Talk:Gringo

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Contents 1 Opening comments 2 Etymology 3 Applications 4 "Green go"? 5 My friends & I use the term 6 Emminent Gringos 7 Gabacho 8 The mere form of talk here proves one thing... 9 The G Word 10 Gringo is an offensive racial slur 11 Cumbersome 12 Green Go 13 Languages 14 Race irrelevant. 15 "In Central America, the word is not pejorative, and sometimes is used to American expatriates to refer to themselves. " 16 This article is pathetically biased. "Gringo" is a virulently racist term of hate. 17 Usage in Spain 18 Refering to all foreigners? 19 Notes from a mexican 20 Bad effects of the word "gringo"

[edit] Opening comments

Much of that which is below is inaccurate, excepting the assertion that the etymology traces back until at least the 17th century. The term is a variation on the Greek word, griego, or "foreigner." Hence "esto para los labradores era hablarles en Griego o gerigonça" which mutated to gringo.

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I read that the derivation of the term "Gringo", referring to a amercian by Latin Americans, came from the song "Green Grow the Lilacs"¹, which was often sung by US soldiers during the invasion of Mexico just prior to WW I. Any basis in fact, or is this yet another cute folk etymology? And in either case, does it warrant listing in the article?

I always learned that the term barbarian comes from the latin word for beard "barbam" because the tribes outside of rome grew long beards, while for many years it was highly unfashionable for a roman to have facial hair. This ended with Trajan, ironically a roman of celtic (barbarian) origin

No, the word is Greek, not Latin. It's a bit of a guess as to what exactly the point of the word is; a sneer at unintelligible speech is as good a guess as any. (Once you've decided that the barba part is the Latin word for "beard", the rest of the form is unanalyzable in terms of Latin morphology. Latin does have words with a noun-building suffix in -ro- but it's not productive in Classical Latin and I imagine largely invisible to the Romans themselves who, surely, didn't realized that a word like mūrus "wall" has a suffix *-ro-.) Alsihler 17:52, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

¹Or maybe "Green Grow the Rushes-O", a Scots song. Jor 14:15, 14 Feb 2004 (UTC)

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The song is Irish and the term is also suppose to come from the San Patricios. The San Patricio FYI (As it most likely wasn't in your history book) http://www.vivasancarlos.com/patrick.html http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/SS/qis1.html http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1955/4/1955_4_20.shtml

The following is from Joan Corominas's Diccionario Crítico Etimológico Castellano e Hispánico:

esto para los labradores era hablarles en Griego o gerigonça. 1615 Quijote II.

In the 18th and 19th century, the word appears deformed as gringo, desde Terr.[?]:

gringos llaman en Málaga a los estranjeros, que tienen cierta especie de acento, que los priva de una locución fácil y natural Castellana, y en Madrid dan el mismo nombre con particularidad a los irlandeses"

Applied to people, also in Estébanez Calderón (no pocos gringos y extranjeros) and Emilia Pardo-Bazán (más vale una chula que treinta gringas)

--Error 00:42, 15 Feb 2004 (UTC)

When I was in Chile, I was given an explanation that combined the Mexican-American war and Brazilian examples: The American soliders occupying Mexico city wore green and the locals yelled at them "Green, go!" Also, I was told that "gringo" specifically applies to persons from the USA because they call the US "los Estados Unidos" and the term for a person from "los EU" is very long and clumsy (I never learned it properly, but it is something like "estadounitiense"). AdamRetchless 13:45, 9 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Estadounidense. Yes, it is a little long. — Chameleon

Actually my sources have an alternative and cuter explanation for the term gringo.

It seems that the Mexicans may have based the term on a misunderstanding of a popular north american song. The song was either "Green Grow the Rushes, Oh!" or "Green Grow the Lilacs" (itself based on the Scottish song "Green Grows the Laurel" and about an American solidier's love of a Mexican woman). The listening Mexicans could only make out the first few syllables, "Green Gro" and used it as a term of abuse.

Opinion is divided as to what period the term stems from. Either from the days of cowboys in south Texas, or during US army efforts to find Pancho Villa.

Gringo from greek!! -> Completely wrong!!

It does not apply to white skinned people either. In mexico a gringo can be black, chinese, white, yellow or blue... the only requirement is to be comming from the USA. Sometimes British people are mistaken by gringos, but once that it is clear where they come from the nickname gringo does not apply anymore.

Gringo does not come either from the song... Imagine the time of the American invasion to Mexico **american music being sang or broadcasted via Radio! No!

As per the history learnt and the old people in Mexico, the accurate definition comes from nationals from Mexico shouting "green go" to the invaders as they were using green soldier clothes. +green go+ GRINGO < the way it sounds in Spanish.

[edit] Etymology

Gringo from Greek? Never heard this before. Never heard a Spanish speaking person of any country remfer to an incomprehensible language as "griego" I bet ALL Latin Americans when confronted with a foreign language or characters have the same reaction: "That's 'chino' (Chinese)" not griego!?

Uh, well, MY Spanish dictionary gives as one of the meanings of griego "unintelligible speech". That's pretty straightforward. I've been told that there's a verb that goes with it, griegar "to speak unintelligibly" but Cuyás doesn't have it. Alsihler 18:04, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

I Don't understand why a poorly reasoned etymology is placed as the preferred origin of a word. Then present a "fake etymology" with a lengthy explanation including historical facts.

Read above, the usage goes as far as Quijote. Corominas is the authority on Spanish etimology. And there is the Shakesperean That's Greek to me. -- Error 01:37, 20 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Time out. In the Shakespeare passage, from Julius Caesar, Greek means Greek. In Act 1 scene 2 Casca is describing an (offstage) assembly at which, he says, Cicero addressed the crowd in Greek. He relates that those who understood were entranced, but he couldn't say more because (after all) it was Greek. It hath become proverbial, butas is often the case in quotations, in a slightly skewed sense from the original. [Note: addressing a public gathering in Greek would be an unlikely event in Rome; upper crust Romans were universally steeped in Greek language and culture, but were jealous of Latin. Cicero got into trouble once for addressing the Syracusan assembly in Greek when, as an emissary of Rome, he should have stuck to Latin.]Alsihler 18:04, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

12/23/06-No, Corominas isn't "the" authority on the spanish language. First of all he is catalan from spain. I think i trust the mexicans more to explain a word that they made popular. Even if the word does originate from a few hundred years ago in spain, which it probably doesnt, it is not the same as the current usage in latin america. The most reasonable explanation for the word is the "green go" explanation.

"Never heard a Spanish speaking person of any country remfer to an incomprehensible language as "griego": One reason for this is that the supposed etymology would be much more ancient. I understand that the The word "greek" or "grecian" is derived from Latin and originally meant "foreign", rather than being specific to the Hellenic states. This meaning did survive in a number of romance languages. The "green coat" theory sounds much paler to me, for one thing it seems unlikely that a localized war would result in such a generalized epithet.

"Gringo" meaning light skinned? I have never heard the word "gringo" used in such a neutral way: it always connotates nationality (usually U.S., often Canadian, sometimes any predominantly white-European foreign nation). It sounds as though somebody has confused the word "gringo" with "güero".

The Diccionario de la Real Academia Española doesn't provide an etymology, it just says that it is "debated" [1]. I don't think the "griego" story should be presented as a fact, if apparently an authority such as RAE doesn't buy it. Itub 18:33, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

As far as etymology's concerned, the RAE are amateurs alongside Corominas. María Moliner is happy with the "griego" explanation, too. It might not be 100% certain, but it does seem the most likely alternative. –Hajor 18:44, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

This line is quite unclear and appears to be redundant, removed 14:33, 30 May 2006 (UTC):

Edit 21:55, 27 May 2006 201.145.108.67

Also is important to say, that in Mexico was used as "Green Go" that is pronounced in spanish as "gringo", this was used by people that dislike american soldiers.

I'm sorry, this article is very biased to one possible scenario. Who is keeping such a tight grip on this entry that other informed scholars cannot edit it? I support the dispute of this article's neutrality. I have no political issue with the term (where I work as an anthropologist the term is MUCH more nuanced than this article states, so others should be able to edit the article). Is there any way for me to further my support of the dispute over neutrality?Chunchucmil 23:59, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

"I have no political issue with the term" -- Does that mean you don't know much about it? If you have a reliable source that accepts any of the popular etymologies as factual, then present it. Otherwise, read this: "Equal weight" is not Neutral. FilipeS 00:05, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

I completely agree with FilipeS. What I (and others) need to do is to cite all of the references that provide alternative etymologies. However, such edits should then be accepted, not as "false" etymologies, but alternative etymologies. While my research deals with terms much older than "gringo" (largely Pre-Columbian or early Colonial Mesoamerica), I honestly do not believe that the etymology of this term is as fixed as is intimated by this article.Chunchucmil 00:20, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Applications

Two details I guess could be included in the article:

1. In Brazil, the term is usually understood as a synonym for "foreigner", but it's preferably applied to North-Americans (U.S. and Canada) and Europeans. It is especially used when refering to a particular physical appearence, namely tourists with transparent-white skin, usually already reddish from exposure to the sun. In that context, Germans, Scandinavians and North-Americans are the main "target". Although the expression is not pejorative, people do avoid saying it to a foreigner, as they use it only when talking about them. The term is usually not applied to citizens of Latin American countries, if the locals happen to know the place of origin of a foreigner, even if they too are transparent-white.

2. In Mexico, the United States are jocosely dubbed "Gringolandia", a pun with "gringo" and "Disneyland" (Disneylandia in Spanish), the former being an association with people from the U.S. and the latter with the country itself.

Regards, Redux 05:59, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

3. Currently in the American Southwest I have noticed that 'Anglo' is a bit less complementary than 'Gringo.' This was referred in a documentary on Los Angeles and I'm aware of it here in northern New Mexico where I do construction with both hispanic Nortenos and Mexicans, as well as other Latin Americans. In the Los Angeles documentary the 'anglos' were the 'ricos' of 'West LA' whereas 'gringos' were just other working stiffs of European descent. I'd be interested if others are aware of this pattern.

4.The story I was told, and I will repeat it as a curiosity only, is that in the late eighteen hundreds Colonel William Green bought mining rights in Cananea, in the northern part of Sonora, 40 miles from the US border. After a few years of explotation,in 1906, the Mexican workers decided to strike. conflict followed and then 25 miners were killed by gunfire.During later demonstrations people chanted "Green Go!"; meaning "Colonel Green, Go Home". People ignorant of the english language heard this and repeated the words as "gringo!". Perhaps in a derogative fashion. However, as a Mexican myself, I have never used the word in a pejorative way nor do I remember anybody using it as an insult, but mostly to describe a white north American.

[edit] "Green go"?

Gringo comes from "green go" and used for reference to American soldiers during the Mexican-American War since their uniforms were of color green. The standard uniform of regular U.S. Army soldiers in that war was BLUE, not green. The various State militias, who made up a large portion of the United States' order of battle, wore a wide variety of different "uniforms". Quite a few units even had no standard issue clothing. So it would seem Green Go is a NO GO, at least as far as uniforms are concerned.--R.D.H. (Ghost In The Machine) 21:54, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

• Don't sweat disproving the 'green go' etymology because etymolgists have been trying to do so for years and certain people would rather believe in a ridiculous folk etymology, especially one which reinforces the type of cultural pride which use of the racist term is meant to elicit...like all racial slurs. I don't think the bolding of , the US Army did not use green uniforms, but blue ones is necessary since the whole thing is listed under 'folk' i.e. 'not true' etymology.--Hraefen 18:19, 12 January 2006 (UTC)
  • Careful about saying 'Folk' is 'not true' in all forms. *mutters under breath* 15:03, 1 May 2006 (UTC)
• If it was 'true', it would not be 'folk,' it's usually a pretty simple determination. What some people believe is the truth about a word's origin is often proved not to be true, but some people cling to the wrong derivation for various reasons. This is not to say that folk etymology isn't a powerful force in semantic change and etymology in general. Folk etymologies are kinda like myths: most people don't believe that they're true (although some do), yet they still have the power to move our moral imaginations.--Hraefen ^Talk 15:14, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] My friends & I use the term

We allways refer to people that are of european(white) ancestry.

[edit] Emminent Gringos

What's up with this section? Why are the two names listed more eminent than the other hundreds of millions of gringos? I think the section should be deleted. Itub 13:18, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gabacho

I heard on the radio (NPR) a Mexican-American saying that Mexicans use the term 'gabacho' to refer to Americans, more often than they use 'gringo'. Can you confirm? If so, I think that this fact has a place in the article. ike9898 01:04, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

• I live in Mexico, and we definitely use more often the word "Gringo" rather than "gabacho". This is in central and south Mexico. makeyourself 01:01, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The mere form of talk here proves one thing...

Nobody here knows a hheap of shit. In Mexicom, amercians' are scorned at and considetred 'Gringo', and somehow inferior. Also compare to militant mexican culture in the United states brought by the human migratory patterns bnears the southern amercian border.

Furthermore I have heard the term used as a negattive within the last three monthw, go listen to ctalk on the streets of LA.

[edit] The G Word

The term 'Gringo' is also used as a racial slur in the US. --70.225.67.134 00:02, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gringo is an offensive racial slur

Gringo is understood by the people it is used to describe as an offensive and insulting racial slur. It is no less offensive than the use of the word "spic".

It seems odd to me that the opening sentence of the article describes the word as 'racist', since the article goes on to say repeatedly that the word is often used quite innocuously. I.e. it is only sometimes racist. Hence I think the word 'racist' should be removed from the opening sentence, or at least clarified. 217.155.116.125 13:19, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree. I depends on the intent of the person using it. It is similar to refering to someone a "Jew"; that is not necessarily offensive, but manner that some people use it makes it offensive. ike9898 16:35, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

I think the offensiveness of these terms is decided by those they are used against. In Australia the word abo is considered highly offensive by indigenous people yet many white Australians are unaware of this because they see it as just an abbreviation for aborigine. Another case is the term Third World. Even though it merely means those nations not aligned with either the United States of America nor the Soviet Union during the cold war, it is considered offensive enough these days that it is labeled politically incorrect and other terms such as developing nations are reccommended. — Hippietrail 23:38, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

In Brazil at least, in my experience, gringo is most often not offensive at all; it just means foreigner or maybe, more specifically, the typical foreigner who comes to the country as a tourist: someone who is very light-skinned and/or from a first-world country. In fact, I have even heard it used as a good thing, in slang. For example, if a certain product is of very good quality, it can be said that it "is gringo"; this, in analogy to a product being imported, and supposedly better than a domestically-produced item -- even if the product in question is not really imported. Please note, though, that I don't know how widespread this specific slang usage is; I'm just using it to illustrate that gringo is not necessarily (and I would guess rarely) pejorative (in Brazil).

But, of course, as it's been said, it could always be used in a negative way, depending on the context -- for example, if you are talking about something where foreigners are seen negatively. I could think, of for example, someone saying that someone else "plays football like a gringo", as Brazilians in general see themselves as better footballers than pretty much anyone else, and especially than the people who are usually identified with the word gringo. But I guess even in that case it's not the word that carries a bad connotation. --Cotoco 15:02, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

As briefly noted in this article, people in Brazil may occasionally use 'gringo' in a complementary way, but in Northern Latin America (Mexicans, Central Americans), the word 'gringo' is certainly not used as a term of endearment. It is an epithet. To be sure, it's an unthinking one for most people who use the term. But it's an epithet, nonetheless. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous. It's surprising that a term so loaded with such obvious racial and nationalistic connotations could be passed off as 'innocuous' by any serious observer. (Just because it easily rolls off the tongues of some people, that doesn't make it any less racial, and thus offensive.)

From what I've read, it's not done "occasionally", but almost always. The negative connotation of "gringo" in north and central America seems to be the exception. Let's remember how much larger South America is than northern and central Latin America, please. FilipeS 15:36, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

The term is highly offensive. We who are offended get to make that decision, not you apologists for the users of the racist epithet.BulldogPete

If you get offended, that's entirely by your own choice. The word is not intrinsically derogatory as commonly used by native speakers (as opposed to ignorant, paranoid foreigners), much less racist (LOL!), so please quit editing the article to insert that falsehood, or you shall be reported. FilipeS 13:52, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

As the article states (right now at least), gring is a derrogative term only depending on the context. The word doesn't imply anything besides the fact that certain person is from USA (in Mexico at least). Most of the time it's used for the lack of words in Spanish for "American". To us "Americano" would mean from the continent of America. "Norte Americano" from North America. And "Estadounidense"... that's just too long. Hence, gringo. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 201.141.209.10 (talk) 01:06, 4 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Cumbersome

The article says while the more specific term "estadounidense" ("one from the United States") is somewhat cumbersome to pronounce. Cumbersome? I find the term long and boring to pronounce but not ackward at all. Of course it is my opinion, so i want some feedback (from other spanish native speakers, please) about this statement. baloo_rch 01:18, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

i think cumbersome to pronounce is a fair characterization. of course this tidbit is open to an individual's opinion but as a spanish native speaker i think that this is a fair description. uri budnik 20:42, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Rather than talking about "cumbersomeness" (is this cumbersome enough?), it would be better to say that "gringo" is shorter than "estadunidense".

But that still does not go to the heart of the matter. The fact is that it's simply not true that the word "gringo" was coined for US citizens, or WASPS, or other Anglo-Saxons. It has a broader sense than that. The article is still misleading about this. FilipeS 15:42, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Green Go

I´m Mexican, my grandfather says that when the US army came to mexico a long time ago, mexicans not knowing english lenguage, wrote on the walls, like graffiti paints GREEN GO (thinking that means "green go away"), the used the color green because they got green eyes, and wear green uniforms.

• See section 3 above. This is a thoroughly discredited etymology, but it is addressed in the article because it is so widely believed. The word gringo was in Spain before Spaniards came to the New World. You'd think this would be eveidence enough to discredit this theory, but alas...--Hraefen ^Talk 15:15, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

In section 3 above, I see not a date before 1615. The first reference to the term "gringo" (not griego") is dated in the XVIII century. Well post-Columbus. Furthermore, I see no connection at all between both terms. I wholeheartly agree that the common reference in Spanish for incomprehensive foreign language is "chino". Frankly, Cervantes litarary style cannot be considered that of the folk. On the other hand, in Venezuela, my home country, "gringo" is any American, in a completely non derogative way. In the 50's and 60's it was widely regarded as a Mexican term.

[edit] Languages

I will put Portuguese (It englobes all portuguese wether be european, brazilian...) instead of Brazilian portuguese because at least where I come from (north of Portugal) we use Gringo to refer to foreigners, especially Anglos.

My dad is portuguese from Lisbon I think, and he calls me and my mom a gringo/ga all the time and he always said it ment stupid man/woman.

[edit] Race irrelevant.

Why do some people insist on making distinctions of "white"/"non-white" when discussing cultural interactions of Latin and Anglo Americas? Contrary to popular belief, not every single person from Tiajuana to Tierra del Fuego is of Mestizo extraction. Latin America's population is incredibly diverse, with ancestries European, Indigenous, and African all well-represented. "Gringo" is a term I've heard used by Latin Americans of all colours to describe Anglo Americans of all colours.

From what I've read, you are quite right. The article is still too "Anglocentric" (in the US's sense of "Anglo"). FilipeS

It's not used in that way in Argentina and Uruguayat least so I change "It is used in "Latin America" for "it's used in some countries of L. AMerica"

[edit] "In Central America, the word is not pejorative, and sometimes is used to American expatriates to refer to themselves. "

In Central America, the term most certainly IS pejorative, and is wielded in exactly the same way "spic" might be against a Mexican.

Please source your claim which I find bizarre, 18:43, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

That some expatriates use it does not prove its innocuousness. Many blacks refer to themselves as "niggers," but this does little to render this term innocent.BulldogPete 04:01, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

It's a mistake to assume that all words which may on occasion be used despectively are as negative as "nigger". For example, "bitch" is one such word in English: possibly derogatory, though not necessarily so, but I think you'll agree it's not as strong an insult as "nigger". My impression is that foreigners tend to interpret local slang in an excessively negative way, disproportionate with how those terms are actually used by native speakers. FilipeS 14:36, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Let's be honest: it's not a term of endearment. And the writer's assertion that it is "not pejorative" is certainly a matter of opinion -- and clearly a matter to be debated -- and something that does not belong in an article here stated as fact. BulldogPete 02:30, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

I disagree that whether a word is pejorative is a matter of opinion. That sort of thing can be checked in a dictionary. That said, I am not particularly familiar with Central America. You may be right that the word is invariably an insult there. It isn't so everywhere, though. FilipeS 02:44, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

lol. It is not, IMO, used exclusively as an insult in Central America, mas bien its just used as a descriptive word, like black not nigger. I await some sources as the only way to resolve this, SqueakBox 18:43, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

While I was in Honduras, as a "gringo", I heard it used both perjoratively, and amicably. Much more often it was used in a friendly way.

Sure, and I have a book where an old Southern farmer says "Now the niggers got liquored up every night -- now, I don't mean nothing by that term." So he used "nigger" "amicably," but I think this would do little to comfort blacks who heard the conversation.BulldogPete 12:27, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

You know central America? The difference is that "gringos dont feel either threatened or racially abused by this term any more than blacks do in the US if they are called blacks, Afro-Americans etc, and to compare Gringo to nigger is an unfair comparison, SqueakBox 17:05, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

The assumption that "gringo" is just like "nigger" does seem to be a common ethnocentric prejudice in Americans. Or perhaps it's that gringo is indeed like "nigger" in American culture. But not so elsewhere. All cultures are not equal. FilipeS 17:34, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

As an anthropologist, I must state that words can be used in various contexts with various intentions and meanings. We should not allow a single meaning of such "slang" to be canonized by a single context. In Yucatan (Mexico), for instance, there is a difference between urban and rural contexts. In the rural areas, among Maya farmers and hunters, gringo is used as the Maya replacement for "Chel" (light skinned person, no matter what nationality). But in the urban areas, it is used as a prejorative term for Americans.Chunchucmil 00:12, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] This article is pathetically biased. "Gringo" is a virulently racist term of hate.

Were this not a term used primarily to tar whites, the tenor of this article would be far different.

All of a sudden, the "intent" of the speaker is important, rather than the word. Never mind that the etymologies of "spic" and "gringo" are very similar. Gringo="greek" as in "wow, I don't understand what those weird foreign guys are saying."

"Spic"="spiggody" as in "You don't speak-a-dee English? I don't understand what you're saying."

Gringo = racist links:

Gringo on list of racist terms. [[2]]

"And I would point out that 'Gringo' is also a racial slur against White people by the hispanics!!! Why do we allow the racist term Gringo to be used against us without an outrage and a demand for the hispanics to stop using it??" [[3]]

"I as a white american consider 'gringo' to be a racist term." [[4]]

Gringo is used by the racist hate group MEChA. "In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage but also of the brutal 'gringo' invasion of our territories..."

"By the way, if you think that 'gringo' is a term of brotherly affection, you are wrong. It is not an insult on the level of 'wetback' but is on a par with 'spick' which is not acceptable speech by any 'gringo.'" ttp://www.anklebitingpundits.com/content/?p=1217#comment-31791

"A racist term used by Mexicans and other hispanics referring to Americans - a hateful term used frequently and commonly." [[5]]

"I just wanted to comment that GRINGO is a racist term... same as beaner, or the N word... so if you say gringo yet claim to not be racist.... guess what you are?" [[6]]

From http://www.answers.com/topic/gringo:

grin·go (grĭng'gō) pronunciation

n. Offensive Slang., pl. -gos.

Used as a disparaging term for a foreigner in Latin America, especially an American or English person.

[Spanish, foreign, foreign language, gibberish, probably alteration of griego, Greek, from Latin Graecus. See Greek.]

WORD HISTORY In Latin America the word gringo is an offensive term for a foreigner, particularly an American or English person.

Let's stop the bias and call this hateful term what it is: racist.87.117.199.130

You shouldn't assume that everyone is as negative as yourself. :-) FilipeS 20:51, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

Let me make it clear that I personally, and I am sure most Europeans and Australasians as well, would be far more offended to be called an Americano than to be called a Gringo, and the default mistake of thinking all westerners belonmg to the US causes far more damage than the word Gringo, SqueakBox 02:26, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

Well, I am European, and I would not feel offended it I were ever mistaken for an American. I think the problem with the word "gringo" is that it can sometimes be used derogatorily. But this is true of many words. If you say "that f*** son of a b***", you're using the word "son" derogatorily, but that doesn't mean that "son" is, in general, a slur.

Another possible problem is that I suspect the Latino communities inside the U.S. may give the word a more negative sense than it has in many Latin American countries.

Which brings me to another point; how Americans seem to have a tendency to assume that any (possible) slur ir race-based. See the article by the American expat who lives in Brazil, at the bottom of the article. While "gringo" may have racial overtones (because people of certain races are more easily identified as foreigners in Latin America), it is definitely not a racial notion, at least as used in a large part of L.A. FilipeS 12:22, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Here in Costa Rica the term 'Gringo' and 'Gringa' are definitely NOT offensve. North Americans, including myself, refer to each other using the term while Europeans are distinguish by referencing their particuliar nationality. Native Costa Ricans proudly refer to themselves as Tico or Tica and encourage the expats living here to use the terms. It all works quite nicely and no one is offended. Frankly, I'm rather proud to live in here and be ID'ed as 'gringo'. Woldbrook 16:45, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Certainly for me being called a Gringo is to do with my European and British heritage and the fact that I speak Spanish with a pronounced foreign accent. It certainly isnt to do with being white as there are many white people here who are natives to this part of the world, speak Spanish as their first language, etc, SqueakBox 16:56, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Gringo is racist? Most gringos I know, particularly those who live in Latin America or interact with Latin Americans in Los Angeles, are pretty comfortable with the term and accept their gringo status with good humor. There is, of course, resentment of gringos when they act superior, hypocritical, politically arrogant or boorish. But, more often than not, Latin Americans like their gringos and never tire of saying something like, "We like you gringos/norteamericanos but not your government." To refer to fair complexion, Mexicans typically use huero, Salvadorans say chele, Peruvians say colorado or blancón. In Latin America, there are hundreds of different terms and nicknames to describe someone's coloring. Yes, Latin Americans might use their own color profiling norms to make an assumption that someone is a gringo. But, most Latin Americans are sophisticated in reading color within a range of mostly cultural and social variables. Some two-fifths of Latin Americans consider themselves to be white, and yet those blancos are just as likely to call the norteamericano a gringo while never imagining that the term could apply to themselves. Those who claim gringo is a "virulently racist term of hate" have been listening to too much talk radio. The reference to MECHA above is a giveaway. Especially in Los Angeles, there is some hysterical, politically motivated agitation against students who belong (or belonged) to campus MECHA chapters and against teachers and families associated with a culturally innovative charter school. I happen to know some of the founders of the school, and critics are way off base. When nativists claim that Chicano or Latino identity or politics is racial, they often misundrstand what Latin Americans mean by the Spanish terms "raza" and "racismo." I teach comparative race relations (Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Bolivia, Dominican Republic and US), and the distinction between race and raza, or rasicm and racismo, is important. In Mexico, for example, the term "raza cósmica" refers to a culture that supposedly transcends race. Most Mexicans know that there is plenty of color prejudice in their society, but they don't assign people to specific "races" or try to use a color line in the U.S. manner. When Bolivians refer to someone's "raza," they are making a cultural (not color) distinction. In the north Peruvian highlands, there are groups of Indians who are blond and blue eyed. No one would ever call them gringos. Because the talk radio and anti-immigrant demagogues can only understand "race" as it exists in their own consciousness and U.S. usage (and probably also because they racialize Latin Americans), they perceive "raza" and "gringo" as U.S.-style racial categories. The best analogy for gingo that I can think of is the Hawaiian term "haole." Yes, it can be used in a derogatory or semi-racial way, but its origins in "foreigner" are not called into question. Almost all haoles in Hawaii refer to themselves as haoles. Many, if not most, also recognize that native Hawaiians have legitimate historical and cultural reasons for resenting haole dominance of land and economy. The few haoles who get all agitated about Hawaiian "racism" toward them are usually recent arrivals from California who have little cultural understanding or empathy. Haoles would much rather be called haoles than "white people." Hawaiians sometimes argue about how broad to make haole (for example, whether or not Japanese Hawaiians are haoles), but their usage is predominantly cultural. Someone in Hawaii can be fair complexioned, have an English last name and a mother who was mostly of Portuguese ancestry, yet no one will call them a haole. I agree with the comment above that there are much worse things than gringo that Latin Americans can call a Yanqui. A Latin American boyfriend or husband might call their U.S. partner "mi gringuita." But a Latin American would never use gringa to speak of his locally-born partner just because she is white. It is nationality, not phenotype. For these reasons I believe the main Wikipedia entry is a job well done. It should not surprise that many Mexicans have nationalistic or folkloric beliefs about the term's origins. That does not make them correct etymologically, but it does clarify current usage. Yankees entering Mexico to wage war or own business got into conflict with Mexicans. Songs, uniforms, color of money, linguistic misunderstandings: all seem to be cultural stories, some self-deprecating, that Mexicans tell about their reaction to the foreigners coming from the north. When a few whites complain that they are not allowed to call Mexicans "beaners," and therefore resent being referred to as "gringos," they are revealing more about themselves than they imagine. lastudies 31 January 2007.

What people don't understand is that not many countries are as "race and ethnicity sensitive" as USA. Racism isn't really a problem in Mexico (like classism or sexism). Yes, racism exists to some extent here, but it's nothing compared to racism in USA. Ethnicity, nationality or color of skin don't mean much in Mexico. So, if you meet a gringo that has lived a big chunk of his life in Mexico, you will probably notice that he is comfortable with that term, and it can indeed used as a term of endearment. The term is mostly used because gringo is shorter than norteamericano, americano or estadounidense. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 201.141.209.10 (talk) 01:31, 4 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Usage in Spain

This article notes nothing about the usage in Spain. If the term is not used in Spain, that should be noted. Casey14 02:36, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Refering to all foreigners?

"used in some countries of Latin America to refer to foreigners from different cultures (from the United States especially, but also from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere, including sometimes other countries of Latin America itself)."

This is completely wrong. The term "Gringo" is used specifically for people from the USA, at least, in the context used in all latinamerica.

No, its definitely can be used to cover British people and doubtless other Europeans who arent Spanish. It can refer specifically to US people or it can have a wider meaning. On the other hand Latinos from one country would never refer to Gringo's from another country as Gringos, SqueakBox 21:00, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

See Thaddeus Blanchette's article, at the bottom of the page. By the way: read carefully. The Wikipedia article does not say the word is used for all foreigners. FilipeS 21:09, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Cant see it it, it isnt online. What exactly does it say. We need more refs that gringo can be used to describe Latinos as it sounds contrived to me, SqueakBox 21:44, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Odd, I can see it fine. Try again. (It may take a while to load. The website is not very user-friendly.)

P.S. Oh, and here's the relevant quote:

I suspect this comes as a bit of a surprise to any latinos who might be reading this, but in Brazil, "gringo" is even applied to foreigners hailing from other parts of Latin America. The Rio daily newspaper O Povo recently ran a front page item detailing an attempted mugging of an American by three Ecuadorians in Tom Jobim airport. The headline? "Gringo rouba gringo" ("Gringos steal from gringo").

FilipeS 22:00, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Well that specifically relates to Brazilians and their relation to Hispanic Latinos. This specific info would be great to include somewhere in the article that isnt the opening, it certainly sounds credible (because of the different languages), SqueakBox 22:14, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Notes from a mexican

Let me cut in and offer some points to consider:

• The source of the word it's unclear for us too. There's plenty of different versions about it's origin (most of them are already written in this talk page) and none is deemed more accurate than the rest.

• "Estadounidense" it's widely used, it's just that it's too proper and formal to use it all the time. It's worth noting that you're officially "Estados Unidos de America" to us, not "America", so although "americano" it's certainly used, it's not the de facto word, because it's considered inaccurate.

• Gringo it's certainly applied to US people only, at least in Mexico. There's no equivalent word for guys from New Zeland, canadians, australians, or for english people. It is a matter of nationality. Obviously, casual onlookers don't tend make sure if a tourist passing by it's actually from the states, so they just asume he is. African-american people can be asumed to be gringos as well, but they can also may be mistaken for cubans or brazilians. Clothes are what usually determines nationality for an onlooker in these cases. Asian-americans are often misktaken for actual people from Asia, unless there's clear evidence of the contrary.

• Although clearly not a complement, the word itself it's not an insult. It sure can be, but that depends on the speaker. A little judgement call is required (a rowdy group of friendly mexican party hosts are not going to use it in the same way an angry cab driver, for instance). Gringo is just an (mildly) rude affirmation that "you're not from here". There's a wide variety of much harsher words to offend visitors, so if you hear the word, know that it wasn't really ment to hurt you. In most cases, it's a neutral term, unless context makes it otherwise.

It's ludicrous to think of it as a racial slur. In a worst-case scenario, it can be xenophobic, but racist? Note that the idea of "politically correct terms" it's something of a foreign concept in Mexico (and most Latin America also), because we mexicans don't normally think of ourselves (and therefore others) as a "race". If we discuss italians, we don't talk about the "italian race", we discuss them as a nation. Same thing with gringos. In Mexico, the race issue it's rarely, if ever, brought up in non-intellectual conversations among natives. It's just not that sensitive of an issue here, so we can be a lot more casual about it.

- Seconding the comments by the mexican guy (from another mexican), gringo, in my experience, is no longer considered an insult. It is used rather as a descriptive term, i.e. "he is a gringo" has the same function as "he is a mexican". This is how, through context, it could be given a derogatory connotation, the equivalent of, for example, saying "filthy mexicans".

This is also why generally you do not say "gringo" to an american in their face, it would be the same as addressing someone as "you mexican", not quite an insult but definitely disrespectful.

I use the word gringo, with purely a descriptive function, the same as saying italian, greek, etc. Me and my friends do this because of the conundrum of properly naming a united states citizen, since "american" or "north american" are technically incorrect as they also encompass Canada and Mexico. "Estadounidense" is quite cumbersome, but more importantly it is also vague, the official name of Mexico is "Estados Unidos Mexicanos", making mexicans "estadounidenses" (of mexico) as well.

Something that might be influencing this is that (to my knowledge) the american english vocabulary does not use (generally neutral) "nicknames" for people from other areas, whereas it is common in mexico. For example, people from mexico city are often referred to as "chilangos". This word has almost identical properties with "gringo", it can definitely be used as an insult or as a racial term (shops in northern mexico often display a sign of "serve the country, kill a chilango" and "no admittance to dogs or chilangos") but when outside of mexico city, I describe myself as a chilango, there's even a magazine called "chilango", listing events in mexico city. I admit it's a rather complex use of a word, but then again context should make it clear whether it's meant as an insult or not.

Pakal 23:22, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bad effects of the word "gringo"

I have removed this personal essay.

One can say that the general use of the word "gringo" against white people or groups of white people has strong negative effects concerning the connections between the continents. Central American and the South American populations are blocking themselves from contents and wisdom of Europe and North America, which of course has to be selected.

By the word "gringo" also popular propaganda by populists is supported and prejudices are enforced as they are in the history books until today. This leads to falsifications of the history and to new enemy pictures - and above all to the denial of true reasons of bad happenings e.g. of economical crises or wars etc. Also personal relationships can be badly damaged by the word "gringo" when e.g. the general mentality of a town (generated by "school programs") or private propaganda work is enforced against race mixed families or is damaging relationships within families.

So the word "gringo" has not at all a good effect whereas the countries of Central and South America are independent since more than 150 years. As it seems these negative effects have never been concerned by the governments of Central and South America until now.

--Error 23:11, 5 March 2007 (UTC)