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LATIN AMERICA

Posted by Q on January 05, 2001

In Reply to: LATIN AMERICA posted by R. Berg on January 04, 2001

: : : : Where does this name come from? Why was it named this?

: : : According to my trusty World Book Encyclopedia, Latin America (Mexico, Central America, South America, and the islands of the West Indies) is called Latin America because most of its people speak Spanish, Portuguese, or French, each of which developed from Latin.

: : One recent US Vice President laboured under the misapprehension that the nations of South and Central America spoke Latin. But then again he was the one who publicly added an 'e' to 'Potato' - I think his name was Quayle.

: Yes, Dan Quayle, vice-president under George Bush. But I heard that the "Latin" story about him was fictitious, unlike, unfortunately, the "potato" story.

People (usually in the U.S.) sometimes forget that "America" is made of North America, Central America and South America. Someone from Costa Rica is American (Central American). Sorry to slip that in but the question has an unconscience undertone.

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