Michael Peter

In Mexico a duck is a pato. A female duck is a pata, and a baby duck is an patito. The word pato covers the bird in general.

In Mexico boots are botas, the same word used across Spanish. Ankle boots are often called botines, and botas vaqueras are cowboy boots.

In Mexico the icing on a cake is usually betún. Glaseado and cobertura are also understood and used in recipes and bakeries.

In Mexico a girlfriend is a novia. Pareja is a neutral word for “partner”, and it is often used for both sexes.

In Mexico people say Feliz Día de la Independencia for Independence Day on September 16. On the night before, crowds shout ¡Viva México! during the Grito.

A tornado is tornado in Mexico, spelled the same as in English and stressed on the second syllable: “tor-NAH-do”.

In Mexico a shot of tequila is caballito, which is also the name of the small glass. A medical shot is una inyección, and bar slang often uses un shot.

In Mexico salsa means a sauce, usually a spicy one served with food.

In Mexico January is enero. Month names are not capitalized in Spanish, so you write enero and not “Enero” in the middle of a sentence.

In Mexico blonde hair is cabello rubio or pelo rubio.