The Great Pop vs. Soda Controversy

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:36 PM -0400 5/22/07, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>I'll have to experiment in the Boston metro area:  "What flavors of
>tonic do you have?"  Or, if there are still soda fountains these
>days, "Can you make a cherry tonic for me?"  The respondents will all
>undoubtedly be under 21.  Especially during the summer.
>
>Joel

I remember posting some years ago of my delight in noticing that the
large refreshment stand in the middle of South Station in Boston
listed its soft drinks under the generic category label

TONICS

I fear that that sign and very possibly the refreshment stand itself
are no longer extant.

LH

>
>At 5/22/2007 02:12 PM, you wrote:
>>Unfortunately, that seems to be the case. In the Boston area, I have
>>only one local friend, a fifty-ish native of Haverhill, MA, who uses
>>*only* "tonic" as his term for a carbonated soft drink.
>>
>>-Wilson
>>
>>On 5/21/07, Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:
>>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>-----------------------
>>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>Poster:       Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM>
>>>Subject:      Re: The Great Pop vs. Soda Controversy
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>>So we're walking along, going down side streets from Forbes Ave, looking
>>>>for somewhere he can buy something to drink, when we see an old guy
>>>>walking along the other side of the street. "Hey!" calls Mike, the
>>>>thirsty New Hampshirean (yeah, i know, i know, Nutmegger). "You know
>>>>where i can buy a soda?"
>>>
>>>He ain't a Nutmegger 'lessin' he's from Connecticut.
>>>
>>>Here in Worcester, the term is "tonic," though I've heard it in vivo
>>>only from the same informant, so I think it's dying out.
>>>
>>>---Amy West
>>>
>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>
>>--
>>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
>>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>>-----
>>                                              -Sam'l Clemens
>>
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>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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