Talk:Sonic Drive-In

Requested move 23 July 2019

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: no consensus to move to any title, and I do not foresee consensus becoming any clearer with another relist per the route of the discussion. (non-admin closure) Steel1943 (talk) 21:39, 14 August 2019 (UTC)

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Sonic Drive-In → Sonic (restaurant)Sonic (restaurant) – The official name for the restaurant is "Sonic Corp.", not "Sonic Drive-In". In addition, per WP:COMMONNAME, usually people just simply refer to the restaurant as "Sonic". JE98 (talk) 12:37, 23 July 2019 (UTC) --Relisting. Steel1943 (talk) 14:12, 4 August 2019 (UTC)

• Support per nom._{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 14:13, 23 July 2019 (UTC)
• Oppose per WP:NATURALDISAMBIGUATION. We should not be adding a parenthetical disambiguation where we don't have to, but I would support a move to Sonic Corp.. Rreagan007 (talk) 01:05, 24 July 2019 (UTC)

• Note the part in WP:NATURAL where it says "the subject is also commonly called". Nobody says "I'm going to Sonic Corp. to grab a burger!"_{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 20:13, 24 July 2019 (UTC)

• "Sonic Corp." is the official name, which is preferable when the more common name requires disambiguation. Rreagan007 (talk) 02:41, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

@Rreagan007: I understand what you mean, but the thing is most people go around referring to the place as just simply "Sonic", not "Sonic Corp." Regardless, the drive in part has to go. JE98 (talk) 01:21, 29 July 2019 (UTC)

• Alternartive – Since the article is about the corp, not the drive-in, why not call it Sonic Corporation or Sonic Corp.? Oh, that's what Rreagan007 said; I support that natural disambiguation. Dicklyon (talk) 18:50, 1 August 2019 (UTC)
  • @Zxcvbnm, Rreagan007, and Dicklyon: Should these be the only votes, I am willing to accept "Sonic Corp(oration)" only because it's not "Sonic Drive-In". However, I still prefer my option last week, and would seriously like this relisted so we can come to a proper consensus. JE98 (talk) 21:05, 1 August 2019 (UTC)
    • OK by me. But you point out that people refer to the restaurant, or "the place", as "Sonic", which is so, but the article is not about the place; it's about the Corp., or so it appears from the lead. Dicklyon (talk) 21:23, 1 August 2019 (UTC)
      • @Dicklyon: Well my thinking is that this article should be referred to as "Sonic (restaurant)" where we discuss the corporate aspects and the restaurant aspects. I mean, it's not like we call other fast food places "McDonald's Corp.", "Burger King Corp.", or "Wendy's Corp.", so why does this have to be the same. General side note as well, if anyone in general is confused by my previous response about being willing to accept "Corp." at the end, my ultimate goal is to call it "Sonic (restaurant)". JE98 (talk) 21:32, 1 August 2019 (UTC)
        • If you link them I'll see what you mean. Dicklyon (talk) 21:48, 1 August 2019 (UTC)
          • Alright, I fold. I am okay with it being called Sonic Corp., per precedent of pages like Apple Inc. being used instead of Apple (company)._{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 23:48, 1 August 2019 (UTC)
            • Fine. My point though is that if you're trying to convince us, you should make a more serious effort at it. Dicklyon (talk) 01:41, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
• Oppose both the proposed and the alternative. I think Sonic Drive-In is well enough known (they call it a drive-in on the signs for goodness sake) and Sonic Corp. certainly isn't more well known than Sonic Drive-In. The stable title is a natural disambiguation that is commonly known. There is absolutely zero reason to move it to a natural disambiguation that is rarely used in common speech if ever outside of financial statements. That it is the official name doesn't matter one iota, we go with what it is commonly referred to as, and considering that customers are bombared with the drive-in line on all the company's merchandising, going with the legal name makes zero sense here since they'll be much more likely to recognize the current title. @Dicklyon, Zxcvbnm, and Rreagan007:. TonyBallioni (talk) 03:56, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

  I don't mind leaving it. But I wouldn't cap the "I" in "-In". Dicklyon (talk) 05:02, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

• Oppose all per TonyBallioni. And why would we not cap the "I" in "-In"? Assuming this is a proper name, and we're capping the D, surely all parts of a compound proper noun are themselves capped? Aren't they?  — Amakuru (talk) 16:34, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
  • Yeah, it's capitalized on their Twitter, so I think they view it as a proper name. TonyBallioni (talk) 16:40, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
  • Capping is pretty common on this one, but certainly not standard in such things, per Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Titles#Hyphenation. Dicklyon (talk) 16:22, 3 August 2019 (UTC)
    • @Dicklyon: Since "Drive-In" is more of a description than part of the proper name, and since the capital "I" is not supported by the Wikipedia MOS, it seems to be a descriptive title. So if "natural disambiguation" is preferred, shouldn't it be "Sonic drive-inSonic drive-in"? (or Sonic burgers?) —BarrelProof (talk) 20:13, 4 August 2019 (UTC)
      • Yes, logically, "Sonic drive-in" would be best if it's not their name or trademark; I checked trademarks, and it's not that. Not sure why it is capped so often, but still not enough that I'd call it "consistently". Dicklyon (talk) 23:52, 4 August 2019 (UTC)
• Neutral on proposed move, but oppose "Sonic Corp" or "Sonic Corporation" on grounds of naturalness and recognizability. Colin M (talk) 20:29, 4 August 2019 (UTC)
• Oppose all - The identifier Sonic Drive-In is in prominent official use by the company, as evidenced by the official website, www.sonicdrivein.com, as well as its social media handles. This is more-than-sufficient grounds for natural disambiguation. Using "Corp" or "Corporation" would be an unusual variance from WP:NCCORP that in my opinion is not warranted here. Ibadibam (talk) 20:50, 6 August 2019 (UTC)

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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Happy hour and morning drink stop for $1.

Happy hour & morning drink stop still going on? 24.155.163.24 (talk) 18:06, 31 August 2023 (UTC)

Semi-truck Drive-Thrus

I discovered that there is a Sonic in Seiling, Oklahoma at Gore's Travel Plaza with a drive-thru lane for semi-trucks and RVs, and another one of the same variety in Fordyce, Arkansas. Dunno whether or not this should go on the article though. There are news articles and Google search results that can be used for citations. And IDK if other companies might start using this new type of drive-thru at all. Kaden Bayne Vanciel (talk) 01:12, 20 April 2025 (UTC)