Dialect in Novato: We Say 'Soda' and 'Tennis Shoes'

Novato residents "mow the grass" and drink "soda," but we're split on whether the contraption you get water out of at school is called a "water fountain" or "drinking fountain."

These are just a few of the factoids about language in the United States that are depicted in a new series of maps created by a masters student in North Carolina State University.

Joshua Katz's maps have gone viral this month, spurring online debate about who says what where and why that is.

On the West Coast, the night before Halloween is simply "October 30th" but Michiganites, it's "Devil's Night." Near Philadelphia, it's "Mischief Night."

The regional differences in the term for a sweetened, carbonated beverage are also pronounced. Texas and many nearby Gulf states call it "coke" while much of the Midwest and Northwest use "pop." Here in California — as well as back East — it's "soda." Among those surveyed from Novato, more than 70 percent say "soda" and 13.2 percent use "soft drink." Another 9.5 percent term it "pop" and 6.9 percent use "coke." 

Katz, graduate student in statistics, made the maps from Bert Vaux's online survey of English dialects. They show the variety of word choice, pronunciation and slang in the United States.

The northern half of the U.S. says "garbage can" while the southern half prefers "trash can," though in Novato about one-third of those surveyed reported that the two terms refer to different items. 

More than 40 percent of Novato residents don't think it's correct to refer to coleslaw as "slaw," though that's an appropriate term for the cabbage dish in the South.

Here in California — and throughout the West — a bear claw is a pastry. Elsewhere, people know the term but don't use it.

There's also divide with kitty-corner vs. catty-corner, the later of which being widely used in the South.

West Coasters have garage sales. Yard sales are more of an East Coast thing and, in a tiny area in the Dakotas and Nebraska, the events are called rummage sales.

In total, Katz mapped 122 dialect questions. See them here.

What unique vocabulary do we use in Marin and California? Share your favorite localisms in the comment section below.