Spanish words by country, on a map
Pick a thing and every country gets its word. Tap a word to see everywhere it's said, or a country for all of its words.
Tap a country for all its words, or a word to see where it's said.
Why the words split
Things that arrived after Spanish did got named locally: from the languages spoken there before (popote is from Nahuatl, the Aztecs' language), from older Spanish words put to new uses (camión, a truck, became Mexico's bus), and from English (popcorn in Panama and Puerto Rico). Slang like chido and bacán is local by nature. The grammar barely changes from one country to the next.
Which one should you learn?
- The word of the place you're going, or of what you watch and read. Headed to Mexico? Popote, camión, playera, chido.
- Recognise the rest. Spanish speakers hear each other's words on TV and online all the time. The word understood everywhere, under the map, works in a pinch.
- Pick them up in context. A word you met in a story set in Bogotá comes with the place attached. That's how you learn which word is whose.
Where these come from
Every word and place is from Wiktionary's regional labels, and a country only gets a word its entry lists for it. Some countries have several words; the map shows one, and tapping the country shows them all. Think your country is missing one? Wiktionary is where these come from, and anyone can add it there. There's more on straw, bus, beans and popcorn in Spanish words that change by country.
Questions
How do you say straw in Spanish?
It depends where: popote in Mexico, pitillo in Colombia and Venezuela, pajilla in most of Central America, sorbeto in Puerto Rico and Panama, and pajita in Spain, Argentina and Chile. Pajita is understood everywhere.
How do you say T-shirt in Spanish?
Camiseta in Spain and much of Latin America, playera in Mexico, remera in Argentina and Uruguay, polera in Chile, franela in Venezuela, and polo in Peru.
How do you say cool in Spanish?
Chido or padre in Mexico, chévere in Venezuela, Colombia and the Caribbean, bacán in Chile and Peru, guay in Spain, tuanis in Central America. Genial works anywhere.
How do you say kite in Spanish?
Cometa is the standard word, used in Spain. In Mexico and much of Central America it's a papalote, in Chile a volantín, and in much of South America a barrilete.
Sources
- Thesaurus: pajita (drinking straw). Wiktionary.
- Thesaurus: autobús. Wiktionary.
- Thesaurus: palomita (popcorn). Wiktionary.
- Thesaurus: camiseta (T-shirt). Wiktionary.
- kite: translations. Wiktionary.
- cool: translations. Wiktionary.
- Admin 0 – Countries, 1:50m. Natural Earth.
Keep going
- One thing, many words: Spanish by countryHow do you say straw, bus, beans or popcorn in Spanish? It depends on the country. The everyday words that change across the Spanish-speaking world, where each one is said, and which to learn.
- Fine here, rude there: Spanish words that change by countryCoger, concha, bicho, papaya: everyday Spanish words that are completely normal in one country and vulgar in the next. Where each one is safe, and what to say instead.
- The Spanish hiding in EnglishFact and hecho, feminine and hembra, flame and llama: the same Latin roots, changed by a dozen regular sound changes. Watch them happen one at a time, then decode Spanish words yourself.