The only thing that this article has to do with good grammar is that it ain’t hurt no one. That being said, from time to time I have been known to be a bit anal retentive when it comes to proper grammar in speaking and writing (even in the electronic medium such as IM, myspace, BB and E-mail). Interestingly enough, I suck at grammar, but I just tend to focus in on the standard apostrophe mistakes (its/it’s) and the other usual suspects (your/you’re, there/their/they’re, effect/affect, etc.).
The one I always have a problem with is the use of e.g. and i.e. I ALWAYS have to end up googling it to confirm if I’m using it correctly or not. According to the attorneys with whom I work, law school will quickly solve that problem for me.
In any case, the point of this post was actually to show off this awesome link showing a geographical representation of generic names for soft drinks. I live in DC/MD and I’ve always known soft drinks to be referred to as “soda”. It wasn’t until I went to visit some family in Louisiana where someone gave me a “you’re crazy” look after they asked me if I wanted a coke and I said that I’d have a Sprite instead. You see, in the South (TX, LA, AL, AK…) they refer to all soft drinks as “coke”. In the Mid-West it’s “Pop”.