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tashby

Jan 13, 2011, 9:51 AM

Post #1 of 4 (4645 views)

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¿Embase?

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Store clerks in the Lake Chapala area use a word and for the life of me I can't figure out what it is. It has to do with when you exchange an empty bottle of, say, Santorini water for a new full one. Something to do with the deposit on the big plastic bottle. Same word is used when referring to the deposit on a case of returnable beer bottles, etc.

To my ear it sounds like "embase" or "embace", but I can't find anything in a dictionary that even comes close to that. Anybody?

La Isla

Jan 13, 2011, 10:05 AM

Post #2 of 4 (4636 views)

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Re: [tashby] ¿Embase?

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The word they are using is envase, which, among other things, means a container. When you buy a bottle of water, you pay a deposit on the envase, and it is returned to you when you return the empty bottle to the store. Here's a link to a dictionary entry for envase:

http://dictionary.reverso.net/spanish-english/envase

(This post was edited by Rolly on Jan 13, 2011, 10:34 AM)

morgaine7

Jan 13, 2011, 10:05 AM

Post #3 of 4 (4636 views)

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Re: [tashby] ¿Embase?

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Could it be envase? As in envase no retornable (non returnable bottle) or envase retornable (returnable bottle)?

Kate

tashby

Jan 13, 2011, 3:01 PM

Post #4 of 4 (4617 views)

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Re: [La Isla] ¿Embase?

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THANK YOU La Isla and Kate! Of course that's what it is. I'm embarrassed to admit that in trying to find it in a dictionary, it didn't occur to me to substitute the "b" for a "v".

Words that are NOT part of Spanish include:

Embace
Embase
Enbase
Enbace

Duh. Me.