Éxito means success, not exit

Ask a cinema usher where the éxito is and you've asked a philosophical question. The exit is la salida.

You said

¿Dónde está el éxito?

What it means: Where is success?

A local says

¿Dónde está la salida?

Where's the exit?

Why: Éxito means success. The exit is la salida, the word on every exit sign.

A cinema in Mexico City, after the film

Disculpe, ¿dónde está el éxito?

"Uf, si yo supiera…" says the usher, and points to the door marked SALIDA.

Éxito looks like exit, so it's the word that jumps out when you need the door. It comes from the Latin for an outcome, and Spanish kept the sense of a good one: success. Un éxito is a hit, tener éxito is to succeed, and ¡mucho éxito! is what people say before your exam or your new job.

The exit is la salida, from salir (to go out). You'll see it everywhere: SALIDA in the metro, salida de emergencia above fire doors, and on every highway turn-off. Its partner is la entrada. If the noun won't come, use the verb: ¿Por dónde se sale? (which way out?).

The trap runs both ways. Suceso looks like success but means an event, often an incident in the news. So the Spanish word for success looks like exit, and the word that looks like success means something that happened.

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Also worth knowing

Spanish	English
¿Por dónde se sale?	Which way out?
La salida de emergencia está al fondo.	The emergency exit is at the back.
¡Mucho éxito en tu examen!	Good luck with your exam!

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Questions people ask

What does éxito mean in English?

Success. Tener éxito means to be successful, and ¡mucho éxito! is what people say to wish you luck. It never means exit.

How do you say exit in Spanish?

Salida. Signs say SALIDA, an emergency exit is a salida de emergencia, and the entrance is la entrada.

How do you ask where the exit is?

¿Dónde está la salida? or, more casually, ¿Por dónde se sale? (which way out?).