Names of Foods Often Vary

From the mailbox:

The word fresa is understood in Argentina, but the word frutilla is the preferred one for strawberry. I wonder if there are other variants in other countries. Also, I have seen both aceituna and oliva — the latter may reflect a large population descended from Italian immigrants.

Regional variations aren't uncommon at all when it comes to names for fruits and vegetables. Sometimes as populations of Spanish speakers became separated from each other their word usages changed, and in some other cases Spanish arrivals in the Americas adopted indigenous words that varied from area to area.

Here are just a few of the names of natural foods that vary with region. If you're able to travel broadly, chances are you'll come across many more:

banana: el plátano, la banana, el banano, el cambur, el topochocantaloupe: el cantalupo, el melónpeach: el durazno, el melocotónpeanut: el maní, el cacahuete, el cacahuatepotato: la papa, la patatapumpkin: la calabaza, el zapallostrawberry: la fresa, la frutilla, el fresónyam: el ñame, el boniato, la batata, el yam

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