Well, Bill, to answer your question,
We refer to it as pop, not soda. And the only time I order tonic is if it's mixed with gin!!
My school had quite a few british teachers, so I have a few british phrases in my lexicon. For instance, I refer to it as maths, and thanks to my chemistry professor (from Nottingham), I also pronounce some chemical names differently, for instance, aluminum is "alew-minium", methane is "meethane" and ethane is "eethane". You'd think that it would be an easy thing to change, but it isn't!!
The fact that I was exposed to british accents for most of my schooling makes it easier for me to follow Coronation Street...I've watched that since I was "knee-high to a grasshopper" (thought I'd throw some American English in for good measure!) I had some American friends up a few weeks ago, and they couldn't understand a word of it. Then again, most Canadians can't understand what they're saying either!
Of course, with the last name of Platt, I'm sure you would have no problem Bill...any relation to Gail and her gaggle of obnoxious children?? She married a murderer, don't you know!
(A coronation street reference, for those of you who don't follow the longest running soap opera in television history...now in its 41st season!!)
Anyhow, I digress...back to American and Canadian English
The difference between the two dialects becomes apparent to me when I go south of the border. For instance, when I order tea, they usually bring me iced tea, so now I'm in the habit of ordering hot tea. When I need a napkin (which we call a serviette), Flo usually stares at me like I'm from Mars. Finally, when I give up on the tea and order a pop, she asks me if I want "a Sprite Coke, an Orange Coke or a Coke Coke". The power of branding! Hehehe
Imagine if HP had the same brand power as Xerox, Kleenex, or Coke...
So do you want a Casio HP, a Citizen HP or an HP HP?
B.