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Quick: Think of a carbonated, sweet beverage. What would you call that? Your answer has a lot to do with your home state.
It’s a debate certainly familiar with anyone meeting someone from a different area of the country — do you use the same generic soft-drink name as I do, or are you using the wrong word? It fits in with the Chicago vs. New York pizza debate, and even the California vs. Texas Mexican food debate. And it is pointlessly futile to find one correct answer.
Instead of trying to find an impossible peace, Alan McConchie decided to map out the differences on his Pop vs. Soda Page. He asks users to input their location and word choice, and then lays out results on a map of the United States. People in the Midwest , Great Plains and the Pacific Northwest say “pop,” Californians and the Northeast say “soda” and Southerners say “Coke.” Yes, “Coke,” even if it’s Sprite.
No one can truly be impartial on this issue. Even McConchie is biased; on the site’s home page, he notes that people who say “pop” are the coolest of them all. (via BuzzFeed)