[Mithalwen]

Yes, Galadriel, I wondered if the y might regard men as giants which would perhaps have misled Sauron.
Also the halfling term true when Numenoreans were at their tallest compared to not the tallest hobbits. Now the same UT note clarifys that Shire Hobbits at the time of LOTR were 3 to 4 foot and the exceptions were taller.

So assuming that the diminished dunedain were still generally six foot plus and taller than the Rohirrim who were in turn taller than Breelanders.. it ia likely that the current Britih average height for a man of 5"10 would have been tall for Bree and maybe standard around 5"6 . So with Hobbits benefitting from several generations of settled farming tending closer to four, it means that in and around the Shire and Bree most inhabitants are likely to be between 3"6 and 5"6 and with dwarves around bridging the still noticeable division between big and little, it is too much of continuum for a term such as halfling to be meaningful. Focussing on another distinction such as beardlessness does seem quite plausible in that context.