Words matter. Word choice matters. I’ve always championed clarity and precision of language, because you always want to ensure that you’re being properly understood. Despite what you might hear or read elsewhere, some words are not interchangeable. You lose a little bit of meaning when you do, especially when describing ethnic or cultural groups. The difference between Latino and Hispanic is a terrific example of this, so let’s start there.

Latino vs. Hispanic

Ask some people, and they’ll even interchange “Latino” or “Hispanic” for “Mexican.” Of course, not all Latino and Hispanic people are from Mexico. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of migrants trying to cross the border into the United States during the current crisis are from countries like El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Even that aside, understanding the difference between these two terms is actually quite simple. “Latino” refers to the people of Latin America, which in turn broadly refers to everywhere south of the United States, including Central and South America. “Hispanic” refers instead to the Spanish language.

While there is certainly some overlap, it’s not complete. A person from Brazil might be Latino, but they’re not Hispanic; Portuguese is the national language of Brazil. Similarly, someone from Spain might be Hispanic, but they’re not Latino; Spain, as you know, is in Western Europe.

African American vs. Black

As I understand it, and correct me if I’m wrong, but “African American” is generally perceived as the more politically correct term. Sure, I get that. But, it’s also incomplete, particularly if they’re not American. Do we then extend the phrasing to other countries? African Australian, African Canadian, African French, African Japanese?

Programs like Dear White People — where the book has subsequently been adapted into a movie and Netflix series — tend to use the word “black” rather than African American. Indeed, it’s a bit of an issue that arises in the third season where African students (from Africa) comment on how they’re not African American.

The phrasing is problematic at best. What’s more, just “African” is remarkably broad too. There are 54 countries in Africa, representing more than 3,000 ethnic groups speaking over than 2,000 languages.

Nordic vs. Scandinavian

Like how all cats are mammals, but not all mammals are cats, we arrive at the distinction between Nordic countries and Scandinavian countries. Using this analogy, Scandinavia is a cat and the Nordics is a mammal.

Norway, Sweden and Denmark make up the Scandinavian countries. The term “Nordic countries” includes those three, as well as Finland and Iceland, plus their associated territories like Svalbard and Greenland. For the longest time, I mistakenly included Finland (and ignored Denmark) among my understanding of Scandinavia. I now stand corrected.

Jewish vs. Hebrew

Similar to the distinction between Latino and Hispanic, understanding the difference between Jewish and Hebrew comes down to what each term is actually describing. While you may be tempted to believe that both terms refer to an ethnocultural heritage, that’s not completely true.

A “Jewish” person is anyone who has adopted (or was born into) the religion of Judaism. “Jew” means basically the same thing, but it’s often used as a pejorative term, so exercise caution. And while the Jewish people may have consisted of a single ethnic group in the past with historic Israelites, that’s no longer true. The Jewish people are not any one ethnicity.

Hebrew is a language that is intimately intertwined with the Jewish faith, but it is “just” the language. Similarly, Yiddish is the historical language of the Ashkenazim, a Jewish diaspora. It combines elements from Hebrew, Aramaic, German, and Slavish languages. Yiddish became the more dominant language among Jewish immigrants in the US around the late 1800s.

Australasia vs. Oceania

This is very similar to what we see with Scandinavia and Nordic countries. For the longest time, I was taught that Australia was both a country and a continent. That’s not quite right. Then, I was taught that Australasia is the continent… but that’s incomplete too.

Australasia includes both New Zealand and Australia. Oceania stretches out much further to include Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. That encompasses thousands of islands, including Fiji, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, and yes, even Hawaii. Depending on who you ask, some people might prefer using “Australia and Oceania” as the name of the continent.

Filipino vs. Pacific Islander

I’m not entirely sure when it happened. For a while there, I knew May as Asian Heritage Month. Then, they expanded that to become Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (in the US). Because representation matters. But here’s where terminology can get a little murky.

I grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of Filipino families. I have many Filipino friends. And something that comes up every now and then is whether Filipinos are Asian. Well, the Philippines are a part of Asia, so yes? But, it’s more complicated than that, as the culture also blends elements of Southeast Asian countries and Spain, all while being geographically close to Micronesia.

Asian vs. East Asian vs. Southeast Asian vs. South Asian

Here we go with precision of language again, even if it ends up being terribly ambiguous. Technically speaking, if someone is from the Asian continent, they’re Asian… except that’s not what most people picture in their heads. “Asian” most commonly refers to people from places like China, Japan and Korea. Technically, “East Asian” would be more precise.

Then, you’ve got South Asia, which would include countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. And then there’s Southeast Asia, which is made up of countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. We don’t talk about Central Asia (e.g., Uzbekistan) or Western Asia (e.g., Yemen) nearly as often, at least not using that kind of terminology. We more commonly refer to the latter as the Middle East.

So, “Asian” isn’t really just “Asian.” You need to be more specific than that.

So, Are You Chinese or Japanese?

Remember this clip from King of the Hill? When Kahn and his family move in next door? He’s from what ocean? It always gives me a bit of a chuckle. Myself, I self-identify as Chinese-Canadian, but that’s not entirely precise. Though, it may be reasonably accurate.

“Chinese” isn’t a single ethnic or cultural group either. When they “unified” China, they cobbled together multiple cultures and languages. My cultural heritage is that of a smaller region called Taishan. With the ongoing protests in Hong Kong, the distinction between “Hongkongers” and mainland Chinese is an important one to make. Saying someone is “Chinese” is ultimately just as descriptive as saying someone is European. The differences in food, language, and traditions are just as pronounced.

Are there any other major word pairs (or groupings) that I missed? Will you be sure not to use Latino when you mean Hispanic (or vice versa) moving forward?