Herman Jerome

In Mexico rum is ron, the same word as in all of Spanish. It is the drink behind a cuba libre, which is rum and cola with lime.

In Mexico “slowly” is despacio in everyday talk and lentamente in more careful writing.

In Mexico the brand is spelled Tajín, with an accent on the í, and said “ta-HEEN”. It is a seasoning of chile, lime and salt.

In Mexico an ashtray is a cenicero. The word comes from ceniza, which means ash, and it is the same word used across the Spanish-speaking world.

In Mexico shorts are usually called short, singular, or shorts, plural. The longer form is pantalón corto.

In Mexico a cake is a pastel. A birthday cake is a pastel de cumpleaños, and a slice is a rebanada de pastel.

Waves are olas in Mexico, and one wave is una ola. The word oleaje means the whole movement of waves, what English calls swell or surf conditions.

In Mexico “tonight” is esta noche, and in everyday speech people very often say hoy en la noche. Both are natural and neither is formal or rude.

In Mexico a water tap is a llave, or more fully llave del agua. The same word llave also means a key.

In Mexico chile is the word for a hot pepper, and it is spelled with one l. The country of Chile is written Chile too, with a capital letter.