Asbury Park Press: Hispanic culture expert discusses tradition of dual surnames

An article in the Asbury Park Press on the impact American culture is having on the Hispanic tradition of giving children the surnames of both parents quotes Jose F Buscaglia-Salgado, director of the Caribbean studies program and associate professor of American studies. "To put it in plain terms, a common insult you can give someone in a Spanish-speaking country is to tell them they have no mother -- No tener madre," he said. "That usually means that somebody is a particularly bad person so there's a connotation [when the mother's surname isn't used]."