Coca Cola - Is it coke or cola?

[Jack]

Today's Beau Peep Forum Trivia Quiz asked which drink advertisement used the song "I'd like to teach the world to sing". The correct answer is coca cola. However, the choices given were "Cola" and "Coke" (plus two other blatantly wrong answers - Pepsi and Dr Pepper).

Apparently "Coke" is correct, while "Cola" is wrong.

This thread is for your great minds to discuss and clarify the subtle differences between the meanings of "coke" and "cola".

[Malc]

Simple.

"Coke" is a brand name, an abbreviation of "Coca Cola", just as "Hoover" is a brand name of a certain make of vacuum cleaner.

"Cola" itself is a generic term referring to a type of drink made in a certain way. Pepsi Cola is a cola made by Pepsi.

Americans in TV drama (to avoid advertising) tend to use the word "soda" because the word "cola" has come to be so strongly associated with Pepsi and Coke to the exclusion of other brands.

[Mince]

Signed Malc "I can kill a topic dead in one post" McGookin.

[The Peepmaster]

Says Mince, the bloke with an IQ lower than a cod's inside-leg measurement.

[Malc]

I theng yow.