Soda vs Pop - the Debate Lives On

When I was a teenager, we had great fun playing a prank on our youth pastor who referred to carbonated beverages as "Pop", while we staid Northeasterners referred to them as "Soda." I was interested to find the map below, which quantifies which parts of the countries call carbonated beverages by different names. Most interesting to me is how it seems to follow the red-state/blue-state divide. Perhaps it is a sign of divergent cultures within the American continent. Click on the image below for the original article and a little larger map.