Comment by wpietri | Hacker News Reader

Comment by wpietri | Hacker News Reader

Ok, today I learned something. This giant teapot in West Virginia has a window for "pop": https://neal.fun/wonders-of-street-view/?v=xMaHmC

Growing up as a Michigander, that's the term I learned for carbonated soft drinks. E.g., redpop: https://heartofmich.com/products/faygo-redpop

But I thought that was a pretty midwestern phenomenon. I thought the rest of the US was in the "soda" camp, except for the south, where I was horrified to learn that "coke" is the generic term.

And an extremely enterprising soul, Alan McConchie, has produced an excellent map confirming this: https://popvssoda.com/

So why is West Virginia talking about pop? It looks like WV is a linguistic battleground, with all three words having influence. But this particular thing is in an area I didn't know existed, WV's "Northern Panhandle", a territorial incursion which creeps up between Columbus and Pittsburgh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Panhandle_of_West_Vir...

And it turns out that goes back to the Revolutionary War, where Virginia, Connecticut, and Massachusetts all tried to claim parts of the Midwest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_County,_Virginia

Having grown up in the northern panhandle, you really have to look at is a tri state area. PA, OH, and WV.

It’s extremely distinct from the rest of WV below the mason dixon line.

The original capital of WV was actually Wheeling, in the northern panhandle, but it was eventually moved south to Charleston because of the disconnect.

In the 19 years I lived there I never heard anyone say anything but “pop” to refer to carbonated soft drinks. It’s also part of my dialect that has stuck around.

I think the most distinctive word used in the region is that shopping carts are referred to as “buggies”. I didn’t even realize that was unusual until I went shopping with friends in college…

Thanks! I really appreciate the direct report.

My dad, who grew up in Milwaukee, was shocked to learn that the thing he knew as a "bubbler" was everywhere else called a "water fountain". Like you, he didn't know until college.

Oddly, "bubbler" is the standard term in Australia as well.

Fun fact: certain parts of the UK , e.g. Devon, say "pop". But no one says soda unless they've been watching too much TV.

We say pop in Liverpool too but only for fizzy lemonade.

Maybe I'm dense (or just American) but what is the connection between 'too much TV' and 'soda'?

If you watch too much TV, you'll adopt more US English terms than from your local dialect.

Ah.

Heh, "coke" is the only one that sounds normal to me (I'm from the southwest). Where I'm from, if you ask for a coke at a drive-through, they'll ask "what kind?". And then you say "Sprite", or whatever you want.

Thanks for talking about it. I have to remind myself that all words are made up.

I get that there Sprite is a coke, but what do you say if you want a Coke?

Then you just say "Coke" again. If you sound confused, we know you're not from here. If you treat this as a perfectly normal and sane interaction, then you're one of us ;)

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