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god_snot_great t1_iqush1r wrote

I have never heard of a washateria before this article. huh.

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bannana t1_iqv7hbm wrote

I think it's mostly a made up cutesy word and the writer of the article maybe didn't have an understanding of it but was told it was the destination. Like Danceteria (famous nightclub)

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feeshbonz t1_iqvh1hp wrote

No, that's what a lot of thosebestablishments are called. It's in the name on some. Baytown has a "Washabeeria" that sells beer while you wash clothes!

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bannana t1_iqx8tqj wrote

> that's what a lot of thosebestablishments are called.

I'll bet this is regional since it's not common in my area (GA) and I'm old and haven't really seen this more than maybe a couple of times in many decades. Did a google search for businesses and zero are called this in a 40+mile radius near me.

edit: and in doing even more 30s research I find this term is likely very specific to Texas

https://www.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/kl2yaw/do_you_use_the_word_washateria_or_laundromat_to/

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pizzasoup t1_iqvklvc wrote

I'd never seen the word either. I was curious enough to look it up - apparently it dates back to 1937 and is mostly in use in the Southern US.

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bannana t1_iqx8axw wrote

> mostly in use in the Southern US.

and here I've been in GA for over 35yrs and haven't really seen it, I might have but it just didn't register and it def isn't common even slightly. Now 'lavandaria' is certainly a common word around my parts.

Seems like someone did a fangle of cafeteria and someone thought it was cute and kept on using it.

this is likely a regional thing, did a google search for businesses and zero are called this in a 40+mile radius near me.

edit: and in doing even more 30s research I find this term is likely very specific to Texas

https://www.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/kl2yaw/do_you_use_the_word_washateria_or_laundromat_to/

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pizzasoup t1_iqxi8cl wrote

Now that's certainly interesting. I wonder how the Spanish word became the more common term for it over "laundromat."

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bannana t1_iqxj9gy wrote

lavandaria isn't more common than laundromat over all but it's definitely the second most common term with washateria not really even in the running in my area, it's just not used. we have a fairly large latin/hispanic population in GA so lavandaria is to be expected.

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