# Have you heard the term "Latinx"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 7, 2018, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750 "2018-05-07T13:31:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/41 "2018-05-08T08:05:04Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Why is it called Latin America anyway? Isn’t Latin the language of the ancient Roman Empire? I should look that up. Because Spanish and Portuguese are _lenguas latinas_, or if you prefer, _idiomas latinos_. Either version works in both Spanish and Portuguese. > [@Smeghead](#): > > I’m happy to respect how people wish to describe themselves. However, I have a (very very white) relative who always works super hard to broadcast to the world how incredibly progressive and forward-thinking she is, and she has made a point of working this term into casual conversation as much as humanly possible. My personal favorites were when she mentioned a “Latinx abuela” and going to the Latinx aisle of the grocery store. Not sure the tortillas and refried beans are all that concerned about their gender identity. Hey, perhaps she though the abuela might be a man in drag, and didn’t know if the drag is good enough to pass then the female versions are preferred… ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/42 "2018-05-08T11:12:24Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Read it several times, heard it never. I’m the opposite: I’ve heard it several times (on NPR’s “Code Switch” podcast), read it never. I assumed it was spelled “Latinex”. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/43 "2018-05-08T11:42:30Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > If I’m speaking of a specific person, I’ll use the proper vowel at the end, but if I’m speaking of a general group I’ll use Latinx by preference since I’m working on using non-gendered language whenever possible. … And was sure that the impetus for its use was the same as the singular “they” in that sense. But we are dealing with identifying those who speak a language, and the language itself has genders for neutral objects. Something seems maybe … arrogant? presumptuous? … about imposing that English-focused use of non-gendered language to identify those who speak a language which is gendered throughout. To me. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/44 "2018-05-08T11:49:31Z")
Nah, the “mustn’t use gendered language” movement is pretty widespread through the developed world. The Spanish jokes on people turning any word with gendered or pseudo-gendered endings into one ending in -oa have been around for more than [del]20[/del]30 years. Fuck I’m old… Heck, the word _portavoz_ (invariant m/f, “spokesperson”) comes from the word _voz_ (f; “voice”). A couple months back there was a minor ruckus over the imbecile spokesperson for populist Spanish party Podemos calling herself portavoza… cos yeah, nothing says feminism like peeing all over your own language. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/45 "2018-05-08T11:52:47Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Nah, the “mustn’t use gendered language” movement is pretty widespread through the developed world. The Spanish jokes on people turning any word with gendered endings into one ending in -oa have been around for more than [del]20[/del]30 years. Fuck I’m old… If so then -x still seems off - -oa seems better. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/46 "2018-05-08T11:56:00Z")
First saw it here on this board, last year. It’s popped up a couple of times since then. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/47 "2018-05-08T11:56:32Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > If so then -x still seems off - -oa seems better. To Spanish ears and since neither ending makes sense, that’s like saying being unwillingly peed on seems better than having your pussy grabbed unwillingly. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/48 "2018-05-08T12:04:04Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > To Spanish ears and since neither ending makes sense, that’s like saying being unwillingly peed on seems better than having your pussy grabbed unwillingly. Is there a way to refer in a non-gendered manner that does not sound like one of those options to Spanish ears? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/49 "2018-05-08T12:08:01Z")
Either say both words (which is overwrought but correct) or choose a non-gendered word. Non-gendered in meaning: _gente_ (people) is (f) grammar-wise but genderless meaning-wise. _Pamplonés_ (m) and _pamplonesa_ (f) are gendered in both ways; _pamplonica_ (m/f) is either both grammatically and meaning-wise (all three mean “from Pamplona”). ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/50 "2018-05-08T12:47:02Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Nah, the “mustn’t use gendered language” movement is pretty widespread through the developed world. The Spanish jokes on people turning any word with gendered or pseudo-gendered endings into one ending in -oa have been around for more than [del]20[/del]30 years. Fuck I’m old… > > Heck, the word _portavoz_ (invariant m/f, “spokesperson”) comes from the word _voz_ (f; “voice”). A couple months back there was a minor ruckus over the imbecile spokesperson for populist Spanish party Podemos calling herself portavoza… cos yeah, nothing says feminism like peeing all over your own language. Oh, that’s the flip side (and an annoying one) of Spanish linguistic PC: the insistence on unnecessary splitting into bigendered forms of words/usages that _are_ neuter or inclusive. I’ve at times asked people if we’re going to start referring to female representatives as “representantas” and female students as “estudiantas”. (Sure, the norm is to use “generic masculine neuter” but that does _not_ mean that every generic usage is \*necessarily \*masculine. Most notably, e.g. “la(s) persona(s)”, the person(s), is in generic feminine.) Plus, I get the feeling that if Spanish HAD kept a fully distinct neuter grammatical gender in quotidian use, people would be getting offended by having it used to refer to them anyway (_“I am NOT an inanimate object!”_), and still insist on a personalized version. As for demonyms, if you’re fortunate you come from somewhere that can apply the -ense or -ica suffix. Otherwise your speeches all begin “Buenos días, compañeros y compañeras abogados y abogadas moroveños y moroveñas…” ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/51 "2018-05-08T14:11:19Z")
I have seen Latinx but always believed it referred exclusively to homosexual Latino men and women. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/52 "2018-05-08T14:51:45Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > As for demonyms, if you’re fortunate you come from somewhere that can apply the -ense or -ica suffix. Otherwise your speeches all begin “Buenos días, compañeros y compañeras abogados y abogadas moroveños y moroveñas…” And now multiply by two for bilingual areas… wheeeee! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/53 "2018-05-08T16:24:44Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > And now multiply by two for bilingual areas… wheeeee! How would you pronounce “Latinx” in Spanish? ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/54 "2018-05-08T19:56:04Z")
I’ve heard of it because my step-daughter is president of her school’s LatinX Club. I have no opinion about it either way. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750/55 "2018-05-08T21:48:15Z")
This is my first exposure to it. I’ve seen Latin used as both a noun and as an adjective modifying a neutral noun to cover the uses of latinx. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-latinx/813750.md?page=2)