Borderlands/La Frontera is the title of the book from which this essay comes. The border to which Anzaldúa refers is the geographical area between Mexico and the United States. A border is an abstract concept that the dominant culture reinforces through language, law, censorship, and citizenship. The borderlands are places of hybridity, where a specific cultural mixing forms a specific identity—in this case, that of Chicano culture and languages. To embrace this identity, Anzaldúa argues, Chicanos must learn to appreciate their culture and unlearn the shame they feel at being culturally different from dominant US and Mexican cultures.

The term Chicano refers to people of Mexican (Spanish and Indigenous American) heritage living on the Mexican-American border. Chicano language refers to the forms of Spanish they speak, which include many dialects as well as Spanglish (Spanish that incorporates English words). Anzaldúa highlights the importance of gender inclusivity in language and culture throughout the essay; her first use of the word Chicano/a uses the feminine -a ending (Chicana) to refer to women of this ethnic group.

Code-switching is the act of talking or writing in more than one language in a single text, sentence, or conversation. It is a common practice in speech between Chicanos, whose language is influenced by both Spanish and English and contains unique elements as well.