Editor’s Notes

Spanish-Speaking Neighbors

Mom followed the Belize custom of using anglicized Spanish adjectives for people or things from nearby Spanish-speaking regions. When Belize was still a colony, a person from British Honduras was called a British Honduran; in contrast, a person from the Republic of Honduras was, and still is, called a Honduranean to reflect the Spanish word hondureño. Similarly, a person from El Salvador is a Salvadoranean, from the Spanish salvadoreño; a person from the Mexican state of Yucatán is a Yucatecan, from the Spanish yucateco.

(Although many people in Belize refer to a person from Guatemala as a Guatemaltecan, from the Spanish guatemalteco, Mom always used the standard English word Guatemalan.)