Spanish dialects

ok, the accent marks didn't come out right for some reason. here's the original message without accent marks:

Hi, I'm doing a university project about different dialects of the Spanish language. If any native Spanish speakers on this board would like to help me out by answering a few quick questions, I would really appreciate it.

Hola, estoy haciendo un proyecto para la universidad sobre varios dialectos del espanol (castellano). Si hay algunos hispanohablantes nativos aqui que me quieran ayudar por contestar algunas breves preguntas, se lo agradeceria mucho.

1)Where are you from? / De donde es usted?
2)In which contexts would you use the pronoun "tu" or "vos" instead of "usted?" / En cuales contextos se usaria el pronombre "tu" o "vos" en vez de "usted?"
3)How would you say the following words written in English? / Como se dirian las siguientes palabras escritas en ingles?
jacket
t-shirt
pants
shoes
sandals
drinking straw
socks
wrist watch
swimming pool
belt

Thank you! / Gracias!

1)Where are you from? / De donde es usted? Buenos Aires/Argentina
2)In which contexts would you use the pronoun "tu" or "vos" instead of "usted?" / En cuales contextos se usaria el pronombre "tu" o "vos" en vez de "usted?"

We do not use TU, we use VOS for informal or closeness with the other person situations, and Usted on formal ocassions or when you need to keep a distance from the other.

3)How would you say the following words written in English? / Como se dirian las siguientes palabras escritas en ingles?
jacketChaqueta, Campera
t-shirt: remera
pants:Pantalones (unless you mean underwear? in thatcase ropa interior)
shoes Zapatos/Calzado
sandals Sandalias
drinking straw Pajita/Sorbete
socks Medias
wrist watch Reloj Pulsera
swimming pool Pileta or Piscina if you have a posh attitude
belt Cinturon/Cinto

1) Buenos Aires, Argentina

2) Never "tú" in Argentina. "Vos" when there's a close relation, a relative, a friend, a colleague of similar age. "Usted" when I want to show some respect, as to an older person, a boss, or to someone with whom I have no relation at all.

3) Jacket: (sport jacket) "campera", (formal jacket) "saco".
t-shirt: "remera"
pants: "pantalones"
shoes: "zapatos", (sport shoes) "zapatillas"
sandals: "ojotas", "sandalias"
drinking straw: "pajita", (some also use "sorbete")
socks: "medias"
wrist watch: "reloj pulsera"
swimming pool: "pileta"
belt: "cinturón"

ojala_que, I'm not a native hispanohablante, to the contrary, but I am a student of and a writer in the dialects of northwestern Mexico. I'm a naturalized citizen of Mexico and none of my family (either immediate - wife and four kids, or extended) speaks anything except Spanish (NOT castellano! Español de Mexico lo origino en Andalucia.).
I can answer your questions only as they directly pertain to the common (educated) usage in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico.

"tu" vs "Usted" (both the words and the verb conjugations pertaining to them, as the pronouns are rarely used in ordinary conversation in Mexico). tu - almost solely en familia or with very close friends or coworkers. Some of the more "liberal", educated prepa, party and university crowd perhaps use it a bit more loosely today than even ten years ago. Otherwise Usted is the absolute norm here. Not considered particularly "formal", only respectful. Por ejemplo, pregunta a mesero, "Joven, puede (siempre, puedes, nunca) darme el menu?" Blunt, direct, but respectful.

jacket - chaqueta (la mas comun) saco (jovenes nunca)

t-shirt - playera

pants - pantalones (ropa exterior) calzones (ropa interior)

shoes - zapatos (el mas comun) calzados (en general) cerca mi casa existe el "hospital de calzados" que arregla todos tipos.

sandals - sandalias (para mujeres-formal) huaraches (todos otros, para mujeres o hombres)

drinking straw - pajilla (el mas comun) jaba (muy rara, hoy)

socks - calcetines

wrist watch - reloj

swimming pool - alberca

belt - cinturon

here is an oddity for your study: pliers (the tool) - alicates o tenazas en todo el mundo pero en Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, son pinces (which is the FRENCH word) muy, muy extraño!

--
1. Barcelona, Spain.
2. I would use "Usted" in formal contexts and with old people.
3. Jacket - Chaqueta.
T-Shirt - Camiseta
Pants - Pantalones OR Ropa interior (in case it's underwear)
Shoes - Zapatos
Sandals - Sandalias
Drinking straw - Pajita/Caña
Wrist watch - Reloj (de pulsera)
Swimming pool - Piscina
Belt - Cinturón

mazgringo, I'm not a native Spanish speaker, either, but have spent time in Baja Norte and have worked with a primarily Mexican Spanish-speaking community as an interpreter and bilingual educator for the last five years (in Oregon). I have a few questions regarding your response:

jacket-- my students and their families usually use "chamarra." Tambien se usa mucho en Sinaloa? (sorry, not going to bother with accents, etc., for now!)

straw-- I've heard "pajilla;" what about "popote"?

re: the word for pliers-- I've wondered about that! Thanks for the note.

mazgringo,

my argentine host mother from the pampas also used pinces.... so does my best friend from honduras. i never knew it was considered so rare.

riverfrog, Well, I've heard popete for a drinking straw also, but I'll ask my wife where it's common. She's from northern Sinaloa, but lived several years in Tijuana, then several years in DF, so she knows a LOT of the purely Mexican dialect words used all around Mexico.

I've heard chamarra also. I think only from the older, less traveled members of my wife's family. The kids (and two of mine are teenagers!) sure use nothing but chaqueta here in Mazatlan. I'll ask my wife about that one too.

No one seems to know how that French word slipped in to Spanish, pinces for pliers. I had always assumed it was something purely local, since not one single English - Spanish dictionary, hard copy or online, shows it (and I have a bunch, including one that's damn near as thick as a Webster's Unabridged!!! The Dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language doesn't have pinces in it, either.

mordantmaxim, Now you've got me, I had no idea that my weird local word pinces was used in such far-flung places. You would think that if it's not purely local, as I assumed, it would have made it into the DRAE with an annotation about the places it's used. They do that with a LOT of the purely Mexican words.

mazgringo, thanks for the response. Now that I think about it, I feel like I've seen "pinzas" rather than "pinces" for pliers (also "alicates," as you mentioned). Do I have the spelling wrong?