How to Say “Drinking Straw” in Spanish in Every Latin American Nation

 

It’s such a simple little device; just a piece of plastic that allows you to suck a tasty bit of fruit juice or soda pop from the glass to your mouth. In English — as far as I know — there’s just one term for it that’s universally understood: Drinking straw, or perhaps just “straw.” Ask for a straw at any English-speaking McDonald’s, and they’ll know what you’re taking about.

 

Such is not the case in the Spanish-speaking world. I collect regionalisms like other people collect postcards, and I have yet to find an everyday item that has so many different translations in Spanish (other than, perhaps, a few bedroom-oriented terms which aren’t appropriate for this travel blog).

 

“This is one of my running jokes, because I used to wait tables at a Dominican restaurant and we would get a lot of different nationalities,” says Sonia Virginia, a senior account executive at Cheryl Andrews Marketing Communications in Miami. “I would sometimes have to run through all eight before they knew what I was talking about.”

 

So prepare yourself before you walk into that Kentucky Fried Chicken in Mexico or that Burger King in Puerto Rico, and you’ll be sipping pretty before you know it (click on the name of each country for additional travel tips and reviews):

 

Argentina: sorbete or pajita (watch how you use this word in other countries!)

 

Bolivia: bombilla

 


Chile: bombilla or pajita

 

Colombia: pitillo

 

Costa Rica: pajilla

 

Cuba: absorbente

 

Dominican Republic: calimete

 

Ecuador: sorbete

El Salvador: pajilla

 

Guatemala: pajilla

 

Honduras: pajilla

 

Mexico: popote

 

Nicaragua: pajilla

 

Panama: carrizo

 

Peru: sorbete o cañita (you wouldn’t ordinarily use a cañita to sip a pisco sour cocktail, but just in case, here’s an insider’s view of pisco, Peru’s favorite spirit)

 

Puerto Rico: sorbeto (and if you’re looking for something to drink with that sorbeto, check out this recipe for a Puerto Rican piña colada, and also this list of 5 Tasty Drinks in Puerto Rico)

 

Spain: caña, pajita

 

Uruguay: pajita

 

Venezuela: pitillo

 

Please let me know any terms that I’ve left out!

 

For additional country-specific Spanish-language terms, check out my posts, Cool Ways to Say “Cool” in Spanish and Texting and Instant Messaging in Spanish.