What makes a person a particular race?

[Iormlund]

So what do you have going on on you to make yourself identify as Hispanic? Which Hispanic cultural traits do you display?

I was 19 before I knew what the English word for "underwear". (They were casones(sp?) to me.) I still refer to things in Spanish without thinking about it, i.e. my daughter is "m'ja", rice is "sopa", and my nose is and has always been my "nadiz". I eat beans and rice with a torn off piece of tortilla at home rather than a fork. I no longer cross myself when I go by a cemetery or church, though I did for most of my life.

There are probably a lot more things, but in all honesty, I don't even recognize them as "different". It's what we do, how we live. Even my biological parents have adjusted and changed due to their close relationship with my foster parents. To my foster family, I am their daughter/sister, though I'm a "weda" (sp?). They are no less my family than my biological parents and siblings. When my foster father and sister died (at different times), my little sister and I were listed in the obituary as their immediate family, were included in the preparations, and were expected to be there with the family for all visitations, etc.

We were literally raised by these people. Much more so than by my biological parents.

Calzones - though nobody says that in Spain proper, it's calzoncillos for males or bragas for females.
Rice would be arroz, sopa means soup.
Nariz.
Don't know what you meant by Weda.


As for the topic, race is how others see you, plain and simple. I'm so pale that I've had thyroid tests done. So I'm quite sure I'd be considered white, despite speaking English with an obvious Spanish accent.

[PDH]

MSil always amuses.

He likes science.

[grumbler]

He likes deliberately misunderstanding science.

Fixed your post.  The idea that, because genetics exist, then "race" must also exist, is one of those time-honored bits of intellectual fraud that pinheads still find themselves quoting... even if they find themselves saying absurd things like "DNA is a molecule."

[Iormlund]

There are no shorthands of that kind in Spanish.

Spain is not the only source of Spanish. People definitely say mija here.

Unlike English, which lacks a similar body AFAIK, correct Spanish is regulated by the Real Academia (which accepts members and terms from other countries, not just Spain). The French have something similar in the Académie française.
There are no shorthands of that kind in Spanish. I'm sure people over there use it, but just like using "your" when it should be "you're", it is still incorrect.

[garbon]

Unlike English, which lacks a similar body AFAIK, correct Spanish is regulated by the Real Academia (which accepts members and terms from other countries, not just Spain). The French have something similar in the Académie française.
There are no shorthands of that kind in Spanish. I'm sure people over there use it, but just like using "your" when it should be "you're", it is still incorrect.

Saying that the words people use to communicate in Latin America aren't actually words seems counterproductive.  And no, that's not at all the same, Marty.  Your vs. You're is a mistake that happens either because someone doesn't no the difference or makes a typographical error. Spanish speakers here don't accidentally say "mija."

[Jacob]

Unlike English, which lacks a similar body AFAIK, correct Spanish is regulated by the Real Academia (which accepts members and terms from other countries, not just Spain). The French have something similar in the Académie française.
There are no shorthands of that kind in Spanish. I'm sure people over there use it, but just like using "your" when it should be "you're", it is still incorrect.

That seems like a great way to increase your blood pressure and alienate people for no appreciable gain.

[Admiral Yi]

Unlike English, which lacks a similar body AFAIK, correct Spanish is regulated by the Real Academia (which accepts members and terms from other countries, not just Spain). The French have something similar in the Académie française.
There are no shorthands of that kind in Spanish. I'm sure people over there use it, but just like using "your" when it should be "you're", it is still incorrect.

What enforcement powers do they have?

[Iormlund]

Saying that the words people use to communicate in Latin America aren't actually words seems counterproductive.  And no, that's not at all the same, Marty.  Your vs. You're is a mistake that happens either because someone doesn't no the difference or makes a typographical error. Spanish speakers here don't accidentally say "mija."

Then, as you so aptly put it, they just don't no better.

And I reiterate, it is not a Spain vs Latinamerica thing. For example, a quick search reveals that "burrito" is in the dictionary, despite being from the colonies:

burrito.

(Del dim. de burro).

1. m. Bol. Instrumento ortopédico que da apoyo a las personas que sufren entorpecimiento para caminar.

2. m. Méx. Tortilla de harina de trigo enrollada y rellena de carne, frijoles o queso.

[garbon]

Then, as you so aptly put it, they just don't no better.

Actually they do, I have a heard time believing that they don't see any difference from mjia and mi hija.

Oh and is this an appropriate time to say that I think that what the French (and by extension the Spanish) do is completely inane?

[Iormlund]

What enforcement powers do they have?

None, of course. Doesn't really need them.
Failure to comply with certain standards denotes lack of proper education, which is a penalty in itself.
Many people are not likely to seriously consider anything (exam, research paper, novel, business plan, report, CV) written in crappy Spanish. Or English for that matter.

[garbon]

Yes, use of slang in conversation "denotes a lack of proper education." Give us a break.

[Iormlund]

Oh and is this an appropriate time to say that I think that what the French (and by extension the Spanish) do is completely inane?

Most languages have a regulating body. English is almost alone in this. Its role has been filled by "institutions" like the OED.

[garbon]

It is true. The OED plays a big role in how I speak.

[Sheilbh]

Most languages have a regulating body. English is almost alone in this. Its role has been filled by "institutions" like the OED.

The OED doesn't regulate, it records

[Queequeg]

Aren't Finns and Estonians Asiatics (if highly interbred with Europeans)?

Indo-Europeans originate from around the same area as the Uralics.  There are a lot of basic similarities between the Uralic and Indo-European languages, pointing to either a truly ancient common origin or long term contact, in either case ensuring genetic contact throughout their respective histories. 

All of these racial categories are totally fucking absurd.  Populations are closest related to the closest group.  End of story.  Kazakh "Caucasians" are a mix of "Caucasians" and "Mongoloids", who really aren't all that different, especially by the standards of human diversity; the European "Turanid" and "Armenid" types are closer related to eachother and to Amerindians than a member of a major African ethnic group is to another African group.