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timesolo

Member
Apr 5, 2019
43
Texas
Why not just say "Latin" instead of adding an extra letter.

That would mean something completely different.

Edit: I say this because I think of the example of names. Sometimes someone's name cannot be translated, because that is their name. It does not cross languages or have a direct translation. I do not believe that Latino translates into Latin and have the same meaning when referring to someone from Latin-America. Out of respect for the intended individual or culture, the native language or words have to be used to elicit the same definition.
 

Koeing

Member
Nov 8, 2018
283
I really don't think any of you are arguing in good faith. I can't imagine how making a gendered language less gendered and more inclusive to women and nonbinary folx could create such an outcry. I don't buy it.

We are doing similar stuff in german and sure it's awkward and stuff but it's just language that we will get used to with time. Really no big deal. Seems more like people want to talk shit about those americans and their unecessary social justice crap.

Let me know when people start yelling at you to "Go back to your country" because you had the audacity to speak your language. Then we can talk about how "it's just language."

Ustedes dicen que no queremos ser inclusivos pero varia gente ya han dando ejemplos de como lo podemos lograr usando nuestro propio lenguaje. Nadie que yo conozco usa "latinx" porque no suena bien en Español. No sé porque ustedes no escuchan envés de tratar de forzar a nuestra gente a usar una palabra creada por americanos para describirnos.
 

kyo2004

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,580
Bogotá D.C.
We still say "Latin music" and "Latin food" and "Latin American," none of which refer to ancient language.

The idea that the word is off limits to anything other than the language is absolutely asinine.

That's in english... (See why is hard to comprenhend?)

In Spanish, Latin is the ancient language.

For food or music, we normally refer with the country of origin, like: Rock Argentino, Samba Brasilera, la Cumbia (Colombiana, Venezolana, etc.), comida peruana, chilena, boliviana, etc.

When I tried to response to your post (or Saduj post), was assuming my understanding of the word from the Spanish language, not in English (where 1 word has so many uses/significatives).
 
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Sanka

Banned
Feb 17, 2019
5,778
My parents can't pronounce latinx, though. It's not a feature in our language to clump together consonants like that. I don't think it's ever going to be a thing in Mexico, and it's not because my parents refuse to use it in "bad faith".
Your parents can use whatever inclusive word will replace latinos. It doesn't have to be latinx. But in english spaces latinx is the word being used if you want to be specifically inclusive and aware of other identities similar to how some might say womxn or folkx to be more inclusive.
It's really not that hard to understand.
 
Mar 10, 2018
8,716
I live in santa ana, and I would say 75% is Hispanic. I've heard lots of people talk the way Manny does.
Even when talking to non-Spanish-speaking people? I am familiar with Hispanic people mixing Spanish with English when speaking with other Hispanic people, but with those who only speak Enlgish? I don't see it happen. Maybe in a joking manner.
 

FunnyBunny19

alt account
Banned
Jan 3, 2019
462
I'm a Hispanic from the US and I have never heard a Spanish-speaking person say Latinx, I don't know if saying it is a commonly used term is correct.

I was gonna say the same but didn't want to push Poodlestrike too hard after I called out the South Americans bit. I know their intentions are good but I'd really like to see a source that points to it being a commonly used term.
 

RM8

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,898
JP
Your parents can use whatever inclusive word will replace latinos. It doesn't have to be latinx. But in english spaces latinx is the word being used if you want to be specifically inclusive and aware of other identities similar to how some might say womxn or folkx to be more inclusive.
It's really not that hard to understand.
I thought we were talking about the word latinx, though. You know what's not that hard to understand either? That people not in Latin America can't realistically modify the language of people living in Latin America. Feel free to think it's just bad faith, though.
 

timesolo

Member
Apr 5, 2019
43
Texas
As Hispanic, I've never heard of latin food.

I agree, "latin food" is putting things in a broad scope that it completely ignores the specifics of what someone is referring to, like Asian (or used to be Oriental many years ago but is no longer used because it's not the proper term) cuisine... Type that into Google maps when searching for a restaurant and see the specific food you want, like Tex-Mex, Argentinian, Cuban, Vietnamese, etc...
 

DreadfulOmen

Member
Feb 6, 2018
1,124
Even when talking to non-Spanish-speaking people? I am familiar with Hispanic people mixing Spanish with English when speaking with other Hispanic people, but with those who only speak Enlgish? I don't see it happen. Maybe in a joking manner.
Yeah even with non spanish speaking people. I hear it a lot at work from the nurses and some of the patients. Of course not all my friends talk like that, but some do. Some of my co-workers are Korean, and they talk like that too sometimes. Mixing English and Korean.
 

Mecha

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,479
Honduras
The issue is not the inclusivity (inclusiviness?). Do you understand how much of latin america history is about conforming and adapting to anglocentrism and culture while also being devastated by it? It's 2020. Let us figure this out. The LGBT community from latin america can do it. We are pointing out, for instance, how the "x" is easy to pronounce in english. It's a term that was not thought out for the languages and day to day conversation happen in latin america at all. Maybe different countries/macrorregions in south and central america will eventually settle on different terms. Who knows.

Point is that USA, once again, painting every country south of it with a brushstroke then not understanding why they complain is an issue.

You ask why me as cis person gets to decide. I don't. But the USA, its latin community or not, does not get to decide how over 20 countries call themselves either.
Great post, as a Catracho my self I don't like the term "Latinx" but I understand that for the LGBTQ+ community could be very important so I think it's worth discussing and exploring.
 

Sanka

Banned
Feb 17, 2019
5,778
I thought we were talking about the word latinx, though. You know what's not that hard to understand either? That people not in Latin America can't realistically modify the language of people living in Latin America. Feel free to think it's just bad faith, though.
The purpose is to make it less gendered and inclusive. How you achieve that doesn't really matter. In the US latinx is the biggest which is why it's seeing so much use in english speaking spaces and it's here to stay.

If the x is just too much for you to be inclusive but you would be open for another non-masculine word to refer to latin people then that's fine too I guess.
 

ChoklitCow

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,189
Muncie, IN
The discussion regarding Latinx has been fascinating for me as someone who works in Higher Ed. It's honestly the first time I've seen open conversation with folks who don't feel represented by it. While we are very much a PWI, about 25% of our students identify as part of the population, and its through our work with professionals of color that we've utilized Latinx terminology in the development of support communities for the students.

Appreciate the conversation and folks talking about their experience and feelings towards it of different identities and locations around the world.
 

KanameYuuki

Member
Dec 23, 2017
2,647
Colombia
Is this new latinx term supposed to refer to people who live in South / Central / Caribbean? or is it for those who moved to live in USA / Europe/etc.? it does sounds like something a non native Spanish speaker would come up as if trying to "fix" our language, and I don't mean like on a inclusive way but a general type. At least here in Colombia I see written with an @, like latin@s, chic@s, etc.
 
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RM8

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,898
JP
The purpose is to make it less gendered and inclusive. How you achieve that doesn't really matter. In the US latinx is the biggest which is why it's seeing so much use in english speaking spaces and it's here to stay.

If the x is just too much for you to be inclusive but you would be open for another non-masculine word to refer to latin people then that's fine too I guess.
The general perception in Latin America is that we don't need to change the language. For a native English speaker it might sound off to use a gendered term, but literally every noun in our language is gendered. Have other Romance languages already changed? Is it also not okay to say français / française?
 

Deleted member 11008

User requested account closure
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
6,627
Great post, as a Catracho my self I don't like the term "Latinx" but I understand that for the LGBTQ+ community could be very important so I think it's worth discussing and exploring.

Here in México I have read both latinx and latine, (and equivalents for other words) with the latter being a more common word lately. I think eventuallly will have mainstream presence because words ended with "e" would be more natural than with "x", at least in spanish.

Personally I prefer inclusive words ended with "e", but I don't mind to see the other words.
 

NookSports

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,208
This is a bad example since it seems super forced, but it happens all the time with words that don't have a direct translation or the appropriate word is less common. Put some more "tostones" on my plate. I don't want any more "sancocho" or it could be the other way too. No quieres otro hotdog? or - Viste lo que subí en mis "stories."

Yes, that totally happens. I think the artificialness comes thru when it's random normal words, like they just wrote the script and randomly translated every third word, and it happens a lot in media.

The purpose is to make it less gendered and inclusive. How you achieve that doesn't really matter. In the US latinx is the biggest which is why it's seeing so much use in english speaking spaces and it's here to stay.

If the x is just too much for you to be inclusive but you would be open for another non-masculine word to refer to latin people then that's fine too I guess.
The awkward truth here is that Spanish is a deeply deeply deeply gendered language. It's true that Latinos is a 'gender neutral' plural, but it also just so happens to be the male plural as well. Every noun has a binary gender, even things. And there hasn't been a linguistic approach to gender neutrality that has caught on yet. Latin@s, latines, latinx could all conceivably be the best way to do it, but there's little agreement between the people looking to de-gender the language... and that's not even getting into the large conservative group that sees the efforts as PC Overreach
 

FunnyBunny19

alt account
Banned
Jan 3, 2019
462
Yep. But I guess we shouldn't talk about that either since talking about the cultural Americanization of Latin America apparently is nitpicking.



As a Latina who always felt bothered by the male version being used as the plural standard in romance languages, I'd prefer Latin for sure [Hispanic doesn't include the Latin American countries that don't speak Spanish]. You can find an option that is inclusive and at the same time isn't a US-centric forced down the throats of Latinos and Latinas who don't want to be referred by another US-centric label. BTW as many people mentioned before, the ''e'' version is also used in Brazil for non-binary people, and also the option ''pessoas não binárias''. ''Latinx'' isn't the only option and shouldn't be forced upon us. Not to mention that ''x/@'' words are a problem when it comes to text to speech software, and therefore, are ableist.
This should be a threadmark.
 

zswordsman

Member
Nov 5, 2017
1,771
I'm a Hispanic from the US and I have never heard a Spanish-speaking person say Latinx, I don't know if saying it is a commonly used term is correct.
Yeah same. I feel like it's something that has popped up recently in the last few years. Obviously it might be older but I've only ever rarely started to see it online like a couple of years ago if at that and usually not from Hispanics.

Also I've never heard anyone use that word in person here in the states and definitely not in Mexico. Definitely not a popular term.
 
Oct 29, 2017
13,478
The last thing I would want is to tell other Latin American to "Speak English", fuck that. But there is certainly room to accept the latinx term. Let's not pretend that just because they are Americans they themselves represent the subjugation of the United States on Latin America.

Sure it is not a term that should be used in Spanish, let alone forced on Latin Americans, but do not believe for a second you are "punching up" when you are criticizing the term just because it has its origin in the United States.
 

Olrac

Member
Oct 26, 2017
457
California
I work with a lot of college-aged young adults in California - for many Latinx is the preferred term as it is gender neutral.

I call myself Latino - but, I liken this to gender pronouns; people should be free to choose their term.

On-topic, yikes at Far Cry 6.
 

Deleted member 56306

User-requested account closure
Banned
Apr 26, 2019
2,383
The general perception in Latin America is that we don't need to change the language. For a native English speaker it might sound off to use a gendered term, but literally every noun in our language is gendered. Have other Romance languages already changed? Is it also not okay to say français / française?

Reading into this, one article I've found portrays a lot of French men, specifically, as VERY hostile towards attempts to even feminize parts of the language.

It looks like the inclusive forms do like "ami•e•s".
 
Oct 25, 2017
12,192
Talk to me, what's your problem?
Your clear ignorance of history of any central or south american country is dazzling.

Doesn't matter how brazilian natives achieved independence and democracy.
Doesn't matter how chileans achieved better economy during the 70s.
Doesn't matter if people are not allowed to speak for themselves as long someone bigger tells them what to do.
Let's just look at results.
 

Deleted member 3038

Oct 25, 2017
3,569
I'm a Hispanic from the US and I have never heard a Spanish-speaking person say Latinx, I don't know if saying it is a commonly used term is correct.
Yeah I've literally never heard this IRL or even from people talking casually online, I only ever see it on this articles and other things like this.
 

Pau

Self-Appointed Godmother of Bruce Wayne's Children
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,838
I'm a Hispanic from the US and I have never heard a Spanish-speaking person say Latinx, I don't know if saying it is a commonly used term is correct.
I was gonna say the same but didn't want to push Poodlestrike too hard after I called out the South Americans bit. I know their intentions are good but I'd really like to see a source that points to it being a commonly used term.
I helped draft the staff post, and our point is that it is a commonly term used by some Latino communities in the United States. That's not to say that is universally used by everyone of Latin American ancestry or origin will have have heard of used it.

I was born in Colombia and raised in the United States. For reference, pretty much every single Latino friend I have uses the word Latinx. In my experience, it has very popular use in United States based Latino academic, tech, and art spaces. It's not surprising to me that the author the article uses it considering that video games are very much in the intersection of tech and art.

I myself use different words depending on the group I'm in.
 

pizzabutt

Member
Apr 28, 2020
796
I thought we were talking about the word latinx, though. You know what's not that hard to understand either? That people not in Latin America can't realistically modify the language of people living in Latin America. Feel free to think it's just bad faith, though.
The term was started by people living in the US who speak the same language as people living in Latin America. They can't modify their own language? Just look at the first page where people are arguing against the existence of latinx at all and framing it as something invented by white people
 

Niks

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,299
I was born in Colombia and raised in the United States. For reference, pretty much every single Latino friend I have uses the word Latinx. In my experience, it has very popular use in United States based Latino academic, tech, and art spaces. It's not surprising to me that the author the article uses it considering that video games are very much in the intersection of tech and art.

Mind me asking where do you currently live?
 

Sanka

Banned
Feb 17, 2019
5,778
The general perception in Latin America is that we don't need to change the language. For a native English speaker it might sound off to use a gendered term, but literally every noun in our language is gendered. Have other Romance languages already changed? Is it also not okay to say français / française?
Any effort to make words, with which different people have to identify themself, less gendered is a pretty good start I would say. Some said latine is already rather common so just use that. And in english discussions we will keep using latinx.

Also, what's with people wondering if the word is being used? Just type latinx into twitter and you will get another tweet of it every second.
 

StayMe7o

Member
May 11, 2018
1,016
Kamurocho

RM8

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,898
JP
The term was started by people living in the US who speak the same language as people living in Latin America. They can't modify their own language? Just look at the first page where people are arguing against the existence of latinx at all and framing it as something invented by white people
Latinos in the US use quite a lot of "anglicismos" that are not used in Latin America, their language changes due to English influence. "Me voy para atrás a parquear la troca" is not going to become a thing in Latin America, and latinx isn't going to, either.
 

GYODX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,233
The discussion regarding Latinx has been fascinating for me as someone who works in Higher Ed. It's honestly the first time I've seen open conversation with folks who don't feel represented by it. While we are very much a PWI, about 25% of our students identify as part of the population, and its through our work with professionals of color that we've utilized Latinx terminology in the development of support communities for the students.

Appreciate the conversation and folks talking about their experience and feelings towards it of different identities and locations around the world.
Higher-ed already gives you some selection bias, and I would presume this is an American university? Most of the people objecting to the term are not from the US.

If you were to come to Puerto Rico and started using the term "Latinx," 99% of people would look at you funny. Unless you went to one of the big universities or something, where it has more acceptance, but even then it won't be overwhelming or anything. I graduated from one of the biggest universities in the island (and a hotspot for political activism), and even there very few people used the term, though most were aware of it.
 

FunnyBunny19

alt account
Banned
Jan 3, 2019
462
I helped draft the staff post, and our point is that it is a commonly term used by some Latino communities in the United States. That's not to say that is universally used by everyone of Latin American ancestry or origin will have have heard of used it.

I was born in Colombia and raised in the United States. For reference, pretty much every single Latino friend I have uses the word Latinx. In my experience, it has very popular use in United States based Latino academic, tech, and art spaces. It's not surprising to me that the author the article uses it considering that video games are very much in the intersection of tech and art.

I myself use different words depending on the group I'm in.

I'm sorry but this just makes the "South American" error even worse. Two people looked over the staff post, one a Latina herself, and y'all just completely forgot Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America existed, in a thread about Latin representation? I knew Latin issues here are a bit of an afterthought but sheesh...
 

GYODX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,233
Latinos in the US use quite a lot of "anglicismos" that are not used in Latin America, their language changes due to English influence. "Me voy para atrás a parquear la troca" is not going to become a thing in Latin America, and latinx isn't going to, either.
We speak like this in Puerto Rico! Though we would say something like "Me voy a palquear el tro'" ("tro" being how we would pronounce "truck")
 
Oct 25, 2017
12,192
Thanks for the in-depth explanation! Makes a lot of sense and as an American, it is hard to see what influence you have when you're the one doing it (similar to privilege, go figure).
It's honestly the same thing, just on a different... field? I guess? Dunno if there is much literature about the relationship of privilege and cultural imperialism in that sense. It's something I've only started understanding a couple years ago.
 

Poodlestrike

Smooth vs. Crunchy
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
13,489
I'm sorry but this just makes the "South American" error even worse. Two people looked over the staff post, one a Latina herself, and y'all just completely forgot Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America existed, in a thread about Latin representation? I knew Latin issues here are a bit of an afterthought but sheesh...
TBH that one's on me. I wrote the initial draft, and nobody else caught my error.
 

pizzabutt

Member
Apr 28, 2020
796
Latinos in the US use quite a lot of "anglicismos" that are not used in Latin America, their language changes due to English influence. "Me voy para atrás a parquear la troca" is not going to become a thing in Latin America, and latinx isn't going to, either.
Which is why progressive latin americans created latine to use as a gender neutral form. But this doesn't mean that latinx should not be used at all, which is what people have been arguing for.
 

Pau

Self-Appointed Godmother of Bruce Wayne's Children
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,838
I'm sorry but this just makes the "South American" error even worse. Two people looked over the staff post, one a Latina herself, and y'all just completely forgot Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America existed, in a thread about Latin representation? I knew Latin issues here are a bit of an afterthought but sheesh...
Sure, I didn't catch the error and I should have. I'm sorry about that.
 

GYODX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,233
If there's something I hope people take away from this, it's that the US-born/US-resident Latino cultural experience is different from the cultural experience of Latinos living outside the US. Not lesser or in any way less important, but nonetheless different. There are issues affecting the latter that do not affect the former, and vice-versa. And just because the former might more readily accept the term "Latinx," it doesn't mean that the latter will as well. Also: as English speakers, you only ever get to hear what the former has to say. And that won't change unless you start venturing into non-English spaces.
 

Poodlestrike

Smooth vs. Crunchy
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
13,489
Which is why progressive latin americans created latine to use as a gender neutral form. But this doesn't mean that latinx should not be used at all, which is what people have been arguing for.
Yup.
Latine >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Latinx

At least that one is pronouncable.
As has been said, a lot of people use Latinx. Their terms for themselves are just as valid as your terms for yourself.
If there's something I hope people take away from this, it's that the US-born/US-resident Latino cultural experience is different from the cultural experience of Latinos living outside the US. Not lesser or in any way less important, but nonetheless different. There are issues affecting the latter that do not affect the former, and vice-versa. And just because the former might more readily accept the term "Latinx," it doesn't mean that the latter will as well. Also: as English speakers, you only ever get to hear what the former has to say. And that won't change unless you start venturing into non-English spaces.
That's certainly true. You only ever get a small slice of the pie.

But... most of the discussion hasn't really been about that, no? It's not like the person using the term here was an ignorant white person addressing issues affecting groups outside their own.
 

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
59,970
Latinx is definitely not common in my circles. I'm of Dominican descent.

I think those that use it mean no harm. So it doesn't trigger me if people use it. I don't use it myself, however.

I'm not a fan of this guy, but he brought some sources:

Though Latinx is becoming common in social media and in academic writing," a recent Merriam-Webster "words we're watching" entry noted, "it is unclear whether it will catch on in mainstream use." And last week a progressive pollster ran the numbers and found that it hasn't caught on at all: "Despite its usage by academics and cultural influencers, 98 percent of Latinos prefer other terms to describe their ethnicity. Only 2 percent of our respondents said the label accurately describes them, making it the least popular ethnic label among Latinos."

www.nytimes.com

Opinion | Liberalism’s Latinx Problem (Published 2019)

Why is Elizabeth Warren describing Latinos with a term that few would use themselves?

That's an overwhelming majority that doesn't use Latinx as a self-descriptor.

And this was not too long ago.