[Tired of Taxes]

"Oh, they all look alike".

I'm not being sarcastic with this question... I'm just wondering: How does someone know the difference? I need to know because I've unwittingly insulted many people of Asian descent by assuming they are Chinese, for example, instead of Korean.

All my ancestors were from Italy, and I look it, but most people assume my ancestry is German, for some reason. Germany did horrendous things during WWII (and, for that matter, Italy wasn't perfect either), but the mistake doesn't insult me. I guess there's so much anger between Asians that the mistake insults them...?

[cryptical]

I'm just wondering: How does someone know the difference? I need to know because I've unwittingly insulted many people of Asian descent by assuming they are Chinese, for example, instead of Korean.

It's not even worth guessing. Every ethnicity dislikes each other, going back 1000s of years so it's better to ask in my experience.

[wideawake]

Indeed. Too many Asians get way too enraged about being misidentified.

I'm the opposite of you - I'm of Irish/English/German ancestry but many people have erroneously assumed that I'm of Italian or Jewish ancestry.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Certain people are just way too touchy.

[PissAndVinegar]

Honestly, the best way is to ask them. I work with people from all over the place (naturalized citizens) and enjoy hearing the stories of their homeland (and usually why it sucks compared to the USA).

Now, because I DO work with many different people, I notice differences that do allow me to make an 'educated guesses' about their country of origin.
While Caucasians have 'round' eyes and Asian tend to have 'almond' eyes but there are 200 different variations to that almond or round shape. Those variations can indicate their heritage. Some peoples have more round faces and others are more angular - this too can indicate heritage. And there is always skin tones and shades (pink, blue, yellow, brown, copper, black and so-black-they-look-blue)

It takes years of interaction and people watching to guess with any accuracy. It's best to just talk to them. But if you just want an easy way to offend any one of Asian decent, just call them a Oriental :)