4 ms·

Does that always mean lemonade in the US, or does soda also include soda water (carbonated water)?

scrollaway 5y ago
Soda in the US refers to "pop" in british english. Americans don't usually say "soda water" for carbonated water, in my experience.
- scoot 5y ago
  > "pop" in british english It might be regional, but I think "soft drink" or ""fizzy drink" are far more common. I can't recall the last time I heard "pop" used in this sense.
  - jrh206 5y ago
    When I was a child in Yorkshire I used to hear pop all the time. My parents and grandparents would say it. Nowadays it seems to have faded in favour of soft/fizzy drinks, but my grandma still says "pop".
    - scoot 5y ago
      North of England was what I had in mind. I guess "soda pop" (US) and "fizzy pop" (UK) might have a common root.
  - vidarh 5y ago
    Was about to write the same. I've lived in the UK 21 years and I can't recall ever having heard "pop" other than from Americans. An entirely unscientific search on some sites (Deliveroo, Ocado etc.) shows "pop" either not returning any drinks (Deliveroo near me) or returning pretty much the same as "soda", with Ocado returning the "fizzy drinks" category for both searches.
- FabHK 5y ago
  Regional variation in the US: A 1996 linguistics study inspired a map [...] showing “soda” prevalent on the coasts, while “pop” held sway in the Northwest and Midwest, and the generic “coke” took the South. There must be some electoral significance to this. https://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/the-soda-vs-pop-map/ https://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/the-soda-vs-pop-m...
laserlight 5y ago
In US, soda is a catch-all term for all types of carbonated drinks. Though, sugary types, especially coke, come to mind before the plain carbonated water.
losvedir 5y ago
This question is so strange to me! What dialect of English do you speak? Soda generally means like Coca Cola or some other sweetened, carbonated beverage. It doesn't mean soda water (though I can understand the confusion), which we can seltzer or sparkling water. It absolutely does not include lemonade! I never in a million years would think of lemonade as remotely related to "soda". Our lemonades are not carbonated, and are just lemon juice, water, and sometimes sugar. The question is so surprising to me. Where are you from? To you, what does "soda" mean? What does "lemonade" mean?
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  Lemonade in the UK is carbonated, so it is very similar to what we in the US call soda.
- stavros 5y ago
  What does "mean" mean?! I love your sense of wonderment at different cultures, wait until you hear about what "chips", "pants", and "fanny" mean in the UK!
- prawn 5y ago
  They might be in Australia. Lemonade here is carbonated (like 7Up). Soda would be soda water. Sweetened, carbonated drinks are generally called "soft drinks". Lemon squash would be more like a homemade lemonade, but still sweetened and carbonated (can't remember if you have Solo in the US).
- distances 5y ago
  Hehe, sorry for the language confusion and derailing the topic! I'm not a native speaker and have always assumed that "lemonade" can be used as a generic term for all carbonated soft drinks, cola drinks included. I think my confusion comes from the Finnish loan word "limonadi" which is an umbrella term for carbonated sweet drinks. And now checking what real lemonade looks like -- I think we'd call that lemon soda but it wouldn't definitely belong in the "limonadi" category. So a bit confusing inversion of terms during some cultural adoption! Edit: I see the usage is closer to UK naming convention, so maybe that's the history.

Soda in the US refers to "pop" in british english. Americans don't usually say "soda water" for carbonated water, in my experience.

scoot 5y ago
> "pop" in british english It might be regional, but I think "soft drink" or ""fizzy drink" are far more common. I can't recall the last time I heard "pop" used in this sense.
- jrh206 5y ago
  When I was a child in Yorkshire I used to hear pop all the time. My parents and grandparents would say it. Nowadays it seems to have faded in favour of soft/fizzy drinks, but my grandma still says "pop".
  - scoot 5y ago
    North of England was what I had in mind. I guess "soda pop" (US) and "fizzy pop" (UK) might have a common root.
- vidarh 5y ago
  Was about to write the same. I've lived in the UK 21 years and I can't recall ever having heard "pop" other than from Americans. An entirely unscientific search on some sites (Deliveroo, Ocado etc.) shows "pop" either not returning any drinks (Deliveroo near me) or returning pretty much the same as "soda", with Ocado returning the "fizzy drinks" category for both searches.
FabHK 5y ago
Regional variation in the US: A 1996 linguistics study inspired a map [...] showing “soda” prevalent on the coasts, while “pop” held sway in the Northwest and Midwest, and the generic “coke” took the South. There must be some electoral significance to this. https://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/the-soda-vs-pop-map/ https://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/the-soda-vs-pop-m...

laserlight 5y ago

In US, soda is a catch-all term for all types of carbonated drinks. Though, sugary types, especially coke, come to mind before the plain carbonated water.

losvedir 5y ago

This question is so strange to me! What dialect of English do you speak? Soda generally means like Coca Cola or some other sweetened, carbonated beverage. It doesn't mean soda water (though I can understand the confusion), which we can seltzer or sparkling water. It absolutely does not include lemonade! I never in a million years would think of lemonade as remotely related to "soda". Our lemonades are not carbonated, and are just lemon juice, water, and sometimes sugar. The question is so surprising to me. Where are you from? To you, what does "soda" mean? What does "lemonade" mean?

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
Lemonade in the UK is carbonated, so it is very similar to what we in the US call soda.
stavros 5y ago
What does "mean" mean?! I love your sense of wonderment at different cultures, wait until you hear about what "chips", "pants", and "fanny" mean in the UK!
prawn 5y ago
They might be in Australia. Lemonade here is carbonated (like 7Up). Soda would be soda water. Sweetened, carbonated drinks are generally called "soft drinks". Lemon squash would be more like a homemade lemonade, but still sweetened and carbonated (can't remember if you have Solo in the US).
distances 5y ago
Hehe, sorry for the language confusion and derailing the topic! I'm not a native speaker and have always assumed that "lemonade" can be used as a generic term for all carbonated soft drinks, cola drinks included. I think my confusion comes from the Finnish loan word "limonadi" which is an umbrella term for carbonated sweet drinks. And now checking what real lemonade looks like -- I think we'd call that lemon soda but it wouldn't definitely belong in the "limonadi" category. So a bit confusing inversion of terms during some cultural adoption! Edit: I see the usage is closer to UK naming convention, so maybe that's the history.