LAS COCAS

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 3/4/05 10:45:01 AM, rshuttle at BAMA.UA.EDU writes:


> Non-US generic use: When I lived in Guadalajara, Mexico for a summer
> (1997, I think), my se~nora referred to any soft drink as "una coca."
> Sra. Alvarez would ask, "?Quieres una coca?" and then give me the
> equivalent of Sprite. At the time, it made me homesick for Alabama. When
> I worked as a hostess in a restaurant during high school, I would take
> drink orders from customers. When people said they wanted a coke, I
> learned I should ask what kind.
> Rachel
>
This is what I remember from Guadalajara in the 1970s, too. One could ask,
"?Hay cocas?" as well as (as I recall) "... refrescas?" I remember asking once
for "bebidas" (at a pushcart in a park in Mexico City) and was told that they
had no alcoholic drinks.