Who are you calling Hispanic?

Many times I have heard people use the term Latinos when referring to Hispanics, and even though these terms have come to be interchangeable they are not the same. The word Hispanic comes from the Latin word "Spain "while the word Latino is technically a shortening for Latino Americano (Latin American.)

The common denominator for Hispanics is language, but for Latinos/Latinas is the place of origin or geographical indicator. Neither of these two terms is based on race. The concept of Hispanic tends to be broader, including all Spanish-speaking people worldwide. subscribe to our feed

These terms can even be a little bit more controversial when referring to Brazilians for example. Brazilians, cannot be called Hispanic since they do not speak Spanish but Portuguese. And the term Latino might not apply. From my experience, Brazilians prefer to be called South Americans or Luso. Luso, is the term describing Portuguese language and culture. It derives from the word “Lusitania”, the ancient Roman name for Portugal.

For practical purposes, these are some preferences for these terms:

Latino/Latina: person who lives in the U.S. who comes from or whose family comes from Spanish culture in Latin America (Central and South America.) May or may not speak Spanish.

Hispanics: of or relating to Spain or Spanish-speaking people or culture in Latin America.

Latin American: descendant from Spanish culture in Latin America who lives in Central or South America.

South American: descendants from South American countries who live in South America and/or descendants of non Spanish speaking South American countries that live in the U.S.

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