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Names for soft drinks in the United States vary regionally. "Soda" and "pop" are the most common terms for soft drinks nationally, although other terms are used, especially "coke" (a genericized name for Coca-Cola) in the South. Since individual names tend to dominate regionally, the use of a particular term can be an act of geographic identity. The choice of terminology is most closely associated with geographic origin, rather than other factors such as race, age, or income. The differences in naming have been the subject of scholarly studies. Cambridge linguist Bert Vaux, in particular, has studied the "pop vs. soda debate" in conjunction with other regional vocabularies of American English.
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History
According to writer Andrew Schloss, "soda" derives from sodium, a common mineral in natural springs, and was first used to describe carbonation in 1802. The earliest known usage of "pop" is from 1812; in a letter to his wife, poet Robert Southey says the drink is "called pop because pop goes the cork when it is drawn, & pop you would go off too if you drank too much of it." The two words were later combined into "soda pop" in 1863. Schloss gives the following years as the first attestations of the various terms for these beverages:
Coke
In the Southern United States, "coke" (or "cola") is used as a generic term for any type of soft drink—not just a Coca-Cola product or another cola. This terminology is also used in areas adjacent to the traditional southern states, such as New Mexico and Southern Indiana. Several other locations have been found to use the generic "coke," such as Trinity County, California and White Pine County, Nevada, although the small populations of these counties may skew survey results. A Twitter data scientist, however, found that while "soda" and "pop" dominate in the United States, "coke" is a generic soft drink name in other countries, especially in Europe.
Pop
"Pop" is most commonly associated with the Midwest, in states like Ohio, Michigan, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Iowa. The term is also more common in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West.
Soda
"Soda" is most common on the East and West Coasts, as well as Hawaii, St. Louis, Missouri, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.