Is calling bote a can wrong?

Question

My family calls cans botes in spanish such as soda cans paint cans etc. ,I freaked ou cause I have never heard of lata in the San Antonio TX area, Are we wrong?

Answer 1

In my Spanish class, my teacher taught us that "una lata" is can (Latin American Spanish) and "un bote" is also can (Spain Spanish). Or maybe it's the other way around. Sorry I thought there were some pretty good answers on this site though

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1174636

Yes, we called it 'una lata de atún' in Spain - margaretbl, MAY 13, 2010

Yes, in Spain "bote" refers to beer or soda cans. - missy8888, MAR 22, 2012

Answer 2

Bote and lata are Spanish words used in the Philippines, but bote refers to small glass containers only, while lata refers to tin/metal containers only.

Answer 3

In Costa Rica we use “lata” for can, “botella” for bottle, and “bote” for a small boat.

I believe that it is just as correct as soda (gaseosa) being called pop in Boston or a car in Costa Rica and Nicaragua being called “carro“ and a cart called “coche” while elsewhere a car is a “coche”.

It all depends on the culture of area and who you are communicating with.

Answer 4

In Mexico, slangly speaking, Lata is Trouble and Bote is Jail.

Wow, oh don't I remember something 'dar la lata a alguien' ?But I don't remember what it means... - margaretbl, MAY 13, 2010

Answer 5

Here in SoCal a ''bote'' is a general purpose term for ''container''. My workers call the manure dumpster (we have a horse ranch) ''el bote de estiércol''. Similarly, they call the diesel drum ''el bote de diesel''. A ''lata'' is specifically a can, like ''una lata de Coke''.

On the other hand, my friend from Spain says a ''bote'' is a small container or can, like ''un bote de champú'', or, indeed, ''un bote de soda''.

Yeah, I know.