Is there a difference between saying Hispanic or Latino?
In recent years there has been a lot of debate regarding which is the politically correct term. We use the terms interchangeably. It is a matter of personal preference. We are more likely to use Hispanic when we talk about the group as a potential business market, while we tend to use Latino when referring to the people. Latino sounds much better in Spanish than Hispano. In fact, the word is a Spanish word, while Hispanic needs to be translated. Some argue that the term Latino includes everyone from Latin America and would therefore include people from Brazil (who speak Portuguese). Other say that the term “Hispanic” is wrong because it literally means “from Spain” and Hispanic American heritage goes further than just Spain. Most Hispanics, however, do not really care and are not offended by one term or the other.
