Soda vs. Pop and Other Thought Provoking Questions

A facebook post the other day, inspired today's blog. The question on the post? Do you call it Soda, Pop or Coke? Believe it or not, all carbonated beverages do not go under the umbrella of just one name. It actually depends on what part of the country you live in or possibly what family you grew up in as to what you call your carbonated drink. Case and point: Growing up in the lower midwest, I had never heard of  Pepsi, Coke or any other carbonated beverages being referred to as anything but "pop"! You were always first asked if you would like a pop and then they would ask what kind? However.....pop was the name under which most all soft drinks lived. In fact, it wasn't until I was a grown adult that I realized the word "pop" was not universal.

On meeting my husband, I realized that he did not call it pop. He referred to it as soda! The first time I heard him call it that, I remember looking at him like he was speaking a foreign language. Apparently this word (soda) was the substitution for pop in Missouri. Where I came from the only soda I knew, was baking soda and therefor soda and pop were hardly synonymous in my head. We even had a few discussions about pop vs. soda. His thinking on the subject was why would you call your drink something that you might call your father or something that is the sound your soda bottle makes when opened?  Stupid Missouri logic!!! While carbonated beverage names were not a deal breaker as to whether we could be married or not....they certainly were a way in which we could playfully irritate each other.

When we went to Missouri the first time for me to meet his family, his mother bought in bulk and when family came,  she always had a room full of not pop but soda! When I forgot and asked for a pop, they looked at me just like I had looked at Tim the first time I ever heard him say soda. It was kind of a WTH look masked by a bit of a humorous smirk. To not suffer that look again....I was careful to ask for soda or better yet.....drink water the rest of the trip. By the time we got home I had obviously used the word "soda" so much that it had now drifted into my vocabulary. It appeared that  I had surrendered in the war of soda vs. pop......and sadly from that day forward.....I drank soda. Grrrrrr

To make it even more complicated.....I have heard that in some areas....they call it coke. Not the brand name but all carbonated beverages are coke. I cannot even imagine the unholy confusion that this causes poor unexpected individuals who order a soda or a pop. The insanity of it all!!!

It's not just our drinks though. How about when and what you eat? Growing up.....we had four meals. Yes I said four! Monday through Saturday we had breakfast, lunch and supper. On Sundays we had dinner which was a large version of lunch which often times made supper obsolete or at the very least all you wanted was something snacky. That was it. Clean simple and who could find fault? Well......it just so happens that if you call it supper in some areas of the country, they immediately look at you like you just fell off the turnip truck. And forget thinking that your supper will be between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. There are those that don't eat their dinner (my supper) until at least 8 p.m. In my world, that is not caused by choice but rather a long and busy day and no one is particularly happy about it.

In my home today.....we still do the four meals with the addition of a couple of new meals that show up every now and then. On occasion on a Sunday morning, breakfast and lunch will be replaced with brunch. Brunch is a meal somewhere between breakfast and lunch that consists of a variety of  traditional foods from both meals....and if you play your cards right.....alcohol too! If eaten correctly.....brunch will make dinner and/or supper completely unnecessary. Then there is also Brinner. Brinner is actually breakfast for dinner or as us turnip truck fallers call it.....supper. It isn't just your toast and coffee breakfast though, it usually involves eggs, pancakes and/or biscuits and gravy. It is basically our favorite meal of the day when we are awake enough to appreciate it. I have been told that while Brunch is pretty universally accepted as a weekend mid morning meal, Brinner (even having the word dinner in it) is still frowned on perhaps even laughed at in some social and geographical areas. Apparently breakfast for any other meal except breakfast or brunch is just crass and completely uncouth. I wonder where they stand on pop vs. soda?

So now I ask you.....Is it soda, pop or coke? And do you eat supper, dinner or brinner? These are some thought provoking questions in these troubling times and I think the world needs answers!!! Feel free to put yours in the comment section of this blog! ;)