Another new soda pop

[AuroraGyps]

I got the sale flyer for one of the local grocery stores today, & the new Holiday Spice Pepsi is on sale. Has anybody tried this yet? I can't help but think it's gonna taste like gingerbread & cola. Ah well, I'll at least try it once like I have all the other pops that have been coming and going.

 

[RichCsigs]

I have not, but I'm intrigued now.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Aside: It must be a regional thing -- I find calling soda "pop" to be kind of quirky, kind of like calling a water fountain a "bubbler" or a sub sandwich a "hoagie". Is that a Northeastern thing, a Midwestern thing, or other? I don't hear "pop" much down South.

I've always referred to a sugary carbonated beverage as a "Coke", or perhaps "soda" if I'm taking pains to be generic. Sure, there's something moderately bizarre about asking someone if the "Want a Coke?" and returning with a 7UP or Sprite, but I figure it's kind of like aspirin or Kleenex (though Coke has done a better job of protecting their IP). Is that just a West Coast thing? (I'm originally from SoCal).


(No offense intended to AuroraGyps or anyone else from the Midwest or Northeast who enjoys a "pop" from time to time. )

 

[LightPhoenix]

Well, here in upstate NY, in Syracuse, Rochester, and Albany, it tends to be called soda. But in Buffalo it gets called pop more often. Going south, Binghamton tends to call it soda, but in Pennsylvania it gets called pop. So I don't know what's up with the naming thing. I'm wondering if it has to do with how early carbonated beverages were marketed, and whatever they called them stuck.

 

[EricNoah]

http://www.popvssoda.com/

http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~golder/dialect/staticmaps/q_105.html

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Neat links, Eric!

Looks like "pop" is centered in the Midwest, while "coke" is centered around Atlanta (appropriately enough). "Soda" seems to be the most widely distributed in numbers.

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

Well, here in upstate NY, in Syracuse, Rochester, and Albany, it tends to be called soda. But in Buffalo it gets called pop more often. Going south, Binghamton tends to call it soda, but in Pennsylvania it gets called pop. So I don't know what's up with the naming thing. I'm wondering if it has to do with how early carbonated beverages were marketed, and whatever they called them stuck.

Although for some reason, Wegmans (The large, international award-winning Super-Store that scares all the others as it slowly goes national, for all you non-Upstate NYers... And you want one, trust me. Cher came in concert and spent 20 minutes on stage raving about the store. Its the first thing visitors to Rochester usually ask to go back to. ) still has the WPOP Store brand.

I dunno how old you are, LP, but I remember as a kid in the 70s never hearing "Soda" in Rochester unless it was at the Soda Fountains downtown (We won't get into Uptown/Downtown as the same word hereabouts). Everyone bought "Pop". It wasn't until I was in high school in the 80s when it started to switch over.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Holiday Spice, to me, sounds like a good smelling candle... NOT a pop... I'll try it... but, my assumption is that it is going to be butt-nasty.

 

[Enforcer]

I've tried it. It's like pepsi with a spicy, nutmeg taste to it. I didn't dislike it, but I wouldn't buy it at the store either (got a free paper cup full).

 

[LightPhoenix]

I dunno how old you are, LP, but I remember as a kid in the 70s never hearing "Soda" in Rochester unless it was at the Soda Fountains downtown (We won't get into Uptown/Downtown as the same word hereabouts). Everyone bought "Pop". It wasn't until I was in high school in the 80s when it started to switch over.

A little before my time, I was born in 1980.

As for WPOP, I thought Wegmans was based out of Buffalo, which would explain the choice of terms for their generic stuff.

Oh, and may I be the second to extoll the virtues of Wegmans. Even the kiddies from NYC (when I went to SUNY Binghamton, there were a lot) raved about Wegmans. If you're even in Upstate NY, try and visit one.