Are there any words in Spanish that.....

Question

Are there any words in Spanish that are used in one country but in totally unknown to another (or at least considered strange to use?) ? I ask this because I just moved to England and there have been major language barriers because of certain words. For example the word "queue". The American equivalent would be "line" (as in "There was a long line at the store). Say "queue" in the U.S. and I guaruntee you won't be understood (however the word line understood here). So, are there any like this in Spanish?

Or maybe diffrent meanings depening on country? English example:

In the UK a doctors office is called a surgery and an operating room is called a theatre. ( Theatre is also a place where performances are held) In the US surgery means to be operated on by a surgeon and a theater is where you watch movies or other performances. In the UK you watch movies at the cinema. It's horribly confusing.

Back to my main point, I'm just afraid of talking to one person in Spanish and having a nice conversation and then saying the same thing to a speaker from another country and being looked at as if I'm crazy.....

Answer 1

Aga, there are many British words or terms we Americans aren't accustomed to but queue is not one of them, in fact I use it every week when I update my Netflix "queue". It is true we may not use it very often (as per your example) but to say it is unknown is just not so.

Answer 2

Yes. Check out this link

renz, you are definitely king of the links . . .thanks for another great one! - NancyGrace, Mar 4, 2011

Nance, you just luv me.. that's all (It's mutual) - gone, Mar 4, 2011

Answer 3

Every country has its regional differences. If you went to Australia, you'd find the same thing. They use some "British English" words, but also have words that are strictly their own.

It's no different in Spanish speaking countries. There are many differences between Spanish spoken in Spain and Spanish spoken in Latin America. But within Latin America, every country (or region in a larger country) has some words that are pecuilar to their own language. When I spent a month in Costa Rica earlier this year, I spent a lot of time gathering those unique words and phrases and adding them to the Phrasebook here at SD. Spanish spoken in Venezuela will be different than that in Puerto Rico (which has tons of different words).

All that being said, when you go to England you understand 99% of the words, and it's pretty much the same thing when you're talking about Spanish. You will be understood in any Spanish speaking country, but they would know right away that you were not a native of their country based on your word choices.

Not to mention your individual accent... on a recent trip to Spain, a taxi driver claimed he could tell I wasn't from his homeland... the US/England/Scotland/Ireland/Australia difference is more evdient, I'm sure! - cristalino, Mar 4, 2011

When I am in the south of México, first its obvious I´m a gringo, then they say "you speak spanish like the people in the north". - pacofinkler, Mar 4, 2011

Answer 4

The general situation is as EchoLine described it (though I might put the figure a bit lower [

Answer 5

There are many, many regional variations to spanish lexicon. For example: Tortilla- omlette (Spain), flour or corn flatbread (Mexico, Central America) Chiche- knick-knack (Chile), somewhat derrogatory term for breast (Mexico, Central America) Gabacha- Apron (Guatemala), somewhat derrogatory term for Americans (Mexico, other parts of Central America) Hope this helps

Pourquoi Angelina fr? T'es francaise, par hasard? :-) - gone, Mar 4, 2011

Answer 6

Yes, there are