This is a bubbler (a bubbler-brand bubbler, too!):
iirc from the last time this came up, they were super popular in the "bubbler"-using regions so the name stuck around to describe all drinking fountains, not just bubblers.
One common, but unsubstantiated, explanation is that the soda jerk or pharmacist kept the coffee syrup in one of the polished wooden cabinets behind the counter.
The good old days when you had service minded jerks rather than the unpleasant ones we have today đ
This reminds me of the similar map of names for soft drinks. You have your soda vs coke, but I live in one of the "pop" regions which is admittedly a larger area than these little "bubbler" enclaves.
I mostly switched over to "soda" once I went to college though. A nationwide and international assortment of group members will encourage that.
That's likely because the Internet has lied to you and 'coke' isn't used in the same manner as soda / pop. Rather it's used as an example. Like "hey, do you want a coke or something" Which means they have coke and likely other soft drinks like Sprite, Mountain dew, etc but most definitely NOT Pepsi. No one is going to look at a Dr Pepper or Sprite and call it a Coke in the South East. Source, grew up in Coke mecca / Atlanta
texan here: yeah itâs more âa coke or somethingâ, never âwhat kind of coke do you wantâ. like we forgot the generic word soda/cola collectively.
Living in northern Minnesota, drinking fountain and water fountain get used interchangeably. And I've only known one person that used bubbler regularly. But they weren't in their right mind most of the time.
And ain't nothing IDs a Minnesotan faster than hot dish vs casserole or even worse, Duck Duck Grey Duck vs Duck Duck Grey Goose. We WILL go to war over that stuff.
Where I'm from in the US it was always duck duck goose, a kid moved to our school and said grey duck once. Poor kid didn't hear the end of it until middle school
There is no debate. It's Grey Duck and Grey Duck only! ;):) And why would anyone drink vodka? A bottle of water has more flavor and will dilute your orange juice cheaper and just a well.
Bottled water is very often distilled and then has minerals added back into it to make it taste like something. And they ain't spending money on adding back any more minerals than they need to. Even highly processed water as provided from your tap has a distinct taste from one different water system to the next.
If you want a liquor with real flavor, choose a bourbon, Scotch, rum, brandy, or nearly anything else besides vodka.
I didn't claim water has no flavor. I just said vodka has a stronger flavor.
And yes, other liquors are even more flavored, but perhaps what I want in my orange juice is something that tastes like ethanol. Ethanol does have a flavor, after all.
Yeah, I grew up in Wisconsin closer to the Minnesota border, so I used both as well. When I moved to Eastern Wisconsin, I solidified on "drinking fountain" because people here call it a "bubbler" and tease you more about "water fountain."
Oh yeah, and I remember getting blank stares in college when mentioning that we had a lot of hot dish growing up. I didn't realize how regional that phrase was.
Hotdish is a term that will instantly mark you as a Minnesotan. And tater tot hotdish is our state food and religion. Everyone makes and eats it. Sadly, lutefisk and potato klub are fading away as more of us old timers die off. But lefse is still hanging on though.
That's:
A. Drug paraphernalia.
B. Chemistry lab glassware.
C. A coffee brewing device that you'll use a couple of times, and then only to impress guests.
D. There's no way to tell without trying all of the above.
I've not seen that episode, but I'm guessing they use the word bubbler in it? That's definitely what we call them in Australia. Or at least here in Brisbane where I'm from, and Bluey is set.
It's disappointing when these are cut off at the Canadian border. Canada is influenced by both the UK and the US, and has been drifting towards the US over recent decades. Plus, Canada has some really weird dialect areas like Newfoundland.
It would be interesting to see which terms drift north of the border, and which ones stop at the border. How hard is the border when it comes to dialects? Does the fact that people live most of their lives on one side of the border mean that the language doesn't tend to drift across it? Or do people hear their neighbours talk and begin to adopt some terms? My guess would be that these days it's more influenced by what's on TV or on the Internet.
I live in Australia and I use these interchangeably for some reason, but ive mainly been calling them âwater bubblersâ, not sure why though lol, nobody here calls it that.
66 Comments
Warl0k3@lemmy.world · 35 pts · 133d
This is a bubbler (a bubbler-brand bubbler, too!):
iirc from the last time this came up, they were super popular in the "bubbler"-using regions so the name stuck around to describe all drinking fountains, not just bubblers.
GiantChickDicks@lemmy.ml · 7 pts · 132d
Thank you! Bubblers were created and patented in Wisconsin, too, so I'm glad we are keeping the name alive.
Hux@lemmy.ml · 32 pts · 133d
almost1337@lemmy.zip · 27 pts · 133d
Wife still uses bubbler to this day. It was (is?) a brand name.
ThatGuy46475@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 133d
Fireflies, lightning bugs, and glitter bats
pentastarm@piefed.ca · 19 pts · 133d
Glitter bats? ...That's him officer!! Get em!!!
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 8 pts · 133d
That's fucking delightful! đ
backalleycoyote@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 131d
Somewhere an emo band has just found their new album title.
socsa@piefed.social · 1 pts · 131d
MFW Americans call litty bitty bright booty scamps "lightening bugs"
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 19 pts · 132d
Wait til you hear that one random tiny state calls milkshakes "cabinets"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_cabinet
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 14 pts · 132d
The good old days when you had service minded jerks rather than the unpleasant ones we have today đ
modus@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 131d
I used to work as a Coffee Karen at a Starbucks.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 131d
Did you keep demanding to speak to your own manager?
RebekahWSD@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 131d
My grandmother was a soda jerk for a time. Also did the switchboard for telephones too!
Zink@programming.dev · 19 pts · 133d
This reminds me of the similar map of names for soft drinks. You have your soda vs coke, but I live in one of the "pop" regions which is admittedly a larger area than these little "bubbler" enclaves.
I mostly switched over to "soda" once I went to college though. A nationwide and international assortment of group members will encourage that.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 132d
The worst are the places that call every soda "Coke."
The concept makes me irrationally angry.
lps2@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 131d
That's likely because the Internet has lied to you and 'coke' isn't used in the same manner as soda / pop. Rather it's used as an example. Like "hey, do you want a coke or something" Which means they have coke and likely other soft drinks like Sprite, Mountain dew, etc but most definitely NOT Pepsi. No one is going to look at a Dr Pepper or Sprite and call it a Coke in the South East. Source, grew up in Coke mecca / Atlanta
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 131d
So waiters don't ask "what kind of coke do you want?"
People at restaurants don't ask waiters, "what kinds of coke do you have?"
"I'll have a coke"
"What kind?"
"Dr Pepper"
Isn't a real exchange that happens?
Can we get a second opinion on this?
natebluehooves@pawb.social · 3 pts · 131d
texan here: yeah itâs more âa coke or somethingâ, never âwhat kind of coke do you wantâ. like we forgot the generic word soda/cola collectively.
Bluewing@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 132d
Living in northern Minnesota, drinking fountain and water fountain get used interchangeably. And I've only known one person that used bubbler regularly. But they weren't in their right mind most of the time.
And ain't nothing IDs a Minnesotan faster than hot dish vs casserole or even worse, Duck Duck Grey Duck vs Duck Duck Grey Goose. We WILL go to war over that stuff.
prettybunnys@piefed.social · 12 pts · 132d
You mean Duck Duck Goose.
Bluewing@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 131d
Ahhhhh no, Duck Duck Grey Duck!
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 8 pts · 132d
So it HAS to be grey, but it's debatable whether or not it's vodka? Americans are weird sometimes đ€
3rdXthecharm@lemmy.ml · 8 pts · 132d
Where I'm from in the US it was always duck duck goose, a kid moved to our school and said grey duck once. Poor kid didn't hear the end of it until middle school
AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 132d
Funny enough, there's a brand of vodka made in Minnesota called Grey Duck.
Bluewing@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 131d
There is no debate. It's Grey Duck and Grey Duck only! ;):) And why would anyone drink vodka? A bottle of water has more flavor and will dilute your orange juice cheaper and just a well.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 131d
Getting drunk is the traditional motivation
Fixed it for you.
True.
Arguably untrue, depending on your goals.
SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 130d
A bottle of water absolutely does not have more flavor. I'd pay good money for something non-alcoholic that tastes the way vodka does.
Bluewing@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 130d
Bottled water is very often distilled and then has minerals added back into it to make it taste like something. And they ain't spending money on adding back any more minerals than they need to. Even highly processed water as provided from your tap has a distinct taste from one different water system to the next.
If you want a liquor with real flavor, choose a bourbon, Scotch, rum, brandy, or nearly anything else besides vodka.
SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 130d
I didn't claim water has no flavor. I just said vodka has a stronger flavor.
And yes, other liquors are even more flavored, but perhaps what I want in my orange juice is something that tastes like ethanol. Ethanol does have a flavor, after all.
nelly_man@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 132d
Yeah, I grew up in Wisconsin closer to the Minnesota border, so I used both as well. When I moved to Eastern Wisconsin, I solidified on "drinking fountain" because people here call it a "bubbler" and tease you more about "water fountain."
Oh yeah, and I remember getting blank stares in college when mentioning that we had a lot of hot dish growing up. I didn't realize how regional that phrase was.
Bluewing@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 131d
Hotdish is a term that will instantly mark you as a Minnesotan. And tater tot hotdish is our state food and religion. Everyone makes and eats it. Sadly, lutefisk and potato klub are fading away as more of us old timers die off. But lefse is still hanging on though.
wet_bones@lemmy.4d2.org · 2 pts · 131d
Hot dish and bars motherfucker.
Pat_Riot@lemmy.today · 16 pts · 132d
WTF? A bubbler is a kind of weed pipe.
protogen420@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 132d
show it
Pat_Riot@lemmy.today · 8 pts · 132d
Nice try officer
AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 132d
BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 131d
That's:
A. Drug paraphernalia.
B. Chemistry lab glassware.
C. A coffee brewing device that you'll use a couple of times, and then only to impress guests.
D. There's no way to tell without trying all of the above.
Illegalmexicant@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 133d
"is there a water fountain here?"
"Yeah, at the entrance to the neighborhood in the retaining pond"
bricklove@midwest.social · 7 pts · 132d
I grew up near the triple point so I change phases between drinking fountain and water fountain while encountering the occasional bubbler
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 132d
Water fountain is the ornamental thing you see in a park with multiple tiers full of gross water and coins.
What do they call a water fountain if itâs not the drinking kind?
And having lived in the âbubblerâ zone, Iâve never once heard it called that. Must be disappearing.
AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 132d
A fountain. Drop the word water, as you aren't drinking from that.
Dultas@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 132d
That's because they spelled it wrong. Asked someone from the Boston area. It should end in -a not -er
sarahnya@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 131d
At least for the area of Wisconsin I grew up, it does end in -er.
Fontasia@feddit.nl · 6 pts · 132d
People in New Hampshire watching the Bluey episode "Bin Night"
Zagorath@quokk.au · 5 pts · 131d
I've not seen that episode, but I'm guessing they use the word bubbler in it? That's definitely what we call them in Australia. Or at least here in Brisbane where I'm from, and Bluey is set.
brisk@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 129d
Definitely regional in Australia. Drinking fountain gang here.
Fontasia@feddit.nl · 1 pts · 131d
Yes, there is mention of a bubbler
merc@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 131d
It's disappointing when these are cut off at the Canadian border. Canada is influenced by both the UK and the US, and has been drifting towards the US over recent decades. Plus, Canada has some really weird dialect areas like Newfoundland.
It would be interesting to see which terms drift north of the border, and which ones stop at the border. How hard is the border when it comes to dialects? Does the fact that people live most of their lives on one side of the border mean that the language doesn't tend to drift across it? Or do people hear their neighbours talk and begin to adopt some terms? My guess would be that these days it's more influenced by what's on TV or on the Internet.
isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 131d
Quebec:
merc@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 131d
Quebec has a surprising number of English speakers, and their dialect is interesting.
isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 130d
Indeed, myself included!
People can never tell where my accent is from.
zarkanian@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 132d
And then there's that town that made up its own language.
Fridgeratr@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 133d
I'm from bubbler country! Idk why but I like it. I know drinking fountain makes more sense tho
null@lemmy.org · 4 pts · 133d
Smells french.
tacosanonymous@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 133d
You mean the water discharging reservoir?
biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 132d
I live in Australia and I use these interchangeably for some reason, but ive mainly been calling them âwater bubblersâ, not sure why though lol, nobody here calls it that.
rothaine@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 131d
British: "sippy squirty drinkingdale"
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 131d
That or simply "cunt", depending on what part of the Kingdom you're from đ€·đ»
CovfefeKills@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 132d
elbow pasta?
RamenJunkie@midwest.social · 6 pts · 132d
Aka Zippy-Doodlers, aparently.
TIL the rest of the country uses weird words. Macaroni? They nammed Zippy-Doodlers and Orangey Goopey after the president of France???
isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 131d
Abreuvoir
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 131d
No thanks, I already ate
AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 131d
It's Herb Kohl's fault lol
BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 131d
Water dispenser
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 131d
Right. Let's dispense with the water and get on with the task at hand!