How did a ‘health drink’ from the early 1800s spawn so many names and variations? An expert in American dialects explains.

Bottles of soda are displayed in a cooler on June 29, 2018 in San Francisco, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that restricts local governments from imposing new taxes ...

Do you call it pop, soda or coke? ... An 1878 engraving of a soda fountain. Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images. The process of carbonating water was first discovered in the late 1700s.

Given its alleged curative effects for health issues such as indigestion, pharmacists sold soda water at soda fountains, innovative devices that created carbonated water to be sold by the glass.A ...

Do you call it pop, soda or coke? ... An 1878 engraving of a soda fountain. Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images. The process of carbonating water was first discovered in the late 1700s.

Do you call it pop, soda or coke? ... An 1878 engraving of a soda fountain. Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images. The process of carbonating water was first discovered in the late 1700s.

Do you call it pop, soda or coke? ... An 1878 engraving of a soda fountain. Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images. The process of carbonating water was first discovered in the late 1700s.