Gabacho

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Gabacho (feminine, Gabacha) is a rather derogatory word used in Spanish to describe foreigners of different origins:

  • In the United States it is used mainly by Mexican Americans (and by extension American Hispanics) as a pejorative name for White Americans. It is not widely used or understood by Spanish speakers in the Americas outside the USA and Mexico. The term Güero (disambiguation) or Huero is sometimes used interchangeably to describe someone whom is pale skin and can also mean someone whom might be of Latino roots but mainly speaks English and acts American.
  • In Mexico it refers to US citizens, especially as a pejorative alternative to the milder gringo. It became widely used in Mexico during the French occupation as a term to refer to the invading French.
  • In Spain, where the word was first used in Spanish, it was used in the first instance to describe people from the skirts of the Pyrenees and then, more generally, when referring to a person from France, which is its main use today. It is also used in Occitan for a rude mountain dweller who speaks the national language badly, being this the origin of the word that, by semantic sliding, was then applied to French people in Spain and to US Anglo-saxon citizens in Mexico or the United States by Mexican Americans.
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