So it was cold, rainy and foggy outside for most of the day so it was the perfect time to use the heated pool.

For lunch, I went to the mall as I needed more cash from the ATM nearby and saw that KFC was having their grand opening.

The line was very long to order.

The KFC adds to the McDonalds, Subway, Burger King and other American brands in the food court.

I wash hungry for a hot soup which seems impossible to find in Montevideo and this terrible dish below was as close as I got, couldn’t even finish a portion of it.

It was $600 pesos down the drain.

A much better lunch was at the hotel. The dish below was supposed to be lasagna but it ended up tasting pretty good. Two plates were $30 USD.

Uruguay Spanish

As for Uruguay Spanish, it’s time for another lesson. Walking around the mall there are all sorts of touts offering samples and one such example was a young lady selling scented diffuser liquids. She gave me a couple of samples and asked her if she sold them in solid form for luggage (“maletas”) because the liquids would not pass through airport security. She did not understand what I was saying. I then said “veliz” and she did not understand that either.

It turns out the word in Uruguay Spanish for luggage is “valija.” Curious I looked up the origin of the word and got this, “The word “valija” has its origins in the Italian word “valigia,” which refers to a suitcase or a leather bag.“

I had thought perhaps the word had Portuguese roots with Brazil next door but it’s actually an Italian derivation. The Italian makes perfect sense since there is a large Italian immigrant population within Uruguay and Argentina.

Breakfast

It’s been a battle ordering eggs every morning. The first few days I ordered an omelet and that was simple enough but they kept burning them so I switched to fried eggs.

Of course every time I ordered huevos fritos (“fried eggs”), I was bombarded with many questions with strange words. So to clear things up I had a conversation with ChatGPT on the topic.

In Spanish, the basic term for fried egg is “huevo frito”, but there are several types or variations depending on how the egg is cooked and served. Here are the common ones and how they’re called in Spanish:

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Common Types of Fried Eggs in Spanish:

English Name	Spanish Name	Description
Sunny-side up	Huevo frito con la yema blanda / Huevo estrellado (Spain)	Cooked only on one side, yolk runny.
Over-easy	Huevo frito vuelta y vuelta / Huevo frito poco hecho	Lightly flipped, yolk still mostly runny.
Over-medium	Huevo frito a medio cocer / Huevo frito término medio	Flipped, yolk partially cooked.
Over-hard	Huevo frito bien cocido / Huevo frito con yema dura	Flipped, yolk fully cooked.
Fried egg with crispy edges	Huevo frito con puntilla (Spain)	Fried in very hot oil, crispy golden edges, often with a runny yolk.
Broken egg	Huevo roto / Huevos estrellados	Fried egg placed over fries or potatoes, yolk broken and mixed in.

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Regional Notes:

• In Spain, “huevos estrellados” usually means fried eggs served over fries and “broken” with jamón or chorizo – very popular in Madrid.
• In Mexico, “huevo estrellado” means a sunny-side-up egg (not necessarily broken).
• In Argentina and Uruguay, a fried egg is generally just “huevo frito”, but you might specify how cooked you want the yolk (e.g., “con la yema líquida” for runny yolk).

Chatgpt explains a lot but it didn’t have the terms the people here used such as “empapar el pan” or cooked running to soak in bread.

Another challenge at lunch today was when we were randomly served empanadas with our lunch. They did not appear on the menu as part of the meal we ordered. We asked what kind of meat was in them and they responded with words we had not heard before but it was pork. We always knew pork to be cerdo but the word used here was different and not even ChatGPT knows it because none of the words below match. We think it was “chancho” but not sure how that word is pronounced. Bacon we know as toncino but here it’s panceta (an Italian origin word).

In Uruguayan Spanish, the standard word for pork is:

“cerdo” – general term for pork or pig.

However, in everyday, informal speech, Uruguayans more commonly use:

“chancho” – colloquial term for pig or pork.

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Here’s how it’s typically used in Uruguay:

• “Carne de cerdo” = pork meat (standard/formal)
• “Carne de chancho” = pork meat (casual/everyday)
• “Chuleta de cerdo/chancho” = pork chop
• “Bondiola de cerdo” = pork shoulder/butt (very popular in grilling)
• “Panceta” = bacon (pork belly)

Another interesting word we learned is “barbacoa” which is advertised on many apartments. Initially we thought they served breakfast because barbacoa in Mexico is a delicate and delicious meat derived from the cheek of a cow’s head and slow cooked for hours to make it very tender. In Uruguay, a “barbacoa” refers to an outdoor grill.

Uruguay has it’s own national sandwich called a “Chivito” which in Spanish means “little goat” however there is no goat in the sandwich, it’s generally a layered sandwich with egg, beef, ham, cheese, tomato, lettuce and lots of mayo and/or mustard.

Most of the challenge has been with food and menus but I wanted to find key differences so I asked ChatGPT and here is what it produced.

Food & Kitchen Items

English	Mexican Spanish	Uruguayan Spanish
Avocado	Aguacate	Palta
Corn (kernels)	Elote / Maíz	Choclo
Beans	Frijoles	Porotos
Popcorn	Palomitas	Pochoclo
Straw (for drinks)	Popote	Sorbete / Bombilla
Peas	Chícharos	Arvejas
Juice	Jugo	Jugo (same), but Zumo also understood
Sandwich	Sándwich	Sándwich, also Tostado (grilled)
Cake	Pastel	Torta
Turkey (meat)	Guajolote	Pavo
Peanut	Cacahuate	Maní

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Clothing & Everyday Items

English	Mexican Spanish	Uruguayan Spanish
T-shirt	Playera / Camiseta	Remera
Sweatshirt	Sudadera	Buzo
Glasses	Lentes / Gafas	Lentes / Anteojos
Sneakers	Tenis	Zapatillas
Straw hat	Sombrero	Sombrero (but rarely used casually)
Jeans	Pantalones de mezclilla	Jean / Vaquero

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Household & Objects

English	Mexican Spanish	Uruguayan Spanish
Car	Coche / Carro	Auto
Cell phone	Celular	Celular (same)
Bus	Camión	Ómnibus / Colectivo
Faucet	Llave	Canilla
Sink (kitchen)	Fregadero	Pileta
Refrigerator	Refrigerador / Frigo	Heladera
Baby stroller	Carriola	Cochecito

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Expressions & Miscellaneous

English	Mexican Spanish	Uruguayan Spanish
Kid	Niño / Chamaco	Gurí / Pibe
Dude / Bro	Güey / Cuate	Bo / Loco
Cool (adj.)	Chido / Padre	Copado / Bárbaro
Work (job)	Chamba	Laburo
Police	Policía / La chota (slang)	Canas / La yuta (slang)
Party	Fiesta / Pachanga	Joda

I hope this helps as prep if and when you come down to Uruguay on holiday. Someone needs to fix the standardization and I suggest the countries with the largest populations control the language so Mexico and United States, start sorting it out!

Categories: Uruguay
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