ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- As part of our effort to Explore New York, we partnered with Siena College to learn a little more about the likes, dislikes and even quirks of Upstate New Yorkers in a poll that revealed a very interesting story of our state. Take the poll here.
First up, a great debate: is it pop or soda? The debate has long been fizzing across New York state, bubbling along the Erie Canal and lapping at the banks of the Finger Lakes.
When it comes to the preferred terminology, our poll numbers tell us eastern New Yorkers sip soda while in Western New York, it is all about the ice cold pop. The poll also showed a very definitive line of demarcation (carbonation?) that runs right through Rochester.
A fact-finding mission landed us at the University of Rochester and in the office of the effervescent Wil Rankinen, a visiting assistant professor of linguistics and sparkling conversationalist. We asked, who's wrong?
"I would like to say soda users are but I'm a little biased. I'm a pop user. I come from the Midwest," Rankinen said. "I like poking the fire, so to speak and getting students a little riled up but about it but it is all in fun. There is no right or wrong answer."
Rankinen, a Michigan native, explains there is a serious name for all of this - a lexical variable, which is literally a variation of word choice and Rochester is what is considered a dialect boundary. With a thing like language, it goes beyond mere preference. There is a pride component as well: a deeply rooted connection to home and to family. The story of soda or pop can really spill over into a sense of identity which may account for why the debate is so spirited.
"Particularly on the dialect boundaries that we see here in Rochester there's a lot more competition and perhaps more pride in using pop and soda and perhaps that's what maintains this geographic boundary," Rankinen said.
It just goes to show that it really is all in good fun, whether you are proudly Camp Pop or steadfastly Team Soda. After all, it doesn't really matter what you call it, right?
Pop or soda, one turns to the other depending on which side of Rochester you find yourself, but if you find yourself downtown, the people of Rochester might suggest you consider another beverage altogether.