I was having a conversation with a coworker from Nepal about the harsh winters of the Himalayas when a Welsh colleague obtruded, insisting the Snowdonia region in Wales is more treacherous and essentially colder. I wanted to slap her right there and then. I did not ace my geography classes just to have this kind of nonsense blurted in my face. I kept my cool, though. In her mind, everything Welsh is superior. She was still talking when I left.

While not closely related, the encounter reminded me of one I had many years ago when I still owned an events company. A client insisted we make separate preparations for a select group of employees, because “Caucasians have a different palate,” I was told. When I asked if she needs traditional Caucasian delicacies and activities, she gave me a confused look. She exclaimed, “No! American!” By Caucasian, she meant white.

Unless you are from, or referring to people from the Caucasus region, you should not use it to identify people based on skin color. That term to denote white people was made obsolete for more than half a century now. Let’s retire it completely this New Year. You do not just sound racist and politically incorrect when you say that, you are proving to be geographically dumb as well.