"Meo", "Hmu", "Mong", "Hmao", and "Hmong" are local names for Miao, but since most Laotian refugees in the United States call themselves "Hmong/Mong", this name has become better known in English than the others in recent decades. However, except for some scholars who prefer the word, the term 'Hmong/Mong' is only used within certain Hmong/Miao language speaking communities in China, where the majority of the Miao speakers live. In Chinese, despite the fact that it was once a derogatory term, the word Miao (Chinese: 苗; the tone varies according to the dialect of Chinese) is now commonly used by members of all nationalities to refer to the language and the ethnolinguistic group.