Are you from the US and watch Rosalía @rosalia on TV and go, wait where is she from again? or wonder why the Gasol bros don't play in the USA team in the Olympics? Do the terms "Latino", "Hispanic", "Spanish" and "Spaniard" confuse you? Your worries are over! Keep on reading!

Let's begin with "Latino". When you use "Latino" you probably mean people or culture from "Latin America". This means countries and regions in the American continent where the main languages spoken come from Latin. Most of these are in Central and South America.

So: Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, Panamá, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Chile, Argentina, etc. (Spanish) and Brazil (Portuguese) are all Latin American countries.

Since most of these countries are in Central and Southern parts of America, many people use "Latin America" as if it meant "Mexico and all the Spanish speaking regions down South from there". Wrooong. Portuguese and Spanish are different languages. But both do come from Latin.

Now check this out: Jamaica, Belize, Trinidad... Their official language is English. That doesn't come from Latin. They aren't Latin America. The fact that they're nonetheless grouped in with Lat-Am countries so often is proof that the term might not really be all that useful.

Many of you use "Latin America" when you probably mean "South America". Also, check this out: NA regions that speak French, like Quebec, ARE LATIN AMERICA! But you never think of any Northern region when you use the term, since you identify North of Mexico with white and Anglo.

You know what's also "Latin American"? Italian-American culture! Yeah, by definition, because that group is original from the most Latin of Latin countries: ITALY! That's where Latin language was developed and spread throughout Europe via Roman Empire. Don't skip History class!

So, "Latino" is not a race, or a culture, and it's barely an ethnicity. I'm a translator and I'm just typing this without checking sources, so I might get a few things wrong. But I don't think I am all that wrong when I say "Latino" is pretty much useless as a term.

I'm quite sure "speaking languages that evolved from an ancient European ancestor back in the Roman Empire age" isn't hardly anything like a cohesive criteria that makes all these groups, cultures and nationalities having EVERYTHING in common NOW as many of you assume we do.

So maybe stop using "Latino" when you actually mean "Hispanic", which is the next term on our list. "Hispanic" means coming from a Spanish speaking country. That's it. We share a language because of genocidal colonization centuries ago. But our cultures are VERY diverse.

Don't get me wrong. Most of us are happy to share a common language and enjoy the brotherhood and sisterhood that comes with it. But we're hardly an amalgam of commonplaces. If you're from the US, do you feel culturally linked to England other than English language? Exaaactly.

You know who else is Hispanic? All North American citizens and residents that speak Spanish natively or are related to native Spanish speakers. You can be Hispanic and from the USA or Canada. See? Ethnicity and nationality are not as plain and simple. Let's not dumb it down.

So, a person from Mexico? Hispanic. A Mexican-American? Hispanic. You speak Spanish natively? Hispanic. You're from Spain? Hispanic. Wait, so where's Spain? SPAIN IS IN EUROPE. Please, get this right. Shouldn't be hard. SPAIN. EUROPE. NOT LATIN AMERICA. NOT SOUTHERN AMERICA.

SPAIN IS THE INVADING EUROPEAN COUNTRY THAT FORCED/CAUSED ALL THOSE SOUTH AMERICANS TO SPEAK SPANISH. Christopher Columbus? Remember? We're right next to the Eastern end of Portugal, down the Southern end of France and across a smallish patch of Mediterranean water from Italy.

So, haven't you been using "Spanish" instead of "Hispanic"? You know, to refer to people in the US that speak Spanish natively? Yup, you probably have. Because if the language is Spanish, whomever speaks it is Spanish, no? NO. You've been using the language haphazardly, friends.

We know it's not with ill intention, but it's a confusion of your own making. You say "Spanish women" and think you're just using a synonim of "Latina women" and you're not. You're referring to a common linguistic factor, nothing else. And not in a very precise fashion.

"Spaniards", then, are people from Spain. The European country. Word exists for a reason. Mexicans aren't Spaniards, nor Spanish. They're Hispanic. Same with all other Hispanic countries you keep referring to as "Spanish". Fix that mess and you'll start sounding a lot smarter.

Being less racist would help. If you needn't be so aware all the time of a person's race or ethnicity, you wouldn't need to shorten "Mexican-American" to "Mexican", which means 2 different but related things in your culture: Mexican ethnicity AND nationality. Kinda confusing?

That's it from me. Hope you felt this is a well intentioned write. USA is kinda cool and all but they've drilled you so much about being the best country in history you've lost interest in the rest of the world. And you know, we're kinda cool too. Peace!