Quote:
Originally Posted by pj3000
And "bodega" is a relatively recent term in widespread use for any "convenience store" in New York. You had Puerto Rican bodegas since the 1950s probably, but NO ONE was calling Italian or Jewish delis and newsstands bodegas until probably the early 2000s. Having lived in NYC and having family there, and in the surroundings, bodega seemed to be reserved solely for Hispanic-owned markets. You'd certainly hear it used for places in upper Manhattan and the Bronx and some on the LES, but it was not the blanket term that is popular now.
A lot of it seems to do with non-NYC natives thinking it's some exotic term to use once they move there and patronize their neighborhood market, and act all "I just love my bodega, I can get anything there whenever I want" (spoken in a very affected tone)... like it's something that only exists in Manahttan and they're more worldy for having such novel luxuries.  |
I gotta say that I lived in NYC from 2001 to 2010 and this was my pretty much my exact understanding. I got the impression that long-timers didn't like the term bodega and it was more out-of-towners spreading that term around. By the time I left, it seemed that bodega predominated. Of course, that could have just been my limited friend/peer group or the few NY-centric media takes on this I heard. I wasn't taking surveys of fellow NYers at the time.