List of Mexican words we've long thought to be Tagalog

An update on a favorite topic. My comments after "-->"

From: Mexico under our skin by Ambeth Ocampo, Philippine Daily Inquirer

-->Ocampo should have emphasized that these words are NOT Spanish words, but native Mexican (just probably Hispanized):

- acheute [sic] (Ixa arellana), achiti or asueti
- anonas (Anona reticulata)
- balimbin (Averrhoa carambola) or balimbing, which is of the same family as camias (Averrhoa bilimbi), known here as kamias or kalamyas;
- avocado (Persea Americana) [sic]
- caimito --> what we have Anglicized to "star apple", as though to say that, if there's no English translation for something, it doesn't exist; a very American way of regarding the world and a sick way of regarding ourselves
- calabaza (Cucurbita maxima) or kalabasa or karabasa
- chayote, which is better known as sayote
- ciruela (Spondias purpurea) sinigwelas
- casui (Cassuvium reniforme) or kasuy or balubad
- guyaba (Psidum guajav) [sic] or bayabas
- guayabano (Anona muricata) or guyabano
- hicamas (Pachyrrhizus jicamas) or singkamas
- maiz (Zea mays) or mais
- papaya
- pimienta (Piper nigrum) from the Indies but introduced via Mexico and known as paminta
- zapote --> what kind of plant is this? isn't this a synonym of chico (sapodilla)?

Fruits and vegetables whose names end with “te” --> chayote and zapote should be on this list instead

- tomate (Lycopersicum escukentum)[sic] which we call kamatis --> the scientific name should be either L. esculentum or L. lycopersicon Linn.
- cacahuate (Arachis hypogaca)[sic] which is now cultivated for its pretty pink flowers and known locally as kakawate, madre kakaw or marikakaw --> I thought cacahuate is peanut or mani. And, oh, it should be hypogea.
- camote (Ipomea Batatas) [sic] which has the same name in Mexico and the Philippines although the name comes from the Aztec camotl --> Batatas should be lowercase.
- chocolate, which is known locally as tsokolate or sikulate but came from the Aztec zocatl

--> The typos are disappointing. These make us suspicious of whether Ocampo got the even harder native Mexican words right.

Other fruits:

- camachile (Inga punges or Inga dulcis), the plant not the cookies that are shaped like the kamatsili fruit from the thorny tree, and came from the Aztec Cuanhmochitl
- chico (Achras zapota) comes from the Aztec xicotzaptl
- cereza (Muntingia calabura), small, sweet and full of seeds and better known as aratilis, ratiles or datiles, but called saresa in Pampanga.

Everyday plants or ornamentals of Mexican origin:

- azucena (Plianthes tuberosa) which is cultivated for its white and fragrant flowers
- cactus
- calachuche (Plumeria acuminata), an ornamental that is also known as frangipani or kalatsutsi, kalasusi, karatutse, or kalanotse
- chichirica (Catharanthus roseus), an ornamental plant that is also known as kantutan --> What the heck. You serious? As Google puts it, did you mean kantutay?
- pascuas (Poinsettia pulcherrima) which is often given away or displayed during Christmas so that it is sometimes called pasko instead of poinsettia

--> Question: Isn't the yucky-tasting fruit chesa a Mexican import as well?

-->I've gathered elsewhere that the 'Tagalog' words tiangge, tocayo, palenque, nanay, and tatay are also Mexican-sourced words. I'm sure there are a dictionary-full more. We should unearth that little ancient Leon Ma. Guerrero reference book.

Here are more entries from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tagalog_loanwords#Nahuatl_.28Aztec_Mexican.29

ensaymada from Nahuatl ensaïmada and Spanish ensaimada (a kind of pastry)
pitaka from petlacalli and petaca (coin purse)
sukil from xochitl, suchil (a flower)
tsonggo from chango, chango (monkey)
sili from chilli, chile (chili pepper)

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New words, which are highly suspected to be Mexican in origin:

chicharron
tapioca/cassava
zucchini (squash) flowers
maguey

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On a minor note: I've learned lately that the Tagalog word for "gossip," "chismis," came from the Spanish word "chisme." Even the gay lingo terms "chene"/"tiene" or "cheneses" for "whatnots" have Spanish origins. We who never learned Spanish are endlessly amused.