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These are called translingual words. 2 interesting ones are coffee and chocolate. basically no matter where you are in the world, people will understand those (
by bloppe 9mo ago
These are called translingual words. 2 interesting ones are coffee and chocolate. basically no matter where you are in the world, people will understand those (with slight regional differences like "cafe", similar to hello)
- pezezin 9mo agoChocolate is native to the Americas and started to spread around the world in the 17th century, so it makes sense that most languages use the same word, as it is a quite recent addition.
- t-3 9mo agoChili peppers, tomatos, and potatos (among others) are all from the Americas, but have their own names in every area they've spread to, or have taken the name of something else. Why is chocolate different?
- bloppe 9mo agoTrue, but you could say the same thing about e.g. pineapple, which has a bunch of different words for it.