Mouse or Raton?

I have been calling my computer's "point and grunt" interface a ratón for a long time—possible before I moved to Latin America. It just made sense to me that I had a different word than the one used to refer to the little animal that my dog likes to kill.

Well, it looks like some Spanish speakers want to call it a ratón for a different reason—to stop polluting the language when there is a perfectly decent word for something in Spanish. This article offers the story.

Words like staff, popup and marketing are regularly used in English in office settings across the country, the statement said. CANTV, as the company is known, said ignoring the problem in other Latin American countries has led to the disappearance of native languages.

Tape, sixpack, clip, se renta and so much more are regularly used here. In fact, I find Nicaraguan to be a strange combination of Spanish, Natuahl, English and locally created words such as chimbomba. Even looking in a Nicaraguan Spanish dictionary will not necessarily yield definitions for words in regular use but usually offers up another strange Nicaraguan invented word. Makes me want to stick with pure Quechua. :-)