How come in spanish they change english words like hamburger 'hamburguesa' but in english we keep words from spanish like quesodilla and taco?

Question

Hello, my name is Joe and I live in AZ. I noticed with all the mexicans (and obviously their food) that all the names are the same in spanish and english but american food is changed in spanish...does anyone know why?

Answer 1

I say tomate you say tomato , let's call the whole thing off.

Answer 2

From the examples given, it seems the foods that are common to both countries - tuna, tomatoes - get changed for each language, and the foods that are more closely associated with only one country - tacos, quesadillas - are kept the same more often when another country incorporates them into their culture.

Answer 3

Hi Joe,

What makes you think it was Mexicans that did this? Spanish is a language that is common to far more countries than just Mexico.

The term hamburger originated in Germany, where the "Hamburg Steak" was served. In America, the first recorded use of the term hamburger was in 1884, well after the beginning of the hamburg steak.

English, by the way, changed the Spanish word atún to tuna, and the Spanish word tomate to tomato.

Why did we do that?

Buena respuesta! Si tuve mas reputacion, yo votaria! - spanishspeakerbos, DIC 10, 2009

Actually the term originated in America, but it was for the reason that you submitted. - hithere3387, DIC 11, 2009

Answer 4

I would think because it is easier to pronounce. I am no expert but its a lot easier for english speakers to pronounce taco then for a spanish speaker to pronounce hamburger. Just the way the letters are set up are not usual in spanish. It's like being an english speaker and trying to read russian or german. We are not used to two certain consonants like w & c coming after each other in a word so it makes it harder to pronounce.

Answer 5

many new words, specially technology words are used in English only

CD, DVD, LED, radar, etc...

and other where adapter, speacilly for countries that have more North-American influence : parkear for parking

partitear for go party

espelear for spelling

escanear for scanning

atachear for attching

and so on. (I honestly hate to hear Spanish distorted this way)

same happened in English with some words.

potatoes for patatas

tomatoes for tomates

cocoa for cacao

pimento for pimiento

etc...

Answer 6

Actually the word Hamburgesa is not common in all Spanish speaking countries,

yeah sure that's how Mexican call it but there are more countries that speak Spanish too.

e.g. In Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic they actually used the word Hamburger, and do pronounce it in English whereas in Venezuela, Colombia and Cuba they say amboorga (well at least that's how they pronoun it)

the word hamburgersa is one common in Spain, Mexico and Other countries in Central America that are close to Mexico like Honduras

BTW we do the same thing in English like when we pronounce the spanish word "NADA" with an English intonation like naDa instead of saying naTHA since the D in Spanish sounds like a voiced TH

Answer 7

Well, we still call "pizza" the same that in America....

But American pizza is nothing like Italian pizza. We really pile alot of stuff on ours! - yogamamaof2, DIC 11, 2009

The crust is different, the sauce is different... Italian pizza and american pizza really shouldn't be sharing the word "pizza". :) - Lasairfiona, DIC 11, 2009

I mean the name we use in Mexico is the same. Or are American hamburgers the same than in Germany? - Mokay, DIC 11, 2009

Answer 8

We do it to them too! Ever heard of desperado? It's our lazy way of using the Spanish Desesperado.

Answer 9

In Spain we have tried to find the Spanish spelling for some words, without much sucess:

güisqui...can't think of others at the moment.