Pop/Soda/Coke

[Bonnie Osborn Briggs]

I concur with Natalie.  With most people in the South, it (regardless of
what it really is) is referred to as a coke or a cold drink.  If you
really want a Coke and want to make sure that the person understands
this, then you say real Coke.

Bonnie Briggs
The University of Memphis

GEORGE THOMPSON wrote:
>
> Natalie Maynor quotes a student as saying "Sodas are known as cokes
> in the South.  Even Pepsi is called a coke in the South."
>
> Does this mean that ginger ale and root beer and Dr. Pepper are
> also called "coke"?  If so, how do they specify that they want or
> are drinking a cola drink?  If Southerners were to be given a Dr.
> Brown's Cel-Ray, what would they call it, other than a vile
> concoction?
>
> GAT