Using the proper names of items and places

One of the things that I have noticed here is how they reference different things and places.  But this is not that much different than the US, just expanded more.  For example how many times have I heard someone ask for a “Crescent Wrench” when they were looking for an adjustable wrench?  “Crescent” was the popular brand name of that item and we have adapted our vocabulary to call it that.  Another example would be the “Vise Grips”, again a brand name that we carry over to all other brands.

So what are some of them down here and does it matter?  Well it might if you are married or visiting a local and they ask you to buy some cornflakes.  Do not buy corn flakes!  They will say something like I wanted the ones with sugar or I wanted the chocolate corn flakes. All cereals here are called corn flakes.  Another is all chewing / bubble gums are called chiclets.

The one that really threw me for a loop was the places.  I have learnt that if I meet a Dominican outside of the country and I ask them where are they from, they often reply with Santo Domingo.  I then ask them what part of Santo Domingo and they will say Santiago.  Now at first I was confused because I knew that Santiago was 2 hours away so how could it be part of Santo Domingo?  Well the answer comes in that they refer to the whole country not as Dominican Republic but as Santo Domingo.  If they are from the city by that name they will answer I am from the capital.  I have also noticed that the more experience they have with foreigners the more they will change their answers to I am from the Dominican Republic and then the city name.

So if this country is Santo Domingo, what is the US?  Well it seems that the US is comprised of 3 parts.  First you have New York, then Miami and finally California.  They are familiar with New Jersey and this might be because of the large population of Dominicans that live there.  For those that have not had the opportunity to travel, the large size of the US is hard for them to comprehend.  When you say that it takes 5 hours by plane to go from New York to California they are amazed.  So when we are explaining the different locations Tampa Bay is part of Miami.  Believe it or not but Ohio is a part of New York.  So it does get interesting when trying to explain what part of New York you are from.