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A fairly straight Spanish word ends up with multiple /English/
meanings.<br>
<br>
From the Miami Herald:<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/U11VN">http://goo.gl/U11VN</a><br>
<blockquote type="cite">Saddlebunch Keys resident Rush Maltz, 36,
former owner of Odyssea Sport Fishing, was sentenced last week to
18 months in federal prison for illegally diving on underwater
casitas, or artificial habitat, to harvest lobster and falsifying
records to conceal the activity.<br>
...<br>
Casitas are habitats placed on the ocean floor to attract and
concentrate spiny lobster for easy harvesting by divers.<br>
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Read more here:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/02/2727363_two-get-federal-prison-for-keys.html#storylink=addthis#storylink=cpy">http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/02/2727363_two-get-federal-prison-for-keys.html#storylink=addthis#storylink=cpy</a><br>
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</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
Cruising OneLook reveals several entries, none of which includes
this particular type of lobster "traps" (they are not actually
traps, but serve the same function).<br>
<br>
MWOLD: a small house (first known, 1868--undoubtedly quite late)<br>
RHUD: <br>
<blockquote type="cite">1. a small crude dwelling forming part of a
shantytown inhabited by Mexican laborers in the southwestern U.S.
<br>
2. a luxurious bungalow serving as private guest accommodations at
a resort hotel, esp. in the southwestern U.S. or Mexico.</blockquote>
Wiktionary: A small, attached but self-contained house or
apartment (Syn.: mother-in-law apartment)<br>
WNWCD4: in Mexico and the Southwest, a small house<br>
Wordnik: A small, attached but self-contained house or apartment<br>
UD:<br>
<blockquote type="cite">
Casita(s) is a small wood frame house common in the Caribbean and
other parts of the Third World. During the XX c. casitas were
transformed by the introduction of balloon-frame wood
construction. Casitas are found in rural areas of all of the
Pan-Caribbean region. In New York City casitas began to appear in
Puerto Rican barrios across the city, particularly in
neighborhoods like the Lower East Side Loisaida and East Harlem el
barrio. They also were found in areas of the Bronx and Brooklyn.
Casitas became key neighborhood havens, social clubs for block
associations, families, and others in search of spaces and places
that were culturally sensitive. Most casitas have been destroyed
due to real-estate re-development in the Lower East Side and East
Harlem.</blockquote>
<br>
OED and AHD have nothing on the subject.<br>
<br>
VS-)<br>
<br>
<br>
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