Pop Vs. Soda, Plus More Awesome Dialect Differences Mapped
Is it soda, pop or – here in The South – coke? PEE-can or pick-AHN? Chances are you have strong feelings about how to say these words.
The United States is filled with regional differences in dialects and now you can see them clearly in a series of maps.
Using a “smoothing algorithm to estimate the probability of seeing a particular answer,” the composite maps use color shading to show the distribution of the most likely answer at any location in the continental United States. The more clearly one answer dominates, the darker the color will be.
The 122 question asked include: Would you say “where are you at?” to mean “where are you?,” “What do you call it when rain falls and the sun is shining?,” as well as the correct pronunciation of coupon and caramel.