Pay
I am use to seeing pie called pay in Spanish; as in pay de calabaza. Anyone else? And pastel as cake not pie.
7 Answers
I can't add much to what has already been said, but this word is obviously from the English, and is used because what is called a pie in America (which is a bit different from pies in England, Oz, NZ, etc.) isn't commonly eaten in Mexico, or is considered a foreign import. Mexicans who see an American-style pie want to use a word that distinguishes it from the pasteles, tortas, etc., that they are familiar with. Since the word pie means something else entirely in Spanish, it is natural to change the spelling to pay.
Yes, in Mexico, "pay" (sometimes spelt "pie") is generally the normal, boring old word for "pie", e.g. an "apple pie" is a "pay de manzana". G. G. de Silva, "Diccionario breve de Mexicanismos" also attests to the spelling "pai", although I can't say I've noticed that.
There are also surely certain types of "pay" where, whatever translation you managed to find, you probably wouldn't translate as "pie" in English (e.g. in England I don't think "pie" would convey the idea of a "pay de elote"; does the US have "corn cake/pie"').
Valerie said:
I see and hear "pay" all the time in Yucatán. I think I actually learned the word from a menu at a fast food place.
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We also (in Peru) say pie (pronounced as pay). But I think it's a mistake of pronunciation.
I see and hear "pay" all the time in Yucatán. I think I actually learned the word from a menu at a fast food place. 
Hi redi, certainly not in Spain. We do not use pie at all and i bet nobody would understand that. We say tarta, empanada....
Thanks, Quentin.
