Later this week, I will publish an article on OnMilwaukee.com about interesting alcoholic beverages made with soft drinks.
Researching this article topic reminded me that I have unsuccessfully tried to identify the invisible geographical dividing lines that demarcate where people say "pop" and others say "soda." I can't figure it out.
I have friends from northern and southern Wisconsin who say "pop," whereas I, who grew up in Milwaukee, have never called sugary carbonated beverages anything but "soda."
Is there a line zigzagging across Wisconsin that divides the pop drinkers from the soda drinkers?
It gets even more complicated when I try to figure out where the pop / soda boundaries exist across the entire country. I have friends from Minnesota, Illinois and California who say "pop" and friends from other parts of Illinois and California who say, "soda." And then there's my friend from Florida who calls everything "Coke" and my Kentucky-born father who called it "soda pop."
Any idea how or why these terms vary so much, particularly in Wisconsin? And are we in agreement that "soda" is the most widely used term for soft drinks here in Milwaukee?
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
