Lavatrastes

[elan]

hi, i'am dutch and try to study spanish. this year i bought in the usa a spanish newspaper. in there was an ad for houses, which said: Lavatrastes y refrigerador de lado-a-lado. many words in south America are different from words in Spain, so can anyone tell me what a lavatrastes is?

[Perikles]

Dishwasher, and welcome

[pjt33]

It something for washing trastes. I'm going to guess that the newspaper was from Mexico or C.Am. and that this is in the sense* "utensilio casero", so it's probably a dishwasher.

(I could also see it meaning "bidet", but that wouldn't be in the same room as the fridge. I hope not, anyway).

* http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltCons...=3&LEMA=traste

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by pjt33

It something for washing trastes. I'm going to guess that the newspaper was from Mexico or C.Am. and that this is in the sense* "utensilio casero", so it's probably a dishwasher.

This is odd, because my Gran Diccionario Oxford gives dishwasher without indicating a regional meaning, which it often does. It also gives washing-up liquid.

[Rusty]

What the British call washing-up liquid, the Americans call dishsoap. Gloves that are made for washing the dishes can be called lavatrastes. A room set aside for washing dishes (usually just off the kitchen) is called a lavatrastes. And, as Perikles said, it is a dishwasher. This word is used in Mexico and in Latin America, where el lavaplatos is also a dishwasher. Your newspaper was definitely talking about side-by-side appliances.

lavar los trastes = do the dishes (BrE: do the washing-up)

[sosia]

agreee with pjt33. The word is not used (for me, at last) in Spain:
for dishwasher: lavavajillas, lavaplatos
But I think the explanation from Rusty says all.
saludos

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I agree with Rusty.

"Trastes" is the usual word for dishes in Mexico.

"Lavatrastes" can be either "lavadora de trastes" (the machine that washes dishes) or "detergente lavatrastes" (the detergent for washing dishes). Only the context can tell.

[yorsh87]

In fact "lavatrastes" is more like "sink", where you wash your dishes by hand. A dishwasher machine is "lavavajillas". best regards