# Latinx (Your thoughts on the term) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 5, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358 "2022-04-05T23:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/62 "2022-04-09T19:55:30Z")
btw, was the seminar itself conducted in Spanish or in English? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/63 "2022-04-09T19:59:01Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > If you don’t like Latinx, then propose a better solution and I’m down with it. It usually doesn’t work like that, though. You want others to change so you need to give _them_ a word they want to use. Or, I suppose, just shame them into using your word. But they don’t need to give _you_ a replacement word because, left alone to their own devices, they’ll just happily keep using the word they have been. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/64 "2022-04-09T20:01:08Z")
English. My Spanish skills are rudimentary at best. (The seminar was in the education department.) ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/65 "2022-04-09T20:05:26Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Hispanic This is considered offensive to some, I am told. E.g.: > **[The Problematic History of the Word "Hispanic"](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/problematic-history-of-hispanic-word)** > > "The history of ‘Hispanic’ is intimately tied to the U.S. government." I’m not sure what to use in general references. In specific instances, I try to use what the person prefers or identifies as, if I know. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/66 "2022-04-09T20:27:20Z")
Well, yeah, if someone is, let’s say Quechua, I wouldn’t go calling them Hispanic or Latin willy nilly. Or, like the person in the link, if someone is Mexican, that could be seen as not so subtly eliding their complex identity, like if I avoided talking about Canadians or Canada and kept referring to “Anglos”, with some of them being Québécois for that matter ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/67 "2022-04-10T18:13:56Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > …if someone insists I use it for them, I probably would as a form of respect … I would certainly use whatever term someone insisted I use, but I doubt “respect” would play a big part in it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/68 "2022-04-10T18:58:02Z")
People have a personal identity (how they see themselves) along with a social identity (how they are seen and described). If they identify as “Latinx”, it is polite to acknowledge this even though I do not much like the term. Respect may be too strong a word, but there is an element of that. I would not use the term for any other reason. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/69 "2022-04-10T19:17:42Z")
Yeah - I was probably being a tad snotty. I guess as someone who has the luxury of not really caring about how I am perceived and/or described, my preference is to limit interactions in which someone is going to insist one some novel/trendy descriptor, when no offense was intended. Like I said, I try my best to refer to anyone however they prefer - non-obvious pronouns, hyphenated last names, ethnic descriptors, pronunciations… But if I said Latin or Latino in most situations I can imagine (which would be terribly infrequent) and someone insisted on Latinx - I don’t know if it is too strong to say I would lose some measure of respect for that person, but that would send me some less than favorable signals. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/70 "2022-04-10T19:37:13Z")
I hear what you are saying. I know lots of people who speak Spanish, and literally no one who uses this term. Which does not mean there are not many who do. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/71 "2022-04-10T19:53:10Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > Does it malign the native language of Hispanics? Is it an effort by straight, cis, white people to white knight on behalf of a marginalized group? Both of these. The white-knight crowd thinks they’ve found an elegant solution to language bias, meanwhile most Spanish-speakers find “Latinx” to be a silly solution in search of a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/72 "2022-04-10T19:58:22Z")
But there is a problem the term is intended to address; what term to use in referring to a group of people who might be from anywhere between Mexico and Tierra Del Fuego? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/73 "2022-04-10T19:59:41Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Personally I use “Latinx” because I’ve made it a goal to remove gendered language from my vocabulary unless speaking directly of a person whose gender is known to me. Will you be likewise using Filipinx or Cubanx, etc? How far must a white person go in their attempt to fix everything that’s wrong with the Spanish language? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/74 "2022-04-10T20:04:15Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > But there is a problem the term is intended to address; what term to use in referring to a group of people who might be from anywhere between Mexico and Tierra Del Fuego? Why is this a problem? Ask them what they call themselves. They’re not going to say “Latinx” or “Mexicanx” or “Colombianx”. There was no problem until a bunch of overenthusiastic academic types decided that Hispanic people weren’t speaking Spanish right. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/75 "2022-04-10T20:08:46Z")
I’m not trying to fix a fucking thing. I’m using a term that works for me. If a Spanish speaking person from the Americas tells me they prefer I not use it when referring to them then I won’t. I speak a language that does not use gendered nouns. I prefer not to use gendered terms when they aren’t necessary. So I work on not using gendered terms. You, and anyone else, can do what you want because A) I don’t care and B) it’s not my lookout to police your expression–now how about you extend the same courtesy to mine? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/76 "2022-04-10T20:18:41Z")
Sure if one is _talking_ to a person or a group of people, one can ask what the preferred term is but what happens when you want to refer to an unspecified group of people? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Terrific](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tom_terrific/32/342_2.png) [@Tom\_Terrific](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Terrific)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/77 "2022-04-10T20:33:55Z")
Why not just call them people. Why does everything have to be about someone’s race? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/78 "2022-04-10T20:44:57Z")
> [@Tom\_Terrific](#): > > Why not just call them people. Why does everything have to be about someone’s race?  It’s occasionally important to know which people we’re referring to. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/79 "2022-04-10T20:55:11Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > But if I said Latin or Latino in most situations I can imagine (which would be terribly infrequent) and someone insisted on Latinx - I don’t know if it is too strong to say I would lose some measure of respect for that person, but that would send me some less than favorable signals. If someone insisted I refer to them as Latinx I would do so. If they insisted I used Latinx instead of Latino while in their presence I would refuse. > [@Tom\_Terrific](#): > > Why not just call them people. Why does everything have to be about someone’s race? Is Latino a race? I ask because it seems to me that you could have a towheaded blue eyed white kid, a black kid, and a lovely brown child all be Latino. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/80 "2022-04-10T21:10:20Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Sure if one is _talking_ to a person or a group of people, one can ask what the preferred term is but what happens when you want to refer to an unspecified group of people? Then it’s _Latino_. It’s always been _Latino_. Nobody has ever been confused about this until a handful of academics made their own prescriptive decision to fix what’s “wrong” with Spanish. It’s so amusing to me that on this very board, if you start a thread bemoaning the loss of a word to slang or other natural erosion, people will crawl out of the woodwork to attack the evils of prescriptivism. Yet when it comes to “Latinx”, all that easy-breezy descriptivism goes right out the window. We’re to speak as the academy has decided we must speak, and to hell with how native Spanish speakers actually use _their_ language. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/81 "2022-04-10T21:46:36Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Yet when it comes to “Latinx”, all that easy-breezy descriptivism goes right out the window. We’re to speak as the academy has decided we must speak, and to hell with how native Spanish speakers actually use _their_ language. I’ve seen very few in this thread who are in support of Latinx as a general term. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358.md?page=5)