Lining up

[llcooljabe]

Coming from Canada where pop is the word to describe carbonated beverages and now in NY where Soda is king, I know face a new conundrum...Here people wait on line (e.g. at a grocery store, checkout, etc), everywhere else (I think) one waits in line.

Which one is it? I refuse to say "on line" so far, but I've already succumbed to the pressure to say soda.

[Gandalf]

I have never heard of waiting on line.

[Malik Shabazz]

You're right, llcooljabe.

As a former New Yorker, I can attest to the fact that everywhere in the US people wait in line but in New York they wait on line.

By the way, pop is common in parts of the US (the mid-west, for example). When we visit Mrs. Shabazz's family outside Chicago, they look at me funny when I ask for soda (which means baking soda to them).

One more thing. Growing up in New York, our groceries were put into a paper bag. In other parts of the US, especially the mid-west, groceries are put into a paper sack.

[The Waiting Hurts]

Yeah, NYers do say wait on line. I wonder were it came from.

[L. Mo]

it's the dialect, babe, deal with it.

[Emily]

Somewhere in a similar thread on this forum someone posted a link to a site that had a color coded map of the U.S. which showed where people said pop and where they said soda. There were maps of other phrases as well. I can't find it. A little help anyone?

The original post reminds me of this Jay Mohr bit where an English guy keeps telling him to "queue up". It's a little off topic, but it was funny.

[turpin]

I say 'carbonated beverage'.
I understand 'soda pop'.
If you merely say 'soda', or merely say 'pop', I might try to deliberately misunderstand you, or otherwise mock your regional dialect.

If you say 'on-line', I will probably say something like, "Oh, I'm sorry that the internet here isn't as fast as in New York".

Unless I'm in New York, in which case if you say "in-line", I will probably say something like, "Actually, your dialect is out-of-line with New York."

[Jables]

Originally Posted by Emily

Somewhere in a similar thread on this forum someone posted a link to a site that had a color coded map of the U.S. which showed where people said pop and where they said soda. There were maps of other phrases as well. I can't find it. A little help anyone?

http://actuary.ca/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=21051&highlight

[persephone_ashes]

haha, in some areas in the south most people call all pop "Coke"

but as far as i know we still wait in line

a professor of mine once said that in philly people don't ask for a ride somewhere they ask you to "ride them" somewhere. ex. "Could you ride me to the store?"

I think another north/south thing that i had problems with was what to call a water fountain. I would say "water fountain" and a northern friend of mine would say "bubbler"

weird...

[llcooljabe]

I'm from the north, and I say "water fountain".

Another one I can't get used to is the word "Toque" (pronounced Toooooque). It is a winter hat. I went to buy one for my wife yesterday, and asked the sales lady for a fleece lined toque, she looked at me like I was on drugs.

Must be a Canadian thing, eh?