Say I'm on a road trip and I'm going to Hawaii. Is it correct to call Hawaii the target of the trip? How about the destination of the trip? The end point of the trip? Which is best, and what are the nuances of each?
What if I was flying by plane instead?
And what if I was walking to the video store down the block — is the video store my 'destination' or what?
Best Answer
Target is something you try to hit; a mark you aim at when shooting, or figuratively a goal or objective of your actions. Destination is a place where you want to arrive. In both of your examples (Hawaii and the video store), I would go with destination. I would only call Hawaii a target in the context of war, or if it were a node in a directed graph. In the context of flying by plane, target sounds especially scary, because it brings 9/11 to mind.
Further reading: