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prmjcm

Jun 11, 2009, 6:12 PM

Post #1 of 5 (3310 views)

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walnuts and pecans

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Can anyone tell me the correct words for these two nuts, my wife, a mexican lady says there is no word for pecan in mexican????

thanks Pat Moore

ken_in_dfw

Jun 11, 2009, 7:38 PM

Post #2 of 5 (3303 views)

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Re: [prmjcm] walnuts and pecans

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pecan = pacana
walnut = nuez de nogal

That's what my 12-lb. Collins Unabridged says, anyway. But all I've ever heard from Mexicans (for "pecan") is "nuez," which just means "nut." So maybe it's a regional difference thing.

Ken

Papirex

Jun 11, 2009, 7:38 PM

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Re: [prmjcm] walnuts and pecans

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In Spanish: Walnut; nogal, pecan; pacana. Nogal is more commonly used, pacana is seldom used. Pecans are most commonly simply referred to as nuezes (nuts), in our family, anyway.

I just ran these two words past my Mexican wife. After she questioned me to determine if I had developed some serious mental belt slippage, these are the answers she gave me.

Rex

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

esperanza

Jun 12, 2009, 12:07 PM

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Re: [prmjcm] walnuts and pecans

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In Reply To

Can anyone tell me the correct words for these two nuts, my wife, a mexican lady says there is no word for pecan in mexican????

thanks Pat Moore

Common usage:
--Walnut: nuez de castilla
--Pecan: nuez

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La Isla

Jun 12, 2009, 5:12 PM

Post #5 of 5 (3269 views)

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Re: [prmjcm] walnuts and pecans

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I first studied Spanish in high school and college a long time ago, and it was mainly the variety used in Spain. So I remembering learning that walnut was "nogal" ("pecan" never came up). Just now I checked the online bilingual and monolingual dictionaries I usually use and learned that here in Mexico and in Spain "nogal" refers to the tree and the wood; the nut is "nuez" in Spain and "nuez de Castilla" in Mexico. "Pecan" seems to be "pacana" (a new word for me) or more likely "nuez". Hanging around this thread, I always learn a new word or two - great fun for a language maven like me!