remember those words, "Listen to Boomer. She sure does talk funny. C'mon Boomer, talk! Talk!" -- Ohmygosh! sandybill! Was that you!

And....those pops were often RC. (And I still have not stopped talking.)

Boomer

Growing up in Boston, we never heard a soft drink referred to as a "pop" or "soda". If you wanted a soft drink, you wanted a "tonic". It was only after I entered the military did I, to my surprise, learn about the term a "pop" or a "soda". It is interesting how much product naming changes from one part of our country to the other. Another example is bowling. I grew-up knowing only one kind and that was candlepen bowling.

I should have known something was up when I was down south and a military friend suggested we go bowling and grab a couple of pops along the way.

Eastern Wisconsin and Eastern Missouri are adjacent to large beer producing centers of Milwaukee and St Louis and both say soda. New York and Eastern Pennsylvania are large beer producing areas around NYC and Philly and say soda. All these areas have large German populations.

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We lived in the Chesapeake Bay area of Virginia for most of our lives and everyone there asks for a "drink". You NEVER hear Pop, and once in a while you hear Soda.

If your friend is stopping in the convenience store, you ask them to get you a "drink" and then you specify the brand name. Or if you are the one going to the store, or the fridge, you offer to get your friend a drink. "Drink" always means soft drink, unless you are going out to the clubs and bars.

Yes, sorry Dan. I meant to say tonic in my last post. I just changed it.

There are lots of other strange local words in RI such as 'cabinet'. No it's not a piece of furniture - it's an ice cream shake/frappe.

Growing up in eastern Virginia it was always soft drink which usually meant Coke. And if someone wanted to offer an alcoholic drink in their home it was always Hiball or beer. Or do you want a soft drink or coffee? I never heard soda until I moved to NY.

In California, it was soda (Coke for me). In Kentucky (Harlan, Boomer), it was pop (usually RC). In Georgia, it was Coke-Cola, regardless of the brand. Overseas, it was strictly by brand name when shopping/drinking on a military post. In Europe and in the Middle East and Northern Africa, they did have soft drinks of a sort, but they were usually a fruity drink. I really don't remember getting a soft drink in the Far East unless on a base.

My logic worked as follows: Pop was something some people called their father or grandfather; Coke was a brand name and not to be confused with that disgusting soft drink called Pepsi; soda was the generic name for a soft drink; if you wanted to be 100% safe, you asked for the brand name or a soft drink or fizzy, flavored water. Man, traveling a lot can make the rules confusing!

Growing up in NH it was always tonic. I remember one of my first ventures outside the area and when I asked for tonic in a drug store was sent to the pharmacist. They didn't have a clue what I wanted. Finally found it and it was soda.

Not only are words different by locale, but how they are pronounced is also very different. Try asking for those light colored pants that begin with a K. Or talk about the slope leading down from the highway or down to a stream. And exactly what do you call a small flowing water way? And there are so many more.

I'm really wondering how Boomer's conversation ventured into the pop-soda thing. I bet she really knows how to liven up a holiday party.

And I would never have suspected an English major in the mix.

In Cincinnati a soda is ice cream, flavored syrup, and carbonated water.

And, btw, I am now wondering what you get in Massachusetts if you order a gin and tonic. Could it end up like what Ohiogirl said happened with the scotch and soda ordered in Wisconsin?

(Red, with as many places as you have lived, I bet you could write a dictionary of colloquialisms.)

I think colloquialisms are interesting and probably could talk about them for an inordinately long time. -- Uh oh, I had a great night's sleep, but it looks like I am still Cliff Clavin this morning. -- Hey, would Cliff Clavin have called it tonic? (I think he always ordered beer.)

Boomer

PS: Hi l2ridehd, before I hit submit, I looked at the bottom of the page and saw your post. And now I am curious about everything you said in the second part.

Addendum: Hey, Mr. Tony, Mr. Admin, Sir: I saw that. Besmirching English majors again, huh. I'm telling you true, it was a science major who brought out that map. Meteorology to be exact. So there!

In CT, it was always soda and when I lived in Alabama all kinds of soda's were referred to as "drinks".