Why do Texans refer to all soda as "Coke"? (Orange: stores, teaching)

[ETex2]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

In Houston, some of the older blacks call Sprite "soda water".

Older whites from E. Texas do too. Including me; but not just Sprites. All soft drinks were called soda water when I was a kid. That evolved into "cokes". Sometimes I say soft drinks today.

[TexasHorseLady]

I'm an "older white from East Texas" and everyone I knew always said "Coke" or "soft drink". According to the map I linked to above, there's three counties right on the LA border in East Texas that don't primarily use "Coke".

[blkgiraffe]

I'm black, grew up in a predominately white neighborhood and have worked in retail, restaurants and other jobs. Never have I heard "Coke" use as a word for soda.

Soda water was commonly used among family and even sometimes I used it; however, I don't recall ever hearing coke within or outside my family, race, culture, neighborhood,etc

This isn't to say you're all wrong, but that map is extremely exaggerated.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by blkgiraffe

I'm black, grew up in a predominately white neighborhood and have worked in retail, restaurants and other jobs. Never have I heard "Coke" use as a word for soda.

Soda water was commonly used among family and even sometimes I used it; however, I don't recall ever hearing coke within or outside my family, race, culture, neighborhood,etc

This isn't to say you're all wrong, but that map is extremely exaggerated.

Oh yeah. Same can be said about most polls....

[TexasHorseLady]

I love that we've managed to run up almost three hundred posts on what has got to be the definition of a Tiny Little First World Problem!

[JJG]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I love that we've managed to run up almost three hundred posts on what has got to be the definition of a Tiny Little First World Problem!

That's City-Data for ya...

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by blkgiraffe

This isn't to say you're all wrong, but that map is extremely exaggerated.

Not if the poll was run correctly.

It's a common mistake, thinking a poll is wrong because it doesn't match your personal experience, but let's face it... your personal experience is only ONE PERSON'S!

[catman]

My grandfather used to just call it "pop". Sorry to add more complexity to an already earthshakingly important question.

[kenshi]

I grew up in East Texas - Panola county to be more exact - and they were typically called cokes there.

One thing I'll note though is that if you go into a restaurant and say you want a coke, they're going to bring you back a Coca Cola. Going into a restaurant and saying you want a coke (in the general sense) would be like telling them you want some food. I presume that if you went into a restaurant in the north and say you want a soda, they'd look at you as though you were retarded. Conversely, if you asked them what kind of cokes they have, they'd probably list off all their carbonated beverages. If they have a self-serve beverage machine, I usually just tell them I want a drink. I'm not sure how common that is.

At a friend's house, it's a little different. If you tell them you could go for a coke, they'll likely list off what they have. But if they're holding a Coca Cola in one hand and a Pepsi in the other and you tell them you could go for a coke, they're not going to ask you which of the two you want. It's kind of presumed that if you know what the choices are specifically, that you're using the term coke specifically.

[ReppingDFW]

I've never heard anyone use Coke to refer to all soft drinks. (Personally, I say soda... as does everyone I know except for my grandpa who says "pop") I worked at a grocery store and pretty much everyone who asked said, "What aisle is the soda on?" We had a few odd balls who said "pop" but never coke unless they meant the specific soft drink.