Everyone is familiar with brands like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, etc.? There's a lot of drinks made by the first two companies and the third has several varieties besides the classic one. I actually just call them either by their names, by "drinks" if I'm not being specific, or "soda" if I mean a carbonated beverage. There are some carbonated drinks I wouldn't call "soda", like this kind of flavored water I bought some months ago that happened to be fizzy, but for the most part, "soda" to me is some form of carbonated beverage.