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I grew up in the Charlotte area and, to be honest, I never really thought about it too much. I just said whatever came to mind first: either "drink" or "soda" but never "pop."
That's the old map from 2002. The more recent map shows that soda is the preferred term.
Which probably has to do with people moving in SINCE 2002...my point was that NATIVE NC folks tend to say "coke", especially from the rural parts.
I have noticed that African-American NC natives have always (in my lifetime) said "soda" (I remember observing that way back before I ever thought about "these things" in general). But white people who grew up in NC are very likely to say "coke".
I do think, from the maps, that "soda" would be the "standard American" term, with "Coke" a outhern variation and "pop" (shudder) a Great Lakes variation.
I am from NE Ohio and it's practically universal to hear soft drinks referred to as "pop" up here.
One of my favorite comedic bits is Andy Griffith's "football" and he says someone asks what he'll have and he says I'll have an orange drink. I can only surmise that that was normal speak back then.
I suppose the more of us Midwestern types migrate to the Carolina's you are bound to hear some different references.
For me I don't drink any of that sugary crap. It's tea, lemonade, or water.
I just saw an episode of the Andy Griffith show.It's the one where Gomer and Goober are on together,I believe it's the only one where they are on together. Anyways Gomer asks Thelma Lou and Helen if they would like a Soda Pop.Surprised me.Jim Nabors is from Alabama.The show takes place in NC but I imagine the writers and such are yanks.Who knows where that line came from.
For the record I'm from southeastern NC and my roots on both sides of my family go back a looong ways in eastern NC. Blacks have always said soda in my parts and the whites pretty much just say drink.Never heard the Coke reference.
Which probably has to do with people moving in SINCE 2002...my point was that NATIVE NC folks tend to say "coke", especially from the rural parts.
I have noticed that African-American NC natives have always (in my lifetime) said "soda" (I remember observing that way back before I ever thought about "these things" in general). But white people who grew up in NC are very likely to say "coke".
I do think, from the maps, that "soda" would be the "standard American" term, with "Coke" a outhern variation and "pop" (shudder) a Great Lakes variation.
Or that younger, native NCers are more likely to use soda. Being that the second map is from Twitter accounts, I think it skews young.
Interesting about the racial differences. I had not noticed that.
I am from NE Ohio and it's practically universal to hear soft drinks referred to as "pop" up here.
One of my favorite comedic bits is Andy Griffith's "football" and he says someone asks what he'll have and he says I'll have an orange drink. I can only surmise that that was normal speak back then.
I always assumed Griffith was exaggerating a kind of backward "country" way of speaking in the "football" piece.
And couldn't it have been an orange kool-aid and not necessarily a soda? How would people who used the term "drink" distinguish between carbonated and non carbonated? alcoholic and non-alcoholic, etc?
I have lived in North Carolina most of my life. When I was young in the mountains, we always said "pop." Then I moved about 20 miles East of where I was born and the favorite term was "coke." And that was no matter what you were drinking. One might even say, "What kind of coke do you want?" The only time I ever heard a native say "soda" was when they had a tummy ache and put baking soda in water to drink for medicine. Drink is a proper term too. To name a specific kind of soft drink is usually what we do now most of the time.
My husband and I drink diet a lot of times and if we don't want diet we will say for instance, "I want a sugary Dr. Pepper." That is just in our family though.
And if you are eating a moon pie, it always goes with an RC Cola. Surely everybody in North Carolina knows that. LOL
I just saw an episode of the Andy Griffith show.It's the one where Gomer and Goober are on together,I believe it's the only one where they are on together. Anyways Gomer asks Thelma Lou and Helen if they would like a Soda Pop.Surprised me.Jim Nabors is from Alabama.The show takes place in NC but I imagine the writers and such are yanks.Who knows where that line came from.
Ah, but "soda pop" is a WHOLE 'nother animal than "pop". I think "soda pop" was the "universal" term way back when, when it first came on the scene--interestingly, some areas dropped one word and some dropped the other!
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And couldn't it have been an orange kool-aid and not necessarily a soda? How would people who used the term "drink" distinguish between carbonated and non carbonated? alcoholic and non-alcoholic, etc?
In NC, "orange drink" would definitely have meant an orange carbonated drink such as Crush, back then. Never Kool-Aid and I don't know of an orange alcoholic drink except a screwdriver, which you would call a screwdriver. Also, lunch counters often had a glass cooler of "orange drink" (see the movie "Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean" for an example) where you could see the bright orange liquid circulating through the "tank", so calling it "orange drink" was very natural. If I were to encounter an old-fashioned soda fountain like that, that had one, I would probably call it "orange drink" even right now. What else would you call it?
Here in Alabama (and in Georgia, when I lived there), a generic term for soft drink is "coke." Years ago, you'd hear "co'cola" and "coke" almost equally, but I rarely hear "co'cola" anymore.
But my grandparents, who lived in Mitchell, Avery, or Yancey counties (NC) all their lives (as did their grandparents, and their grandparents) would call it a "dope." A second choice would be "a drank" - meaning a drink, but pronounced "drank."
When I looked totally confused by "dope," my granddaddy would say "co'cola," but what you'd get would be a Pepsi.
By "drank," there was no question that they did NOT mean an alcoholic drink. That was pronounced "shine," and they made it themselves, not that they'd come right out and tell you until they knew you well enough to offer you some.
Hearing "pop" is, to me, just like nails on a blackboard. Here in North Alabama, anybody who said "pop" was newly arrived from Michigan (auto plants) or Minnesota (3M), and they were quickly schooled on the correct way to ask for a co'cola.
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