If it's homemade, can I still call it a coke?

[Fizzycist]

Growing up near Albuquerque, we followed the southern style of referring to almost every possible soda as "a coke", with a little c.

"I'm gonna go get a coke."
*comes back with grocery store brand orange soda*

Now I'm starting to get into homemade soda, and I hate calling it soda. Would it be so odd to refer to my homemade pomegranate creme soda as homemade coke?

 

[soccerdad]

It's coke where I live

 

[madscientist451]

Would it be so odd to refer to my homemade pomegranate creme soda as homemade coke?

Yes, it would. Coke is a brand name that almost everyone knows exactly what it is. So why would you want to cause confusion and name your handcrafted product the same as an industrial concoction?
If you brew a Czech light lager are you going to call it Bud Light?

 

[kh54s10]

So people go to the store and get orange soda and call it coke????? You should call it pop!

 

[k1ngl1ves]

If you're using the "original" recipe of Coke, you should mail me some.

 

[Fizzycist]

So people go to the store and get orange soda and call it coke????? You should call it pop!

You sound like my Wisconsinite in-laws.

 

[kh54s10]

You sound like my Wisconsinite in-laws.

I have lived mostly in New England and Florida. It those places it is usually called soda!

 

[daft]

You already know about your regional acceptance (although I never heard coke used for non-colas in TX), so you must be asking how it sounds at a wider national or intnl level. To me it sounds hillbilly, sort of like calling a live cartridge a "bullet". Misleadingly specific, like speakers are proud of dumbing down words to a lower concrete level.

I feel your reluctance for the stuffy word "soda", and using "pop" seems childishly worse. But "coke" doesn't work; besides having a double meaning, that alternate one can be a term of almost religious reverence. I just arranged for monthly airmailing of "1893" cola to me at extortionate cost... because that's the only way I can get cola bean, phos. acid, cane sugared up coke, er Pepsi. Please don't blaspheme my religion

 

[meatcleaver]

if it's not a cola, coke just doesn't seem right.
you can say soft drink or fountain drink or make like an Okie & call it pop.

 

[jerbrew]

So people go to the store and get orange soda and call it coke????? You should call it pop!

Silence you! That's just silly. Too silly. Stop that now.

 

[Nomofett]

Pop isn't childish and soda isn't stuffy. They are just names.
But Coke is a proper noun, so calling a 7-up a coke is silly, I agree with the poster above, I don't call my the lagers I make Bud Lights, it's silly when people do it for Coke.
Actually that's not even a correct analogy, it's more like being being at a bar, ordering a Bud Light and getting an IPA

 

[jwelch1103]

I have to chime in, you can call it whatever you want. A coke is a cola though, I believe most folks would expect something called coke to be either Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola or some other type of cola. Everything else would be soda or pop.
FWIW, I prefer cream soda, orange soda, grape soda, and finally a cola soda. I'd call them all sodas but understand to many people they are pop, as in soda pop.

 

[soccerdad]

You guys have it all wrong .. a coke is any soft drink of any flavor made by any company .. the brand name cola is a "Co'cola."

 

[Nomofett]

Wait, so when they sang I'd like to buy the world a coke, they meant any soft drink?
And Diet Coke is any kind of soda?

Oh, and Coke is a trademarked name owned by Coca Cola

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Coke is Coke
Pepsi is Pepsi
Orange soda is Orange soda
7-up is 7-up
And so on and so and so....call it what it is

I've never said pop or cola in my life, Its a geographic thing like a hero or a sub or grinder

 

[Stillraining]

The guy working behind the counter was called a Soda Jerk not a coke Jerk...However a lot of guys behind the counter these days fall into the later category.

 

[dmtaylor]

Orange Coke is O.K. cola, which was very short-lived in the early 1990s.

http://hilobrow.com/2009/07/03/id-like-to-force-the-world-to-sing/

 

[Dan65]

I feel your reluctance for the stuffy word "soda", and using "pop" seems childishly worse.

So... has anyone else heard it be called soda pop.

 

[mkyl428]

if it's not a cola, coke just doesn't seem right.
you can say soft drink or fountain drink or make like an Okie & call it pop.

Nope Okies say coke too ask me how I know

 

[TANSTAAFB]

You already know about your regional acceptance (although I never heard coke used for non-colas in TX)

What part of Texas did/ do YOU live in? Unless it's a Dr. Pepper or a Big Red, it's a coke! I think it's in the Texas Constitution or something 🤘

 

[JordanKnudson]

Yes, it would. Coke is a brand name that almost everyone knows exactly what it is. So why would you want to cause confusion and name your handcrafted product the same as an industrial concoction?
If you brew a Czech light lager are you going to call it Bud Light?

It's a regional colloquialism. Some parts of the country just call all soda/pop "coke." I grew up in southern Indiana and that was the case there. They don't mean "Coca-Cola." It's just the umbrella term that is used for all of it.

It's just like how you say "Band-aid" regardless of the brand, or how some folks say "Kleenex" instead of tissue. It may sound weird and wrong to people who never lived somewhere like that (and honestly, it sounds weird to me these days too), but it's really just another little bit of dialect.

I always love these discussions. Everyone is so passionate about their nomenclature ("It's soda!" "No, it's pop!" "No, it's soda-pop!" "Well I call it coke."). My fiancée calls chipmunks "squinnies." Crazy Iowan degenerate!

 

[SnakeRidge]

South Carolina native, Coke is soda. Any kind. I waited tables and conversations went like this:

"What'll you have to drink?"
"Coke"
"What kind?"
"Sprite"

It doesn't make sense, but embrace it all the same.

 

[Stillraining]

Damn Rebs...

 

[SnakeRidge]

Damn Rebs...

Hey man, now I live in Missouri where they like to think they're Southerners.

I wear big pants around here, let me tell you what.

 

[Fizzycist]

"What'll you have to drink?"
"Coke"
"What kind?"
"Sprite"

I've had this exact conversation.

 

[Stillraining]

So... has anyone else heard it be called soda pop.

Yep! its a Northern thing. Where the air is cool, crisp and our brains aren't fried.........Except for all the Liberals in Seattle that is.......Their all about coke and fried brains.

Seattle insist really in the PNW...they are a planet all to themselves we would like to see break off and follow the way of Atlantis........................................OooooKaaayaaa!!!!!! maybe my last trip to the kegerator tonight..LOL..............................Just kidding!!!....or am I

 

[madscientist451]

The original question:

Would it be so odd to refer to my homemade pomegranate creme soda as homemade coke?

Some people would know that "homemade coke" could be cola flavored or any other flavor, while some people would expect it to taste like the nationally known commercial product. You can call it whatever you want to, but using a degree of precision in language has some benefits.
After you tell people you made your own "coke", do you then want to go on and explain that it is something completely different?
But to answer the OP's question, calling a beverage that doesn't taste anything like Coke, "homemade coke" will seem odd and puzzling to some, and perfectly normal to others.

 

[mongoose33]

So... has anyone else heard it be called soda pop.

Sure. I've heard that a lot, even though it is a term that was produced by the Department of Redundancy Department.

I had a roommate in college from Tennessee--he always talked about going to go get a "coke" which was a generic term for "get a drink, nonalcoholic." It's generic, like "Kleenex" is generic for "tissue."

Everyone knew they didn't have to order Coke if they went. It's no different than asking if someone wants to get a coffee. The underlying message is to go spend a little time conversing over some sort of libation.

Now, if OP really wants to distinguish his beverage from the trademarked "Coke," he could call it a...Koch.

 

[JordanKnudson]

There really seems to be some difficulty here in understanding that, where the OP is from (and actually in quite a few parts of the country, just read through the thread), "coke" is the ubiquitous term for soda. So assuming he wants to share it with his friends and neighbors, if he offers them a "homemade coke," they will just ask "what kind?", the same as if he said "I have homemade soda." It may sound weird to your ears, but like OP said, because of the vernacular that he's accustomed to, "soda" sounds weird to him. (As would "pop," no doubt). In the case of this regional terminology, "coke"="soda," and the specificity follows.

It might be beneficial to remember that "precision in language" is in part dependent on the lexicon of the person(s) participating in the communication.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Nope Okies say coke too ask me how I know

Nope. When I hear someone say they are going to make coke. I begin to wonder if they are a blacksmith.

 

[Nomofett]

There really seems to be some difficulty here in understanding that, where the OP is from (and actually in quite a few parts of the country, just read through the thread), "coke" is the ubiquitous term for soda. So assuming he wants to share it with his friends and neighbors, if he offers them a "homemade coke," they will just ask "what kind?", the same as if he said "I have homemade soda." It may sound weird to your ears, but like OP said, because of the vernacular that he's accustomed to, "soda" sounds weird to him. (As would "pop," no doubt). In the case of this regional terminology, "coke"="soda," and the specificity follows.

It might be beneficial to remember that "precision in language" is in part dependent on the lexicon of the person(s) participating in the communication.

True, but in his post he said he grew up in a different area than he's living in now.

If he was in his native area and he knew that everyone called it a Coke then he wouldn't have the question. However, he is now living in a new area where calling it a Coke would be [rightfully IMO ] weird to his neighbors ears. They would be expecting something they wouldn't be getting.

If if were him I would have fun with the difference and maybe call it something like "Southern Coke" as the name with "Creme Soda" on the label, thus giving a of to his roots of what he wants to call it naturally but also letting people know it's not actually a Coke.

 

[mongoose33]

If if were him I would have fun with the difference and maybe call it something like "Southern Coke" as the name with "Creme Soda" on the label, thus giving a of to his roots of what he wants to call it naturally but also letting people know it's not actually a Coke.

Meh. He should simply name it "Tastes Like Chicken."

 

[FloppyKnockers]

'Pop' is just such a funny word referring to soda. Although its use is regional I've never heard, in any part of the country, someone order a rum and pop. I vote for soda, coke, or soft drink.

 

[JordanKnudson]

True, but in his post he said he grew up in a different area than he's living in now.

If he was in his native area and he knew that everyone called it a Coke then he wouldn't have the question. However, he is now living in a new area where calling it a Coke would be [rightfully IMO ] weird to his neighbors ears. They would be expecting something they wouldn't be getting.

Oh, good point! I hadn't even noticed that he is in a different location now.

Maybe he can just call it New New Coke

 

[Fizzycist]

Thank you all for the participation, both sarcastic and serious!

It's a good point that I'm living in an area where most such beverages are called soda rather than coke. What further complicates the issue is that when I say coke I'm often, but not always, referring to Coca-Cola, because I love it so. So deciphering when I'm going to get a coke or when I'd like a Coke is even more difficult!

 

[Nomofett]

'Pop' is just such a funny word referring to soda. Although its use is regional I've never heard, in any part of the country, someone order a rum and pop. I vote for soda, coke, or soft drink.

Yeah, that's because you only use Coke/Pepsi flavored pop. It makes sense to call that Coke, because that's like the bandaid thing.

 

[Stillraining]

I'v never heard of Rum and Soda either ..so If I'm in your neck of the woods dont be substituting anything for my CocaCola in my Rum and Coke.

 

[Roland_deschain]

You sound like my Wisconsinite in-laws.

It's soda in SE Wisconsin.....pop everywhere else.

 

[daft]

Regionalism is no excuse. There are linguistic principles at work. We all have exposure to mass communications, so when a localism arises we know if it is helpful, neutral, or at odds to the greater language pool. How can someone be so proudly provincial that they don't care how their meaning gets distorted among anyone not brought up in a similar bubble?

I have always lived in some remote corner of the country with lots of quirky local terms. It's fine if it doesn't sabotage understanding. But many cases were like this imaginary one... say a V8 gasoline engine is called a "diesel" while a V6 or 4cyl is called gasoline engine. Maybe a guy who has a V8 takes a while to stop firing after the key switches off, but anyway the local population will angrily defend calling all V8s a diesel. It doesn't matter how that sabotages what pump someone may fill up with, just yokels that want to feel they are in a comfortable clique.

These things always instantly offended me, even as the youngest child. Everyone growing up must sense the difference of the wider world vs local world. The wider language pool is normally evolving the language to strip out ambiguity and follow rules in the same way, vs memorizing a bunch of jarring local cases. Fine to use colloquial mode in special contexts, but this coke question was to a wider audience.

"Pop" is babytalk. "Soft drink" is long and fussy, as is "soda pop". "Soda" is ambiguous but the least bad. If you don't feel that, you may be in a local rut blinded to the universal. Here is the limit I can stretch "coke" which is a Pepsi product but having everything missing from modern Coke except coca alkaloids: 1893

 

[Fizzycist]

I'm not in a rut, I picked up "oofta" after getting married! However, I will never refer to joyriding in small circles while spinning my tires as "turning cookies" like the folks here in Southeast Idaho. That's just weird. It's donuts, dang it! After all, there's a hole in the middle!