Pocho

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Pocho is a slur used to describe an uncultured Mexican who is born and/or raised in the United States. The literal meaning of pocho is a "rotten fruit." Recently, among some people, the term is used to express pride in having both a Mexican and North American heritage.

The term is used abusively in Mexico to describe Mexican Americans living in the United States who are thought to be badly educated and without a "proper" sense of Mexican culture, having forgotten or rejected their Mexican heritage. Some Mexicans believe that pochos speak a bastardized hybrid of English and Spanish (often called Spanglish). They fault pochos for using quasi-Spanish words (called "pochismos") such as "mopear" ("to mop) and "parquear" ("to park"). These Mexicans feel that the improper use of Spanish and English perpetuates the stereotype of the Mexican as lazy and ignorant.

In San Diego/Tijuana, "pocho" carries no negative connotations. The word simply refers to one who has both Mexican and North American roots.

In general, the word "pocho" can have these sometimes different meanings:

A person of Mexican heritage who acts American (a "wannabe" American).
A Mexican-American who can speak little or no Spanish.
An American who speaks Spanish and acts Mexican (a "wannabe" Mexican).
A person who frequently crosses the U.S.-Mexican border and feels at home on both sides of the border.

[edit] References

Dictionary Definition
Hispanic Vista article about Pochismos
A Note on "Pochismo" by William E. Wilson, The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 30, No. 6 (Oct., 1946), pp. 345-346 (Available online at JSTOR - membership required)