Estampillas por favor...

Question

If I go into a post office in mainland Spain and ask for 'estampillas', how much of a dirty look will they give me... ?

If I ask for sellos in Mexico, will they know what I'm on about ?

Gracias por ayudarme

Answer 1

I can´t speak for the usage in Spain, but in Mexico estampilla and timbre are common. Sello might cause some confusion.

Oh, timbre I know from French, so that's useful, but sometimes learning Spanish feels like trying to learn two (or three languages)... ;-) - Faldaesque, May 15, 2015

Answer 2

Hello Falda

I believe that the Spanish natives in mainland Spain commonly use the word 'sello' to mean a stamp but some natives may also understand the word estampilla.

Some natives might look blankly at you and say that they don't undestand you, or even correct you if you were to use the word estampilla, but I would be very surprised if they were to give you a 'dirty look' as it would hardly rate as being on the same level of offensive as 'coger that they would give you a dirty look! It's not exactly on the same level as using the Spanish verb 'coger' used in Spain, in Mexico and which can be considered offensive to women in Mexico!

I hope this helps

;-) - Faldaesque, May 15, 2015

I now know three words for stamp in Spanish & only one in English. Does this mean my Spanish is now better than my English ?... ;-) - Faldaesque, May 15, 2015

I hope that never happens to me. I'd hate to think that my English is even worse than my Spanish... - tektsu, May 16, 2015

Touché... ;-) - Faldaesque, May 16, 2015