FW: etymology of chicano

[Wilson Gray]

On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 10:59 AM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:

> Regarding the etymology of "Chicano," from "Mexicano"--and that
> troublesome "x" (or "j") that shows up in the spelling of Spanish words
> (cf. "Quixote"/"Quijote"):  I recall from my childhood in Texas(/"Tejas")
> in the 1950s that a common Gringo pronunciation of "Mexican"--often deemed
> offensive--was _[mEs at k@n]_.
>

I've seen it in print spelled _meskin_ in literature by writers who have it
falling trippingly from the tongues of not-our-kind white people or black
people in general and not just from the tongues of Texans. It's struck me
as being akin to "reekun" for a Puerto-Rican. If you're not a Puerto-Rican,
it probably wouldn't strike you as anything that a Puerto-Rican would be
annoyed by. WTF? It's just a clip. They don't get mad if you say "Porto-,"
instead of trying to say "Puerto-", do they?

--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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