Is it more accurate to say the liquid is pushed up the straw rather than sucked up the straw?

"Nature Abhors a vacuum," proclaimed Aristotle. And he was right, at least as far as sucking through straws is concerned. Air is a gas, a combination of carbon dioxide and oxygen, amongst other compounds. As a gas, its form is mutable and expands to fill the available space. It exists both outside and inside the straw. By sucking through the straw, one lowers the pressure within it so that the air pressure on the outside is greater than that on the inside. The outside pressure acts upon, say, the liquid in the cup, and it flows into the straw to replace the diminishing air pressure within. The act of drawing the air out of the straw causes the liquid to enter it. Thus, the liquid is sucked up the straw due to that initiating act (i.e. the liquid is pulled, not pushed, up the straw). Alas, the answer to your question is: no. It is not more accurate to say the liquid is pushed up the straw rather than sucked up, however, the accuracy of either statement itself leaves much to be desired.