2108: Carbonated Beverage Language Map

|< < Prev Comic #2108 (February 6, 2019) Next > >|

Carbonated Beverage Language Map

Title text: There's one person in Missouri who says "carbo bev" who the entire rest of the country HATES.

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a COMMUNIST SHILL. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

In the US, people in various parts of the country refer to carbonated beverages by different names such as Soda, Pop, Coke, etc. Generally, the West Coast and Northeast say "Soda", the South says "Coke" and the rest of the country says "Pop".

There are various maps of the name differences, including: [1]

This map leverages xkcd's mockery-maps of regional and state-by-state differences or variations in the use of language and overlays the regional variances in the terms for soda pop (for example: https://laughingsquid.com/soda-pop-or-coke-maps-of-regional-dialect-variation-in-the-united-states/), as was made trending and popular in 2013. Not only are there far more terms than are actually used by Americans, many are terms for other drinks (mead), unrelated liquids (quicksilver), or copyrighted beverage names less popular than Coke/Coca Cola (Code Red) -- and in one case, something that's not even edible ("Crypto").

Map terms (from left to right, approximately)

Fanta	Name of a carbonated beverage line
Söde	Presumably pronounced "soda" but spelled oddly
True Water	Possibly a reference to True Blood, a fictional artificial blood substitute for vampires in The Southern Vampire Mysteries book series by Charlaine Harris, and the television series True Blood.
Crypto	A term meaning "hidden". Popularized as a slang term in the late '80s and early '90s to refer to anything involving the act of encryption and decryption through the application of ciphers, a practice which has become practically ubiquitous in the digital age. Cryptography is used extensively in: military communications; subscription media services including cable and satellite television; digital cellular networks; privacy oriented communications services such Telegram, Signal and WhatsApp; secured file storage; electronic locks; and distributed ledgers such as those used by "blockchain" based currencies\commodities. Crypto is not a liquid and therefore not drinkable. Possibly a joke that the residents of Silicon Valley are actually computers that "drink" crypto (i.e. data).
Yum	Refers to Yum! Brands, parent company of several fast food restaurants, which was spun off from PepsiCo, maker of a carbonated beverage, in 1997, and has a lifetime contract to serve their beverages.
Sparkle Fluid	Roughly analogously to how "sparkling wine" and "sparkling cider" are carbonated varieties of wine and cider, "sparkling fluid" or "sparkle fluid" would presumably be any carbonated fluid
King Cola	Name of a carbonated beverage
Pepsi	Name of a carbonated beverage
Crystal Pepsi	Name of a carbonated beverage
Ichor	several definitions (blood of a god (or demon, or, in some dialects, any insect) or watery discharge from a wound). None of them carbonated. None of them recommended as a drinkable liquid. (Well, not by someone with your best interests at heart.)
You-Know-What	A phrase typically employed when a more specific term is considered unspeakable.
Tab	Name of a carbonated beverage
Spicewater	Potentially a reference to the spice from Dune.
Softie	On the map, it looks like the region for Softie is taking a punch from the region for Punch
Ohio Tea
Boat Drink
Melt	Usually used to describe a kind of sandwich where cheese is melted in the center, usually on a griddle. Or maybe just a way to say "no, the *melted* ice"
Fizz Ooze
Punch	A drink typically found in the juice aisle. Only sometimes carbonated. On the map it looks like the region for Punch is literally punching the region for Softie.
Fun Wine	Implies that normal wine is not "fun".
Diet	Sometimes refers to a carbonated beverage. A common request in restaurants, as they often only have a single "diet soda" option for customers to pick. Ironically, "diet" sodas have been causally linked to metabolism related weight gain.
Refill	The second glass of whatever you drank previously. Works for any drinkable liquid.
Tickle Juice	Name of a Boston-based jazz band.
Bubble Honey
Sugar Oil	The areas of Oklahoma and north Texas that are shaded produce a significant amount of crude oil.
The Wet Drink	Technically true of all drinks, unless one is attempting to drink sand. It may also refer to the fact that many advertisements for carbonated beverages attempt to make the product look more appetizing by photographing or filming a beverage container covered with water droplets.
Code Red	Name of a carbonated beverage
Mead	An alcoholic drink. Traditionally not carbonated. Often associated with Vikings, and these areas did have many Scandinavian immigrants.
Canadian Ale	Probably a reference to the Canada Dry brand of Ginger Ale, a non-alcoholic carbonated beverage.
Aether	Could refer to a highly flammable industrial solvent, also used as an anesthetic. Do not drink. Also, not carbonated. Alternately, could refer to the nonexistent fluid that was believed to carry light waves before electromagnetism was fully understood, or poetically to the sky; in either case it is not a drinkable liquid (or carbonated).
Carbonated Beverage	Technically correct, but a bit of an awkward term due to its unnecessary length.
Mouthwater	A play on the term "mouth watering" to describe delicious foods and drinks.
Capri	Capri Sun is a brand of juice drinks, typically sold in uncarbonated pouches.
Skim Shake
Kid's Coffee	Somewhat accurate. Coffee is typically drunk by adults for its caffeine. Carbonated beverages often have caffeine also, and are often consumed by children.
Regular	In the past, referred to gasoline with lead, as opposed to "Unleaded". Not a drinkable liquid, and also outlawed.
Tang	An orange flavored beverage containing less than 2% juice extract, not carbonated.
Formula	Typically refers to an artificial replacement for mother's milk. Not carbonated.
Medicine	Only sometimes a drinkable liquid. Never or perhaps almost never carbonated. Alternatively, a common euphemism for alcohol, or some other drink that the person doesn't want to admit to drinking -- or at least doesn't want to share.
Broth	Liquid in which bones, meat, fish, or vegetables have simmered. Often used as a soup base. Not carbonated.
Fool's Champagne	Carbonated beverage is to champagne what fool's gold is to gold.
Sugar Milk
No word for them	This region of the US does not have a word for carbonated beverages (according to Randall). Possibly they do not drink them at all.
Hydro	A word for water. Carbonated water does exist, but this word means all forms of water.
Harvard Tea	The region shades this way includes Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is home to Harvard University.
Bubbler	A nod to another popular map of the same type, exploring the regional dialects used to describe drinking fountains. Rhode Island and the eastern portion of Wisconsin are the only two locations where 'Bubbler' is commonly used to refer to drinking fountains.
Mouthbuzz	Perhaps referring to the feeling of drinking a carbonated drink, where the releasing carbonation almost 'buzzes' in the mouth.
Brad's Elixer	Possibly a reference to "Brad's Drink", the original name for Pepsi when it was invented by Caleb Bradham in 1893. The word "elixir" is defined as "a sweetened liquid usually containing alcohol that is used in medication either for its medicinal ingredients or as a flavoring", but it is misspelled here as "elixer".
Hot Water	Not carbonated. Not even in Jacuzzi and hot tubs.
Fluid	A word that means nearly any liquid in existence. Not specific to carbonated beverages.
Coke Zero	Name of a carbonated beverage.
Carbo	Sodas sweetened with corn syrup or cane sugar are high in carbohydrates. Could also refer to carbonation.
Quicksilver	An old term for the element mercury, a metallic liquid in its pure form at room temperature. Extremely harmful if swallowed.
Glug	Onomatopoeia, referring to the sound of swallowing a large amount of liquid. Or possibly referring to glögg (pronounced "glug"), a Swedish drink similar to mulled wine.
Water Plus	Technically the name of a British water retail services provider, this likely refers to the prevalence of "plus" as a preposition in branding nomenclature (e.g.: Google+, iPhone 8 Plus, 7 Up Plus, etc.).

The title text may be a wry comment in light of the pocket of "soda" in the St. Louis, MO area.

Transcript

This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.

[A map of the United States divided into purple, red, green, blue, and yellow colored regions.]

[A purple area in North West Washington:]

Fanta

[A blue area spanning the Western border of Washington and Oregon:]

Sode

[A yellow area spanning the remainder of Washington, North Western Oregon, Northern Idaho and the North Western corner of Montana:]

Ichor

[A green area spanning the North Eastern corner of Oregon, central Idaho and the majority of Montana:]

Spicewater

 add a comment! ⋅  add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅  refresh comments!

Discussion

Im from new york and i can confirm we do call it mouthbuzz162.158.63.12 17:45, 22 September 2020 (UTC) I'm wondering what the joke behind the weird shapes of "softie" and "punch" are about. Cgrimes85 (talk) 17:22, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

The shapes could easily be random. But at first glance the "softie" shape vaguely represents areas where Mormons represent more than 50% of the population. Syberiyxx (talk) 19:07, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

I fixed the explanation with the correct interpretation of the two shapes. -boB (talk) 21:27, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

My additions had disappeared, but it looks to have been by accident, and Shamino put them back. Thanks! In case it disappears again for whatever reason, on the map Punch is literally punching Softie. -boB (talk) 22:10, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

"Bubbler" is definitely a reference to people in Rhode Island calling drinking fountains "bubblers".Cgrimes85 (talk) 17:23, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

Bubbler reference, Joshua Katz, and its data

The “bubbler” term is used in some areas of Wisconsin, too; I wonder how that happened. 172.68.59.108 17:31, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

Interesting. I didn't know that. In this case though, the map is pointing directly at RI. Cgrimes85 (talk) 17:40, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

I was devastated to see that 'bubbler' had not been given to eastern WI. I demand a recount!--162.158.214.10 18:47, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

I was surprised to see 'bubbler' avoided Boston. Living in the suburbs of Boston, which are in the 'bubbler' area, we always called them 'water fountains', but we talked about how people in downtown Boston would say 'bubblah' instead, which somebody from the city verified once. Later I moved to the Harvard/Cambridge area (is that Randall's area?) and people seemed to say 'water fountain' to me, although I might not have noticed, or maybe they were all college kid types, dunno. Maybe the point is that in the highlighted area, people weirdly _don't_ refer to water fountains as bubblers, and the reason for this is that it is how soda/pop is referred to. 172.69.62.10 23:50, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

Growing up in the New York metropolitan area in the 70's, my family sometimes used the term "bubbler", but only to refer to those drinking fountains where the water is projected straight up. We never used it for the more common kind where the water is projected at an angle. Shamino (talk) 21:37, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

Clearly a parody of this map: http://www.popvssoda.com/countystats/total-county.html The isolated regions surrounding Atlanta and the Twin Cities are probably a reference to the similar pattern around St. Louis in the real map. 172.68.78.40 17:17, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

Oh man, this one is gonna have to be a table. Bring in the guy who knows how to make tables. I think it was the user Dgbrt. 172.68.65.168 18:28, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

I've heard Americans have 50 different words for "soda" 172.68.58.251 20:26, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

Re: Medicine - People in Detroit and Buffalo often use Ginger Ale, especially Vernor's, medicinally. Whenever I had an upset stomach growing up, it was the preferred beverage. 162.158.75.136 20:54, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure "crypto" is a joke on cryptocurrency craze, not cryptography or any other crypto-thing. 198.41.242.46 21:21, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

It could be, but I see no evidence of that in this comic; there's no other reference to currencies or cryptography here, so there's not much to go on. However, looking through past comics, I see many instances where Randall used "crypto" to mean "cryptography" but no instances where he used just the term "crypto" alone to mean "cryptocurrency". Randall Munroe seems pretty well versed on both topics & I don't think he thinks that word means what you think he thinks that word means. Crypto = cryptography. Crypto ≠ crypto-currency; hence the existence of the compound term crypto+currency in the first place.

ProphetZarquon (talk) 19:04, 15 February 2019 (UTC)

"True water" could be a reference to the "raw water" (aka untreated water) thing that went through the SF Bay Area in 2018.172.69.218.10 21:51, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

Re: Medicine - Sodas started out as medicines made by pharmacists. (first reference I found) 162.158.146.10 22:41, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

On "fluid": the term "fluid" can refer to liquids and gasses both, so perhaps it's a deliberate reference to the fact that carbonated beverages contain both liquid and (rapidly decompressing) gas?

I doubt that "True Water" is a reference to True Blood. Randall doesn't exactly seem like a vampire guy to me. 172.68.189.241 00:50, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

When I saw "Glug" I immediately thought it could be a reference to the Squidbillies although it is an alcoholic drink and that section is in Florida instead of Georgia. Ansarya (talk) 01:08, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

The Söde section is just south of Seattle and so is probably a reference to the SoDo section of Seattle (which was also parodied on South Park's 19th season as SodoSopa) Should I add these to the explanation? Ansarya (talk) 02:13, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

I'm wondering if the term "Hydro" in Upstate NY bordering Canada is a play on the common Canadian use of "Hydro" to mean electricity B0xertw1n (talk) 03:15, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

I know meltwater is used as a term for water from melted glaciers, icebergs or just ice and snow in general. I have heard Melt used to refer to glacier water in specific twice in Canada. I also know people ride boats up to icebergs just to grab some ice for a drink. Considering the region, I wouldn't be surprised if both Melt and Boat Drink refer to that. D (talk) 05:22, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

I wonder why he used five colors for the map, given the four color theorem I would never be able to resist using four only for maps like this.

There were five ingredients in punch but that is tenuous.

Is this a Republican gerrymander?

• Ichor goes red.
• You-Know-What goes red.
• I can't tell which way Ohio Tea would go, given that Arizona is a swing state, and very little of the populated areas have changed.
• The Wet Drink is clearly more Republican, as the section bordering Mexico is gone.
• Punch is red, even though Colorado is typically blue.
• Atlanta is in the "Tang" region, not the "Fool's Champagne" region. Atlanta is not enough to make Tang blue.
• Skim Shake contains a lot of African-Americans, but it still seems to be red.
• Glug is red. I can't tell about Skim Shake or Quicksilver.
• Fluid excludes Raleigh, which is enough to make it likely/solid Republican, despite North Carolina only leaning Republican.
• Mead is red, even though Minnesota leans Democratic.
• Kid's Coffee excludes Detroit, making it dark red.
• I honestly can't tell which way Medicine goes. It contains Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Pittsburg, and Buffalo, but also a lot of rural areas. Cincinnati and eastern Pennsylvania are excluded.
• Hydro goes red.
• Broth goes red, even though Virginia is blue. Look at how Hot Water is "packed" with Democrats.

The only thing I have against this idea is that Capri goes blue, and a Republican gerrymander would probably not include the entirety of Indiana. 162.158.79.245 14:01, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

To be fair, mercury is hardly harmful at all if swallowed 172.68.222.64 15:05, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

That’s correct, so I removed the remark from the table. --DaB. (talk) 16:42, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

What? Where are you two getting your information on this subject? Both the AMA & WHO have published warnings about the dangers of mercury ingestion. It is medically classified as a toxin & regulated as an industrial pollutant. Due to the very small quantities required for a spill to elevate mercury levels beyond accepted risk limits in a water table, & the high rate of vaporization & accordant inhalation risk, many municipalities & medical organizations have banned the sale of mercury containing thermometers, altogether. Ingesting a single gram of mercury is sufficient to risk permanent damage, & it's worse if inhaled, which is easy to do because it vaporizes at a relatively low temperature. Mercury inhibits selenium uptake. Even the relatively low absorption rate of elemental mercury within the gastrointestinal tract is still sufficient to warrant serious medical warnings & safety regulations. Unless you can present some peer-reviewed studies indicating that drinking mercury is safe, I don't understand how you can claim it's "hardly harmful at all if swallowed". Bottom line: Mercury is a toxin. I'm putting it back in.

ProphetZarquon (talk) 20:05, 15 February 2019 (UTC)

Heh. Lots of these funny names might remind specific users of specific things, but it's foolish of us to say that those names are surely references to those things. "You-know-what" is a Harry Potter reference? Really? Alanbbent (talk) 16:28, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

Ichor area appears to be the Cascade Mountains, the igneous range formed by the molten "blood" released from impact with the tectonic plate with sedimentary Olympic peninsula - since ichor is the blood of the gods of OlympusRarebitfiend (talk) 16:53, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

You-know-what also echoes the Schweppes tag line "Schhhh - you know who" 141.101.77.98 18:11, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

I don't understand, I've never heard anyone refer to sodas in general as "Coke" unless it was a Coke-like drink (aka cola). On the other hand, I have heard many people refer to sodas as "cola" even if it was clear/yellow/non-brown. SDSpivey (talk) 05:47, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

I think "hydro" is a reference to the fact that in that region (and Canada) they refer to electric power as "hydro" because it comes from hydroelectric plants, so it IS a regional dialect change, but for utility power not soft drinks. 23:20, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

I also though "hydro" was a reference to the Canadian oddity of calling electricity "hydro". I added that to the Terms Explanation but someone deleted it. 172.69.62.220 14:48, 14 February 2019 (UTC)

In Northern England and Scotland, I believe sweets (confectionary) are called 'spice'. This makes 'spicewater' as liquid sweets very reasonable and perhaps more likely than a Dune reference.162.158.34.112 16:55, 12 May 2019 (UTC)

I love the "citation needed" regarding "Well, not by someone with your best interests at heart."Opticsmith (talk) 17:04, 30 October 2019 (UTC)

To repeat my ad-hoc edit summary for a change I just made: Probably the biggest brand asset of 'Coke' is its laconic contraction. I wonder if anyone considered "Gimme a Pep!" as a branding exercise? ...only while writing it (to avoid leaving my edit uncommented in the Edit History) did I realise how true. Apart from the (not entirely incidental) homophonic sharing with cocaine's own name-shortner, it would be interesting to know if "Pep" would have been as useful a name-gimick. Ok, so confusion perhaps with Peptobismol in one direction and its rival's Doctor Pepper in the other, but it seems the only way to go (except "Psi"?) to get deep into the utilitarian phoneme battle... Just thinking out loud. Don't mind me! 172.70.162.147 12:08, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

Should there be a description of the states that each location of the map is on? I would, but I don't really know US states. 172.69.130.19 (talk) 02:33, 26 August 2024 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)