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The soft stuff or the hard stuff??

Posted by Jock on February 03, 2004

In Reply to: The soft stuff or the hard stuff?? posted by Lotg on February 02, 2004

: : : : : : : : In the US, it is called soda. In Canada, it is called pop. What is soft drink called in England and Australia?

: : : : : : : Here in Kentucky it is mostly called soda or soft drink. One of my college kids reports that in Columbus, Ohio, it is called "pop."

: : : : : : Some say that it's even called "tonic" in parts on New England. I went to college in western Massachusetts myself, but everyone called it soda, as far as I knew.

: : : : : ::It was 'soda' in lower New York State, and 'pop' in most of the midwest. In California, it's called both, but that's because no one is really from here and they bring the word that was used where they grew up. (Apologies to native Californians)

: : : In England, a fizzy soft drink is generally called pop. A popular one is Tizer and, in Scotland, IrnBru. In France it's called limonade. Lemonade would then be limonade citron.

: : Well, I still don't know what they call it in England and Australian. Bringing it back to my part of the U.S., most people (heading to the vending machine) say, "I'm getting a drink. Do you want a drink?" Unless of course they are heading to the downtown bar. Then a "drink" means a real drink.

: OK, this one's easy. In Australia, soft drink is called... wait for it... soft drink!! Haha.

: Yep, it's that simple.

: The only trouble I got into in America re this topic is when I asked for lemonade on the plane from Seattle to Chicago. The hostie (oops, flight attendant), got all embarrassed and said, I'm sorry maaaaaam, we don't have fresh lemons on board. It took me her few moments to realise that I was Australian, then said, oh you mean 7Up don't you? Well, actually I didn't, but 7Up was as close as I was going to get.

: But the generic term is definitely - 'soft drink'. We don't use the word 'pop' in that regard at all. And soda to us means the specific drink, Soda Water. Tonic is the same, we have only a specific drink called Tonic water (as in the stuff you mix with gin). It's not a generic term.

: Here if someone offers you a drink, it's probably more dependant on the weather. If it's early and it's hot, or if you're offering something to a child, when you offer a 'drink', it could mean water, cordial, tea, coffee, soft drink. Although if you were offering tea or coffee, you'd probably be that specific.

: Later in the day however, if you're talking to adults, you'd probably have to specify soft drink or water or whatever, cos if you say, "would you like a drink", it would tend to mean alcohol.

: So, generically speaking, we tend to say eg:

: Would you like a cool drink (that could mean anything from water to soft drink)

: Would you like a soft drink (self explanatory)

: Would you like a tea or coffee (as above)

: Would you like a drink (to an adult, is more likely to infer alcohol).

: Here endeth my lesson in Aussie liquid etiquette... (chuckle)

If you stick with the whisky - maybe adding a small amount of water in the summer - you'll have no need to fuss yourself naming inferior beverages.

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