On Thu, 17 Dec 2020 08:53:32 +1300, Your Name <Your...@YourISP.com>
wrote:
>On 2020-12-16 19:51:09 +0000, Barry Margolin said:
>> In article <rrbd5o$1eb4$
1...@gioia.aioe.org>,
>> ZZyXX <zz...@CampSoda-Restoration-Project.tv> wrote:
>>> On 12/14/20 11:36 PM, RichA wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Spanish derivation referring to what we'd call a variety or convenience
>>>> store. So, given most New York stores are run by Indians or Koreans, why
>>>> call them by a Spanish name? Seriously.
>>>>
>>> exactly what difference could it possibly make
>>
>> I'd expect the term to be dependent more on the population of the area
>> than who operates them. And since there's a sizable Latin-American
>> population in NYC, it's not surprising that a Spanish word would spread
>> like this.
Yeah, I like the explanation here for the origin of the term and how
it has come to be used to commonly describe any convenience store in
the NYC area:
https://streeteasy.com/blog/what-is-a-bodega/
The name bodega originates from the Spanish word, which can mean
“storeroom,” “wine cellar,” or “grocery store,” because these shops
first started popping up in the 1940s and ‘50s in Hispanic
communities. The majority of them were opened by Puerto Ricans, and
sometimes by other Caribbean and Latin American immigrants, who came
to New York in large numbers after World War II and wanted more of a
local convenience store that they could run to daily. New Yorkers as a
whole took to the idea, and these small shops multiplied. Nowadays,
owners are not exclusively Latin American, but the name has stuck.
>> Here in New England convenience stores are frequently called "spas".
>> I've never understood this one.
>
>"Sucker-Priced Asian Supermarkets" ;-)
Found a couple of suggestions for an answer:
They really are not called 'spa's, but rather 'SpA's, the Italian
equivalent of the American 'Inc.' Most of these stores were owned by
Italian immigrants.
"Giovanni & Maria's Market, SpA" might be "John & Mary’s Market, Inc."
in the US.
Sometimes there were misinterpretations, giving us such gems as "Town
Spa Pizza"
in Stoughton, MA. [Still in business.] As pizza isn't usually
considered spa-type food,
it likely began as "Town Pizza, SpA."
SpA is a "Società per azioni"; approximately a "business with shares"
in Italian
Then there was this suggestion:
To be a "spa" you had to have a soda fountain. Even in the Worcester
area where I grew up they were frequently called the spa. "A
Massachusetts-specific term (found most often in the Boston area) for
a small convenience store is "spa," referring to the once "healthy"
bubbly soda-fountain drinks first served around the turn of the 20th
century."