Forget politics, here’s the latest big scoop…

Originally Posted on May 14, 2005 Last Updated on December 12, 2006

It’s high fructose corn syrup, it’s carbonated and it’s usually chalk full of caffeine, but is it pop or soda?

Up Next: Dear Nathan, OMG! WTF? goes Big Time!

Discussion

olivia 14 May 2005

It looks like a very pretty quilt. Wow I didn’t even know anyone called it pop anymore… that’s so retro.

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ClickNathan 14 May 2005

Yes well I don’t call it pop. It says soda right on the can. Pop is for yinzers and hicks. Actually, a girl I knew from Michigan said that out there they just call them beverages. I like that.

“What sort of beverages do you have?”

At first I thought it was very nerd-glassesy but it grew on me.

But I’m thinking of calling our new production company Pop Can Pictures…

I was trying to think of something that instantly conjured up a thought upon hearing it. I’d be interested to know what people think, first thing, when they do hear it.

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olivia 14 May 2005

The first thing I thought of was a jack-in-the-box, oddly enough. I like that name!

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quiddity 14 May 2005

I thought of a film exploding in a can. After further thought, however, I realised the name reminded me of pop-cap games.

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st0nes 14 May 2005

well i kind disagree with this (in the workplace). every one that i talked to in Erie, Pittsburgh, and even the people that i talked to in New York, say “pop”. unless i miss understood the map, but, i’m pretty sure i didn’t.

i’m going to test this out tonight at work.

oh and i never say “pop” it sounds rather ignorant. I do like to say ‚Äújagger bush‚Äù and ‚Äúgum band‚Äù. Just to confuse people.

Fucking openoffice always capitalizing letters for me.

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Cait 15 May 2005

Ha, we say “coke”. Every brand is “coke”. Why not say “What drinks do you have?” Beverages sounds, well, geeky-nerdy. And what in farquahar is a “yinzer”? Is it like a “schnorer” or a “pisher”?

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ClickNathan 15 May 2005

Thanks for the input on the Pop Can Pictures thing… I was hoping to invoke an instant thought of Americana, but as my only two replies came from foreigners, my study really didn’t work out I guess…

Knowing now, what I want, something that as soon as you hear it you think about something very particularly American (but not George Bush/World Police America, the real one, the everyday life and culture)

But Bob – everyone back home says pop, and lots of people in Erie do, as well, though Erie is more well spoken than most of Pennsylvania.

Oh and Cait, people around here are very fierce advocates of drinking either Pepsi or Coke, they swear they can tell the difference and if they were to order a Coke in Texax and were brought a Pepsi, all hell would ensue.

And a yinzer….well, people in Pittsburgh and much of Western PA/Eastern Ohio say “Hey, why don’t younz guys meet us at the pub?” Younz being “you” plural.

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st0nes 15 May 2005

yeah well thats what i was trying to get to. it turns out that i did misunderstand the map.

pffftt…. go figure.

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Cait 16 May 2005

Pardon me for being dense, but I’m still not sure what a yinzer is – singular of “younz”? Or does it denote a hick?

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Cait 16 May 2005

We almost never say soda or pop here. To ask for a drink generically, I’d say “soft drink” or just “drink”. “Coke” is used generically too sometimes, but not so much anymore.

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ClickNathan 16 May 2005

Sorry Cait – a “yinzer” is someone who says “yinz” (also sometimes pronounced “younz”). Younz = ya’ll or all of you. Basically a yinzer is a hick, usually from the western PA region, most likely he’ll have a mullet and like Blue Collar Television. They typically fight people for fun, are more adamant about the Picksburgh Stillers (Pittsburgh Steelers) than they are about Presidential elections, and often carry a comb in their sock. A famous yinzer from Pittsburgh who’s name escaped me once uttered the line:

“Hey, I’m passin’ out cake n’ ass whoopin’s an’ I’m all outta cake!”

Hopefully that helps describe a yinzer more effectively.

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st0nes 16 May 2005

i would really like to know who said this. i think your making it up!

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