Re: I refer to a non-specified carbonated beverage as a:

[Anonymous Monk]

Only idiots refer to a non-specified carbonated beverage as *insert brand name here like Coke*.

I prefer to say Cola, cause i'm nuts

Cola
     n 1: large genus of African trees bearing kola nuts [syn: {genus
          Cola}]
     2: carbonated drink flavored with extract from Kola nuts
        (`dope' is a southernism in the United States) [syn: {dope}]

[Anonymous Monk]

I grew up in Massachusetts, and carbonated drinks were generically referred to as "tonic", though if you said "soda", people usually (though not always) knew what you meant. Somehow we managed not to confuse this with "tonic water", the quinine-derived stuff commonly mixed with gin (talk about marrying two vile flavors together... blech!).