Pop Vs. Soda Debate

[Emancipation 2]

The burning question on my mind today is do Americans call it a Yankee Swap? I keep seeing "white elephant" gift exchange.. is it just us Canucks who call it a Yankee Swap?

[trailmix 77]

The burning question on my mind today is do Americans call it a Yankee Swap? I keep seeing "white elephant" gift exchange.. is it just us Canucks who call it a Yankee Swap?

Yankee swap? I have never heard of that?

[waterpupy 5]

Yankee swap? huh?

[Jenn! 918]

I've always called it Yankee Swap. But I've also heard of white elephant as well as dirty santa.

[Flames9_RN 358]

never heard of yankee swap!! have heard of Chinese gift exchange!!

[Emancipation 2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange

[trailmix 77]

I've always called it Yankee Swap. But I've also heard of white elephant as well as dirty santa.

To me a white elephant sale is like a garage sale, but not in a garage, like a big big sale - I have also never heard of 'dirty santa'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange

Ohhhh - I have never heard it called that!

[xtinab 0]

I'd never heard of any of those to be honest. I just learned of the white elephant at BB's work party.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I've done those sort of gift exchange at office parties, but never used any of those terms for it.

[Sprailenes 47]

I call it soda now. Oh noes I am no longerz a canucky.

I think after a few times of getting weird looks, its natural for one to attempt to change it, plus it saves me the time of having to repeat myself.

Sometimes I still say "pop" but I have pretty much adapted even though it occasionally slips out. The thing is, in Canada I can say Soda and I don't get a double take. So Soda is more universal in that sense. Down here I say pop and I do get people giving me the look of confusion followed by the oh so American: "HUH"

I don't really think the word pop defines who we are as Canadians quite as much as toque and eh. Its all about regions as you can see by the map.

Good book to read: Sex in the snow.

[Sprailenes 47]

I don't know why I kept capitalizing soda.

Just acknowledging my mistake.

[OBX 51]

You guys are so entertaining!!

Reading these Canada threads relieves the stress from a 9 hour work day

For the record these are my small observations:

When I am in New Jersey I say soda - pop gets us no where.

Found out the hard way that iced tea doesn't always come sugared.

Why can't I pump my own gas?

Since when do I have the accent?

[Sprailenes 47]

Omg I love the unsweetened fresh brewed iced tea... SOO MUCH!

I wish Canada would pick that one up.

[~PalmTreeGurl~ 154]

I call any soft drink a coke or a soda. Do you want a soda? Do you want a coke? Doesnt mean coca-cola only could mean any brand... pepsi, rootbeer, dr pepper, sprite. All is soda or coke to me

Okay no I haven't, I just totally made that up.

[DeadPoolX 9]

You guys are so entertaining!!

Reading these Canada threads relieves the stress from a 9 hour work day

For the record these are my small observations:

When I am in New Jersey I say soda - pop gets us no where.

Found out the hard way that iced tea doesn't always come sugared.

Why can't I pump my own gas?

Since when do I have the accent?

That reminds me of some instances in Canada.

I've always had unsweetened iced tea (I think the sugar in it tastes gross) since I was a little kid. My dad originally got me to drink it by saying that "iced tea always has free refills." This was before most places offered free refills on soda, so the idea made sense.

When in Canada, however, I've received some very strange looks from waitresses when I've asked, "Is the ice tea unsweetened?" One waitress even commented, "You must be from the States, right?"

In the U.S., I've always heard "sweet tea" to mean sweetened iced tea. The unsweetened version is simply called "iced tea." My wife and I now make our own unsweetened iced tea. If she wants sugar in it, she does so separately.

As for gas pumping... I've seen many more places that are self-serve in the U.S. over full service. Full service exists, of course, but I've never seen it forced upon anyone (and I've traveled all over the country). Believe it or not, I have seen places in Canada that only offer full service. This surprised both my wife and I. Interestingly enough, there's a hidden divide in BC that makes full service mandatory on one side and self-service available on the other.