It is not just sport and politics that divide our nation, but whether or not you are eating a potato scallop or potato cake.

In fact, arguments like these at the fish 'n' chip shop are likely to be between Queenslanders and Victorians, and if there are any New South Welshman around, they would have chimed in with "it's just called a scallop".

The 2015 Linguistics Roadshow team has surveyed more than 20,000 Australians to find out just how strong regional divides are when it comes to certain words.

Katie Jepson, Jill Vaughan and Rosey Billington, with additional help from Lauren Gawne, mapped out some Aussie favourites, like a sausage in bread and swimwear, and proved there is a state-by-state distinction.

The team also provided a break down of what terms were most popular.

Potato cake took first place at 44.3 per cent for a battered, deep-fried potato snack, closely followed by potato scallop on 36.3 per cent.

Bathers is the preferred term for Australians to describe swimwear. ( Supplied: The Linguistics Roadshow )

Almost half of us are calling swimwear bathers, followed by swimmers on 25. 2 per cent and togs on 16.7 per cent. Swimmers dominates in New South Wales, while northerners prefer togs and southerners and those in Western Australia primarily use bathers.

If you live on the east coast you most likely drink water from a bubbler at school or the park, and in Victoria and Queensland you are eating a sausage in bread as opposed to a sausage sandwich in New South Wales.

Victorians head to the milk bar for bread and milk but further north Australians are visiting the corner shop or corner store.

Kissing, however, is pretty straightforward across the country. Most of us agree we are pashing or making out.

'There isn't a wrong or a right way'

University of Queensland linguistics expert Dr Rob Pensalfini said the divide could be created by several influences, including brands and ethnicity in the area.

"The one I always remember is this weird horrible sliced meat, apparently called luncheon [in Queensland]. It's called devon in Victoria, it's called fritz in South Australia and polony in Western Australia," he told the ABC.

"In South Australia it's pretty obvious because they have a big German population ... but often one brand will get really popular and that will become the generic term."

About 52 per cent of Australians use the term sausage in bread. ( Supplied: The Linguistics Roadshow )

Dr Pensalfini said the Linguistics Roadshow study was "fascinating" because on close inspection terms would vary even within a town.

"You'll cross the river and go into another neighbourhood and people call something really different," he said.

"For years we've been told Australian English doesn't vary much from place to place or state to state [and] it's true the sound doesn't vary a lot, but studies like this show languages belong to their communities.

"[But] it's not like there is a wrong or a right way."

He said mass media and youth also played a large role in language.

"Younger folks, teenagers in particular, and often teenage women, are the ones leading linguistic change," Dr Pensalfini said.

"That's the demographic taking in a lot of pop culture."

Bogan, he said for example, took over from the term bevan in recent decades.

"I remember when I came to Queensland [from Western Australia] in 1999 ... the term bogan was not really in use. I asked around and people assured me the term was bevan.

"Now of course everyone knows it ... it got populated by TV shows and it's overtaken the local term."

The Linguistic Roadshow survey results were largely driven by Gen Y, with most participants aged between 25 and 34.

For a more detailed look at the language mapping, visit the roadshow website.