Regional Variations

When most people learn Spanish, or any other language, they oftentimes do not realize that many words they learn may not mean what they think it means in every country.  Just like English, there are hundreds - or even thousands - of words that vary regionally.  This happens even within the United States (think soda vs. pop vs. coke).

Today, we will be looking at ten words that have different meanings, depending on which region or country you are in (or on who you are talking to and where they are from).  We'll look at the general meaning taught in textbooks - and then variations that you should keep in mind.  You don't have to memorize these meanings to become fluent in the language, but it is important to at least know that certain words may not always mean in other regions what they mean in the region you normally speak in.

Here is a limited list of words that have various meanings and translations:

English	Textbook translation	Alternative translation	Alternative meaning
Apricot	albaricoque	chabacano: Mexico	in Spain, un chabacano is an insulting word
Baby	bebé	guaga: Chile	in Puerto Rico, una guaga is a bus
Cake	pastel, torta	queque: Puerto Rico	in Mexico, una torta is a sandwhich
Department Store	almacén	tienda de departamento: Costa Rica	in Uruguay, un almacén is a grocery store
Grocery Store	tienda de abarrotes	compras: Costa Rica bodega: Cuba  víveres: Dominican Republic pulpería: El Salvador abarrotería: Panamá colmado: Puerto Rico supermercado: Spain almacén: Uruguay abastos: Venezuela	Bodega, a grocery store in Cuba, is normally a wine cellar.
Glasses	anteojos, lentes	gafas: Colombia espejuelos: Cuba	in Mexico, lentes is used and anteojos is archaic.
Car	carro, auto	coche: Spain	coche is a car, but used more formally in Mexico
Jacket	chaqueta	chamarra: Mexico saco: Panamá suéter: Guatelmala	in Spain, un saco is a bag
Sidewalk	acera	banqueta: Mexico	in Spain, una banqueta is a bench
Orange	naranja	china: Puerto Rico	una china is usually a Chinese girl