Antedating of "Hispanic"

[Joel S. Berson]

At 3/27/2011 07:37 PM, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
>Victor's points are well-taken.  Merriam-Webster takes out the
>linguistic element from their definition ("of, relating to, or being
>a person of Latin American descent living in the United States;
>especially : one of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin").  I'm
>not sure why "especially one of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican
>origin" is necessary.

Because they are more visible -- there are more of them -- in the
U.S. than other "Hispanics"?  (Not that I think that's a good reason.)

Joel

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