# New Yorkers using "Spanish" in place of "Hispanic" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677 "2011-09-18T00:31:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/21 "2011-09-19T02:46:30Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > I’m from Upstate too, and I never heard it there, either, except from people who were originally from New York **City**. That’s why I’m asking about its usage in New York **City**. Actually, recently I was disappointed to find out that a “Spanish” restaurant I’d been planning to go to in Buffalo was actually a Puerto Rican restaurant. (No offense to Puerto Rican cuisine, which I like, but, hey, Spanish food in Buffalo.) ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/22 "2011-09-19T03:06:21Z")
My mother-in-law (north suburban Boston) says “Spanish” for “Hispanic.” I feel sure I’ve heard others do the same. To me it’s a usage that says “older generation.” And it had a certain logic, you have to admit. I mean, if you speak Spanish, you’re Spanish, right? (I know, I know…) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/23 "2011-09-19T06:17:30Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Generally IME, people have changed over to specifying the regional cuisine, as in “Have you tried the Peruvian chicken place?” or “That Dominican restaurant makes a mean Cuban sandwich.” [nit]That’s national, not regional.[/nit] ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/24 "2011-09-19T10:15:47Z")
Dont Americans use “French-Canadians” when speaking of Quebecois or Acadians? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/25 "2011-09-19T10:55:40Z")
I say “Quebecois” but I learned French in high school and college. (I’ve never referred to Acadians, but I suspect I’d use that term if it came up.) I think most Americans would just call them “Canadians.” ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/26 "2011-09-19T11:03:24Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I say “Quebecois” but I learned French in high school and college. (I’ve never referred to Acadians, but I suspect I’d use that term if it came up.) I think most Americans would just call them “Canadians.” My husband’s family is French-Canadian (generations back) and they have always referred to themselves that way. Is that not correct? A large chunk of my family is from Ontario and that’s also what they said. Color me educated if it is not correct! ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/27 "2011-09-19T11:07:04Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > My husband’s family is French-Canadian (generations back) and they have always referred to themselves that way. Is that not correct? A large chunk of my family is from Ontario and that’s also what they said. Color me educated if it is not correct! Well, I dont want to derail a thread about Spanish/Hispanics but I dont see how it is any wronger to call Hispanics “Spanish” than it is to call Quebecois French-Canadians. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/28 "2011-09-19T11:17:34Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Well, I dont want to derail a thread about Spanish/Hispanics but I dont see how it is any wronger to call Hispanics “Spanish” than it is to call Quebecois French-Canadians. Historical use? ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/29 "2011-09-19T13:47:45Z")
I’ve always thought of it as French Canadian, not French-Canadian; i.e., from French Canada, not French-descended Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/30 "2011-09-19T14:17:49Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Ah, but that case really WOULD be Spanish, more or less…that is, descended from Spanish colonial-era settlers. Latin America is full of descendents of Spanish colonial-era settlers. I don’t see how my great-great-grandmother would be more “Spanish” than a New Yorker whose ancestors went from Spain to, say, Puerto Rico. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/31 "2011-09-19T15:20:06Z")
> [@Sal\_Ammoniac](#): > > My mother-in-law (north suburban Boston) says “Spanish” for “Hispanic.” I feel sure I’ve heard others do the same. To me it’s a usage that says “older generation.” And it had a certain logic, you have to admit. I mean, if you speak Spanish, you’re Spanish, right? (I know, I know…) So you must be English then, right? 😉 How’re things in London? ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/32 "2011-09-19T15:54:55Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Dont Americans use “French-Canadians” when speaking of Quebecois or Acadians? It’s not uncommon for English-speaking Canadians to refer to French-speaking Canadians as simply “the French”, or for French-speaking Canadians to refer to English-speaking Canadians as “the English”. That’s similar to using “Spanish” to talk about Spanish-speaking peoples from the Americas. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > My husband’s family is French-Canadian (generations back) and they have always referred to themselves that way. Is that not correct? A large chunk of my family is from Ontario and that’s also what they said. Color me educated if it is not correct! Well, it’s kind of a complicated issue, but I’ll try to explain it as briefly as I can. If your family is of French-Canadian origin, feel free to use that term to describe them. There is no issue with using “French-Canadian” as an ethnic descriptor. I am (presumably) largely of French-Canadian ancestry. Now, using “French-Canadian” to describe a modern _people_ is more dubious, because it’s not obvious that such a people exists. It may describe people from Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Western Canada, and from the US, all of which are rather different today and may not even speak the same language. So if I’m talking about what people/nation I belong to, I’ll say that I’m a Quebecer. (I don’t use _Quebecois_ in English, but some do.) I’d say that someone of French-Canadian ancestry in another Canadian province is a Canadian (possibly belonging to a minority linguistic group), while someone of French-Canadian ancestry in the US is an American (a Franco-American, in the same sense that I’d say an Irish-American or an Italian-American). Acadians are something else; they come from a separate wave of French colonization in the Americas. I consider them a separate ethnic group but others may not. They do have a specific, quasi-national identity as Acadians. Today they’re largely seen in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, but also in parts of Eastern Quebec. The Cajuns of Louisiana are their descendents. Also of interest is the (less common, but I’ve noticed it) tendency of English-speaking Canadians to refer to French speakers in all Canadian provinces as “Quebecois”. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > So you must be English then, right? 😉 How’re things in London? Actually, **Sal Ammoniac** is appropriately “French-Canadian”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/33 "2011-09-19T16:45:54Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > It’s not uncommon for English-speaking Canadians to refer to French-speaking Canadians as simply “the French”, or for French-speaking Canadians to refer to English-speaking Canadians as “the English”. That’s similar to using “Spanish” to talk about Spanish-speaking peoples from the Americas. > Well, it’s kind of a complicated issue, but I’ll try to explain it as briefly as I can. If your family is of French-Canadian origin, feel free to use that term to describe them. There is no issue with using “French-Canadian” as an ethnic descriptor. I am (presumably) largely of French-Canadian ancestry. Now, using “French-Canadian” to describe a modern _people_ is more dubious, because it’s not obvious that such a people exists. It may describe people from Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Western Canada, and from the US, all of which are rather different today and may not even speak the same language. So if I’m talking about what people/nation I belong to, I’ll say that I’m a Quebecer. (I don’t use _Quebecois_ in English, but some do.) I’d say that someone of French-Canadian ancestry in another Canadian province is a Canadian (possibly belonging to a minority linguistic group), while someone of French-Canadian ancestry in the US is an American (a Franco-American, in the same sense that I’d say an Irish-American or an Italian-American). > > Acadians are something else; they come from a separate wave of French colonization in the Americas. I consider them a separate ethnic group but others may not. They do have a specific, quasi-national identity as Acadians. Today they’re largely seen in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, but also in parts of Eastern Quebec. The Cajuns of Louisiana are their descendents. > > Also of interest is the (less common, but I’ve noticed it) tendency of English-speaking Canadians to refer to French speakers in all Canadian provinces as “Quebecois”. > Actually, **Sal Ammoniac** is appropriately “French-Canadian”. 😛 I have been told that the Louisiana Cajun French is most closely related to the Acadian French of the Maritime Provinces than either Quebec French or Parisian French. I don’t speak French and have only been to some of those places so I really can’t verify this myself. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/34 "2011-09-19T19:57:08Z")
[quote=“Hypnagogic\_Jerk, post:32, topic:596677”] It’s not uncommon for English-speaking Canadians to refer to French-speaking Canadians as simply “the French”, or for French-speaking Canadians to refer to English-speaking Canadians as “the English”. That’s similar to using “Spanish” to talk about Spanish-speaking peoples from the Americas.[\QUOTE] I’ve actually heard this usage as well (often from the same people who say “Spanish”). Here in New England, we have lots of French-Canadians AND lots of Hispanics. > [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > Actually, **Sal Ammoniac** is appropriately “French-Canadian”. 😛 Well, my wife is; I’m myself mostly… English. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/35 "2011-09-19T21:49:07Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I have been told that the Louisiana Cajun French is most closely related to the Acadian French of the Maritime Provinces than either Quebec French or Parisian French. I don’t speak French and have only been to some of those places so I really can’t verify this myself. It’s likely that Cajun French is closer to Acadian French than any other dialect of French, since Cajuns descend from Acadians. But I’m sure both have diverged from each other a lot in 250 years as well. I find that Acadians have a particular accent, and some specific vocabulary, but other than this the French they speak isn’t so dissimilar from mine. I understand Cajun French is rather different. > [@Sal\_Ammoniac](#): > > Well, my wife is; I’m myself mostly… English. Ah, seems like I was wrong then. ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/36 "2011-09-19T22:09:49Z")
Boy, this thread has been hijacked every which way. My mother, who btw was progeny of French Canadian parents or French-Canadian, if you wish, always called Mexican’s Spanish and it was not a derogatory term as we lived at the time in San Fernando, CA, the United States home of the Mexican people. 😉 She also, btw, called her own father **Quebecois** as he hailed from Montreal. She pronounced Quebec as ‘Kebek’. More facts and stuff to muddy the waters. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FrustratedIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@FrustratedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrustratedIdiot)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677/37 "2011-09-20T01:31:44Z")
Fat Joe, who is a rapper of Puerto Rican descent, often uses the word “Spanish” to refer to other Hispanic rappers (e.g., Big Pun and Noreaga). He’s from NYC, so it may be common among the Nuyorican culture there. Not sure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorkers-using-spanish-in-place-of-hispanic/596677.md?page=1)