REGIONAL AMERICAN VARIATIONS IN WORD MEANING – The Physician Anthropologist

Originally from The Physician Anthropologist archive

I have been very lucky to be visiting various parts of the USA on a regular basis. Initially there was no pattern to my travels, but lately: South Florida, Nebraska/Iowa/South Dakota and Texas (south). I had noticed that within the same country different words are used for the same object and as a person interested in the education about Food and Drinks, I have come across a variety of words that denote the same object of consumption. So I was happy to come across the research of a PhD student at NCSU, Joshua Katz, who has researched widely on usage across the country and published the results in nice map forms. I reproduce just one of the many maps, each map finding out what americans use regionally to denote an object.

What do Americans call a sugary carbonated beverage?
It is SODA in the NorthEast and South Florida; also in the west coast.
In the midwest and the north/northwest, POP seems to be favoured.
Southerners as individualistic as they are, refer it to by the brand name: Coke, Dr Pepper etc.

As I work with the Indians, and not wanting to be misunderstood, I would ask: how much sodapop do you drink per day..
I am always prepared for the answer, as some of them drink liters of that stuff per day…

I am convinced that as little as one can of highfructosecornsyrup/maltodextrin infused carbonated drink PER DAY can cause Metabolic Syndrome. I have seen many many cases of Type 2 Diabetes which disappeared when the person stopped drinking Carbonated beverages.
No amount of research (usually done with financial support of these companies) is going to convince me that these carbonated beverages are not poisonous!
So how much SodaPop do you drink per day?

Original Blogger URL: https://medicoanthropologist.blogspot.com/2013/06/regional-american-variations-in-word.html

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