Limón: Lime or Lemon?

[miguel]

I am just starting to learn spanish with the Fluenz software. They say that the word limon can be used for either lemon or lime. I understand that, but lemon and lime are not the same to ME. If I want lime, how do I ask for it so they don't bring me a lemon instead? (and visa versa).

Thanks!

[Perikles]

Hello there. I've always understood that lemon is limón and lime is lima, with no ambiguity.

It apears that limón can be lime in Mexico and Venezuela, according to my dictionary. Perhaps they don't have lemons there.

[poli]

In Ternerife there is no confusion. Limón is yellow and oblong. Lima(lime or persian lime) is green and oblong.
In Latin America (excluding Argentina) the word lima is Peru's big town and not a fruit. The lemons you often see in Mexico are small round and yellowish-green. They are what anglos call key limes. These same limones are what is generally used thoughout the Caribbean as well. Puerto Rico produces the same juicy key limes the Mexico uses-- hence the confusion.
In New York, if you go to a Dominican restaurant and ask for lemon, you are likely to get a lime.

A key lime is neither lemon nor lime; it's like a combination of both.
To complicate matters in Latinamerica there are sweet limes and sour oranges.

[miguel]

Gracias!

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

The "limón", at least in Mexico, is a sour fruit, it can be either small with many seeds inside or big with few seeds, its skin is very green, segments are also green, and its shape is rather round.

The taste of a "lima" is rather bittersweet (more sweet than bitter), its size is that of a big lemon, the skin is usually very green (but it can be also yellowish), segments are light yellowish green, and its shape is rather oval, with a small bumb below the fruit.

Does a lime correspond to any of these descriptions?

[LibraryLady]

Here in the midwest these photos are of a lemon, lime, and keylime in that order. Limons are very sour, limes are less so. I hope this helps

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

¡Gracias, LibraryLady!

So it seems your limes and keylimes look like what a Mexican would call "limones" (taste is very sour and almost never bitter).
From the picture of the yellow lemons, it seems this is what we call "lima" (taste is sweet with a bitter nuance).

[LibraryLady]

@angelica Here lemons are very sour and limes are less sour and more sweet. If you bite into a lemon you are going to make a really funny puckered face! I corrected my previous post. "bitter" was the wrong word

[JPablo]

Hey, Miguel, here is a song with "lemons" in it!


@ Angélica & Library Lady, thank you for the pictures and clarifications.

[Tomisimo]

According to my experience:

	Mexico	US	Picture	Notes
1	limón	lime		Same size as a lemon (#3), same taste as a key lime (#2)
2	limón	key lime		Smaller than limes (#1) and lemons (#3). These are often darker green than limes and are round, instead of slightly oval.
3	??	lemon		Same size as limes, and a very similar taste (sour, but less so than limes; not bitter)
4	lima	??		Does not taste like a lemon or lime. It has a sweet/bitter taste (but not sour) and tastes more like a bitter orange to me.