Liqueur vs Liquor

A conversation at lunch today produced worrying results. Some people, apparently, do not know/believe that there is a difference between liqueur and liquor. So, this is to clear things up.

A liqueur is a sweet alcoholic beverage, often flavored with fruits, herbs, spices, flowers, seeds, roots, plants, barks, and sometimes cream. Basically, it is infused with something, or has sugar added. Liqueurs are not usually aged for long periods, but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.

Liqueurs include: Crème de Cacao, Godiva Dark Chocolate, Kahlúa, Baileys Irish Cream, Crème de menthe, 99 Bananas, Limoncello, Grand Marnier, Midori, Triple sec, Sambuca, Amaretto, Frangelico.

Liquor is most often referred to as a spirit. A spirit is a distilled, alcoholic beverage made from a fermented mash of various ingredients.The distinction between liqueur and spirits is not always simple, especially since many spirits are available in a flavored form today. Flavored spirits, however, are not prepared by infusion. Their added flavors are just... added. Whiskies, Vodka, Gin, Rum are examples.

So that's the basics. A liqueur is sweet and has added flavor. A liquor usually isn't.

So this led to a discussion about the French. In English, we have these two words. But liqueur sounds so very French. So do they just call every liqueur? Or are these distinctions in their words? I don't really know French, so I can't say.

A random online translation showed me this:

Liqueur (English)= liqueur (French)
AND liquor = boisson alcoolisée This, when translated back to English, means only "alcoholic drink". So I guess their may be differences in words, but I may never understand. As long as they aren't throwing around "liqueur" for just any old alcohol!