an ethnic term of self-designation widely used and accepted in New Mexico and southern Colorado since the turn of the century, as opposed to the English term Hispanic, imposed by the Census Bureau in the late twentieth century. Because of the confusion between Hispano and Hispanic, the term Nuevo Mexicano is increasingly used by scholars to refer to Hispanic New Mexicans. The same group of people commonly call themselves Mexicanos or Nuevo Mexicanos when speaking Spanish, and Spanish-Americans or Mexican-Americans when speaking English. The term Chicano is used by cultural and political activists and never gained wide acceptance.