Re: [YAEUT] Lexical variation survey

Yes, more fuel for the YAEUT but it's burning anyway by now. :) I started to
wonder, I have fairly specific ideas about the meanings of few of the words
poll'd here. I'll save you the rest of the post, but here are the two sets
that struck me as the most complicated - is this just idiomatic
interpretation and/or L1 influence, or does this kind of usage exist for L1
English speakers too?

>6. stuff you throw away:
>garbage, rubbish, trash
Most generally, trash. Garbage applies to larger amounts (minimum of one
bag); rubbish is generally limited to items that are usually non-disposable
- so while disposable cameras count, napkins or package materials do not.

>10. a carbonated, non-alcoholic beverage, like Coke or Sprite:
>coke, cola, cold drink, fizzy drink, pop, soda, soda pop, soft drink, tonic
Soda for anything sweeten'd, with cola (dark-colored, multi-flavor mixture)
and lemonade (light-colored, fruit-flavor'd) as its two main subgroups. Cold
drink and fizzy drink would be understood to include non-sweeten'd drinks as
well. Tonic applies only to those mix'd with alcoholic beverages. I would,
in addition, recognize "orangeade" and similar terms for specific flavors.

John Vertical