>When I was living in Lafayette, CO in 1974 and attending junior high at a school which was 90% hispanic, all Mexican-Americans were calling themselves 'Chicano.' It was the politically correct word at the time. Now it is a language?????

The term “Chicano” came into being during the 1930’s and describes the labor force from Mexico that worked in the United States. The term became popular during the 1960’s by political activists. A few books were published in an apparent attempt to give a sense of history to the name and stated that the term “Chicano”, dated back to the Mayan culture.

Concerning "Chicano" as a language, the term "Chicano" is and has been (since the 1960's) in wide spread use.

Here is one reference:

http://www.tinet.org/~apym/students/chicanos.html



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>>>>>A lot of people where I work are Chinese, and listening to them is a hoot. They speak Chinese to each other, but you hear a lot of English words and phrases in the mix. One Chinese woman with whom I worked fairly closely, calls it "Chinglish".
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>>>>Is that same as "Konlish" (English with heavy dose of Korean accent)? :)
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>>>No. That is Korean with some English (or facsimiles of English) words included. We have the same in this area. It's called Spanglish.
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>>In California Castilian was taught until April 1975. It was officially changed to Chicano. My teacher was from Seville, Spain, and she quit. What is Chicano? Como esta you? A little of Mexican and American English thrown together.
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>>My wife being from Peru still criticizes the use of Chicano. They use words that make people from South America turn red with embarrassment. These same words to a person speaking Chicano are like us saying "air or water".