Why do Texans refer to all soda as "Coke"? (job, senior)

[JJG]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

There are lots of product lines called by their name brands. Kleenex (tissue), jet ski (personal watercraft), jacuzzi (spa), crock-pot, breathalyzer, seeing eye dog (guide dog), chapstick (lip balm), ping pong (table tennis), popsicle, lego blocks, weed eater (string trimmer), bandaids (bandage), and many others. Every one of those words is a specific brand's product just like Coke is.

Except there aren't a lot of other brands that can compete with those respective products.

If you ask anyone to name 10 different soft drinks off the tops of their heads, they could say "Coca-Cola", "Sprite", "Dr. Pepper", "Pepsi", "RC", "Mr. Pibb", "Fanta", "Surge", "7up", "Mountain Dew" (I realize a few of those fall under the same company, but it's still a different, more recognizable name)

I guarantee that if you asked a person to name just 3 different brads of spas, they would need Google.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by turf3

I can't speak to what young people do, but to me:

"pop" is your old man...
"soda" is what you use to clean off your car battery, make your cornbread rise, or ruin good whiskey with...
"tonic" goes in gin, or is Geritol...
"Coke" is a soft drink, either generic or specific.

Yes, this, exactly!

[Milton Miteybad]

Originally Posted by JJG

That will never make sense to me. "Coke" is a name brand...

It's like calling every single shoe I see "Nikes" or every single car I see "Fords".

So are "Kleenex" and "Xerox." People use those terms colloquially to refer to disposable tissues and photocopies, respectively.

And for the record...the generic Texas term used to denote any particular carbonated, non-alcoholic beverage, irrespective of commercial branding, is "bellywash."


















This real-life Texas language moment was brought to you by Milton Miteybad, who reminds everyone that Coca-Cola isn't just for removing dirty motor oil from your windshield. You can drink it, too!

[shortel]

never heard of all sodas being called coke here. When some asks what i want to drink and i say coke. that means I want a coke cola. if i want a dr pepper i will say dr pepper. and when i say coke i dont want a DIET coke. i want a real coke.

ofcourse god forbid you order a sweet tea above the mason dixon line. they will say well their is sweetner on the table.....do you know how hard it is to disolve sugar or fake sugar in ice cold water?

[JJG]

Originally Posted by Milton Miteybad

So are "Kleenex" and "Xerox." People use those terms colloquially to refer to disposable tissues and photocopies, respectively.

I think you skipped my last post...

[TheOverdog]

Except there aren't a lot of other brands that can compete with those respective products.

So Coke has a big marketing budget? I'm not sure I get your point. And I'm not sure I agree. How many brands you are aware of is kind of individual.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

I don't hear many people referring to soda as Coke too much anymore. I hear soda water a lot, but i usually hear people say the name of the soft drink they are talking about, like Sprite, Dr.Pepper, or root beer etc. I hardly ever hear anybody refer to it as pop. But I do occasionally hear the word pop bottle, when the bottle is empty.

[KathrynAragon]

The term for soft drinks that strikes me as particularly Texan is "soda." I hadn't heard soft drinks called "soda" with any regularity till I moved to Texas. Now they've got me saying it too!

[Soonhun]

I actually don't hear anyone say coke in such a way. If I am at a restaurant and one of my friends or whomever order coke, the wait staff knows to get coke. If the restaurant doesn't have Coca-Cola the staff always asks if Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, or whatever dark side they have is okay. People usually say the specific brand

As a generic catch all, I mostly hear people say soft drinks or soda, both much more than I hear coke. For one, I've never heard anyone say "Orange Coke" for Fanta or Sunkist (or that other popular one I forgot) and have always heard either the specific brand or Orange Soda.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

So Coke has a big marketing budget? I'm not sure I get your point. And I'm not sure I agree. How many brands you are aware of is kind of individual.

Yeah... so does Pepsi. And calling Pepsi a "Coke" is probably insulting to Mr. Caleb Bradham.

There are SEVERAL different brands of sodas and there are even several different kinds of Coca-Cola, which would make it confusing to me when someone refers to ALL soft drinks in question to that one brand.

When you ask me "what kind of Coke do you want", I'm going to reply:

Cherry... Vanilla... Zero... Light...