Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 10:57:00 CST

From: Tom Murray TEM[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]KSUVM.BITNET

Subject: "Coke"



I'm trying to get a handle on the trade-name-to-generic phenomenon that *Coke*

has been undergoing for maybe thirty-odd years now. I know what DARE says, wha

t all the standard dictionaries and dictionaries of slang say, etc; what I _don

't_ know is where, exactly, the word *coke* is currently used to refer to all c

arbonated soda ("pop," if you prefer). Will you please, then, query your class

es and get back to me? I suspect, too, that the significant independent variab

le here will be age, so have your students ask their parents/grandparents. Tha

nks in advance. (You can reply to me privately, and ultimately I'll coordinate

all your answers and report back to the list.)



Tom Murray (TEM[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]KSUVM.BITNET)