Exactly. Words are reductions of reality and it's very easy to let yourself be lured into a language which makes something that's actually quite complex and fuzzy seem rather simple and defined.

What is selfish and what is altruistic isn't as easily defined. In fact the only way to really clearly determine whether an action is selfish or altruistic would be to understand the intent behind the action.

But of course not even the individual are always aware of why they do what they so that doesn't really help us.