avocado/banana translation
I have encountered some variance with avocado and banana. Is avocado "la palta" or "el aguacate." Is banana "la banana" or "el platano." Also I have seen pineapple translated to "la piña" and "ananá" Thanks in advance for any help.
7 Answers
Mostly regional variance. Many words do that, but especially food words.
Mexican freinds that I know, only seem to say aguate y banana, but cubans I know say platano. I've yet to see any pattern on pineapple, but think I've seen piña more overall.
Curious what regions others attach these to, too.
Synonyms. I believe that I've seen 'banana' es 'la china' or something (as said in Puerto Rico, if I'm not mistaken) ...just variances.
aguacate, banana, platano.
ananá is heard in places like Argentina, because if you say "piña" in Argentina it means "punch" as in golpear, madrear, or pegar. In Paraguay they also use ananá.
piña is used in places like México.
In Central America, you are more likely to hear aguacate for avocado, but in the southern cone you will probably hear palta, as they say in Chile.
Banano = Banana (In Mexico they call it plátano). There are several kinds of bananas.
Plátano = Plantain (A similar fruit, from the same family of fruits, but a different plant, a different fruit, with different texture and flavor. There are several kinds of Plantains)
Aguacate = Avocado. "Palta" is its Quechuan name.
Piña = Pineapple. (Anana is the name of the plant that produces this fruit and also the family of these plants.)
It depends on the region. Puerto Ricans use "guineo" for what most Americans would call a (yellow) banana. They use "china" for orange instead of "naranja." In Puerto Rico, "un plátano" is a plantain which is bigger and green and you usually cook it before you eat it. In Mexico, a (yellow) banana you eat raw is "un plátano." It's a little frustrating for non-native speakers because once you think you've learned the right word for some of these foods, if you travel a bit you find out there are many words for the same or similar things. In Spain they don't eat too many tacos, and "un taco" means "a swearword" (in addition to the Mexican food). Most good dictionaries will spell out which words are used in which regions, but a lot comes from experience and travel, so just travel as much as you can!
Another interesting food word oddity here in Costa Rica is the difference between "mangos" and "mangas." If you want a mango that you might find in a market in the US ... here it's called a manga. A mango here is much smaller and sometimes all yellow.
