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by diego_moita 613 days ago
In Brazilian Portuguese:

* Cornstarch is called maizena

* Adhesive bandages are called bandaid

* Instant noodles are called miojo

* Yogurt sold in small pots are called danone

* Chewing gum is called chiclete (from Chiclets)

* Photocopies are xerox

* Bouillion is knorr

* Glass plates are pyrex

* Scooters are lambretta

* Soluble cofee is nescafe

* Sunglasses are rayban

And same goes for teflon, jacuzzi, velcro, tupperware, vaseline, botox, googling, ...etc, etc

4 comments

I never realized Lambretta was actually a manufacturer until I moved to Europe and saw a store selling Lambrettas.

When I was a kid in Brazil everyone called all scooters Lambrettas, even though none of them were Lambrettas. They usually were... Vespas.

Now that I know it is actually rivalling companies, I wonder how sad Lambretta and Vespa companies are, with eveyrone calling their Vespa a Lambretta.

The funniest of them all is durex.

In Brazil is the name and brand of adhesive tape. In Portugal is the name and brand of condoms.

The British comedian Mike Harding had a whole comedy routine about this.

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-funniest-differences-amon...

Rubber. Brit: pencil eraser. American: condom.

Durex. Brit: condom. Australian: sticky tape.

Same with Mexico and Spain
Funny enough, in Turkey, it's the other way around. Scooters are called Vespas, and actually none of them are Vespas.
The Chiclets name is derived from the Mexican Spanish word "chicle", derived from the Aztec Nahuatl word "chictli/tzictli", meaning "sticky stuff" and referring to a pre-Columbian chewing gum found throughout Mesoamerica. This pre-Columbian chewing gum was tapped as a sap from various trees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiclets#History

* Chewing gum is called chiclete (from Chiclets)

This is probably derived from the Sapodilla / Chicle tree, and not the little square chewing gums.

I'm French and I didn't know that Maizena is a brand of cornstarch instead of a generic product called maizena... So that is why it I always thought it was so similar to cornstarch !