Will Latinos Eventually Become A Majority in the U.S.?

[Linus Van Pelt]

Now, what we'd need is a better grip at who these nonhispanic Spanish speakers are. A lot of them are probably lily white first and second generation immigrants from South America. But a lot are also probably people who've learned Spanish in school but are too dumb to grasp the concept of "spoken at home". (And some are people married to Hispanics.)

My maternal grandmother was probably an example of the type you're referring to: she was born in the Dominican Republic, but never identified as Hispanic or Latino (though I don't think the latter term existed during her lifetime) even though she spoke Spanish at home her entire life. The fact she was partially of Lebanese origin may have been a factor. Some people just don't want to identify as Latino for whatever reason.

Yeah. Similarly the actress whose image I linked earlier in this thread was born in the US of a mother born in Mexico... but with a French surname... and a father born in Argentina... to parents (her grandparents) born in Denmark. That said Spanish was her mothertongue.

Put it this way: if a bunch of English-speaking (though not necessarily ancestrally British) Americans immigrated to France and were asked on the census if they were of "Anglo-Saxon or English" origin, do you think all of them would say yes? Roughly the same reasons apply here: the term "Hispanic" isn't used in Latin America to mean "anyone who speaks Spanish".

[Linus Van Pelt]

Well, duh. The term isn't used in Latin America full stop.

Well, my understanding from a Mexican friend is that "hispánico" just means "Spanish", as in from Spain.

(I leave to subtler minds whether etymological equivalents are the same "term", but if that's what you meant, I can one-up your literalness: the term "Hispanic" is used in Latin America: by visiting Americans! )