As in many other languages, in Genoese as well the name of someone who practices a given profession (especially in the fields of trade and craftsmanship) can often be used, by synecdoche, to refer to the place where that profession is carried out. In Genoese this phenomenon is even more widespread and generalised than in Italian. Thus, for example, the Genoese terms ciappaieu, pesciaieu and pesciâ “fishmonger” can correspond to fish shop, when referring to the place where they sell their goods: son anæto da-o pesciâ pe accattâ trei etti de cämæ “I went to the fish shop to buy three hundred grams of squid”. The same happens with terms such as droghê “grocer”, giornalâ “newsagent” or maxellâ “butcher”: ò da passâ da-o droghê pe piggiâ un pö de succao “I have to stop by the grocer’s to get some sugar”; sto chì o l’é o segondo giornalâ ch’o særa into gio de un meise “this is the second newsagent’s that has closed within a month”; quello maxellâ o no me fa ciù crensa “that butcher’s shop no longer gives me credit”.

For a small number of words that show in urban Genoese the shift from [y]/[ɥ] in unstressed position towards [i]/[j], such as butiro [byˈtiːru] ~ [biˈtiːru] or butegâ [byteˈɡaː] ~ [biteˈɡaː], the spelling most established in usage is maintained.