Date:  Tue, 5 Dec 1995 23:15:21 -0800

From:  "J.Russell King" <jrking[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IX.NETCOM.COM>

Subject: Re: pop and soda



>>  Some of my students use pop; some use soda; almost none uses soda

>> pop; but a lot of them tell me that they use "coke" for any

>> non-alcoholic carbonated beverage. Have any of you encountered

>> that?



When I was growing up in Southern Oklahoma in 1960's and 70's, "coke"

was clearly the most common generic term for a flavored carbonated

beverage. I was familiar with the terms "soft drink" and "soda pop" and

"pop" ("soda" alone was unflavored carbonated water, best mixed with

Scotch, or an ice cream soda), but seldom if ever heared them used in

ordinary conversation. The generic term was used in "You wanna go get a

coke?" or "Let me get you a coke" or, to a restaurant or drive-in

employee, "What kind of cokes do you have?" None of these were deemed

to be references to any particular product of the Coca-Cola Company.



I thought this usage was well attested.



JRKing