Talk:Gringo

Etymology

The word Gringo means "the green coat",I am positively sure Mexicans, Costa Ricans and Latin Americans would never use a variant of griego 'Greek' which means SLAVE as a slur to describe the Man from U.S.A. and/or an insult. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.203.7.251 (talk) 10:27, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

comments

The word Gringo comes from the the (green coats) the soldiers wore during the Mexican-American War. The mexican soldiers spaniarized phonetically what they heard. "gringos" That is why the word Gringo does not appear in anywhere before the war. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.17.226.3 (talk • contribs)

This is a mistake, a common misconception that falls apart upon any examination at all. US troops did not wear green coats, or green uniforms of any sort, during the Mexican-American War--their uniforms at the time were blue, and didn't start being green until the twentieth century, well after the war (and, incidentally, after the publication of the book whose cover we're using to illustrate this article). Heather (talk) 03:23, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Actually the Jeff Davis legion wore a green uniform. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.229.166.24 (talk) 02:02, 12 August 2010 (UTC) What are you talking about? The word "gringo" is sourced a few CENTURIES before then, and as Heather said, the army didn't even wear green uniforms then. They were, in fact, blue. Look at any picture from the era. Where you get your information is beyond me, as it all demonstrably false within 30 seconds of checking it out. heh — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.101.204.248 (talk) 05:35, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

What are you talking about? The word "gringo" is sourced a few CENTURIES before then, and as Heather said, the army didn't even wear green uniforms then. They were, in fact, blue. Look at any picture from the era. Where you get your information is beyond me, as it all demonstrably false within 30 seconds of checking it out. heh — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.101.204.248 (talk) 05:42, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

I deleted and refrased one paragraph since it was full of personal non-objective opinions and insulted one of the two parties involved (mexicans) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.219.196.254 (talk) 15:52, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

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 "[censored]".

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).

Gringo is not a racial slur, and it shouldn't be considered as one, and as FilipeS stated it's your problem if you have the nerve to get offended. But, keep in mind it can be, only if used in context. Nothing else would symbolize it as being a racial slur

I know. Stupid "niggers" have the same problem, always getting insulted when some white person refers to them as that. It's just the word white people use for black people. Not offensive or anything. And if it is, it is totally their choice. Like if I say "Awwwwww, you my 'nigga.'" they shouldn't get offended. It's a term of endearment or something. [/sarcasm]98.114.221.125 (talk) 21:39, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

For 8 months (2nd december 2005 to 18th July 2006) myself and two friends (all british, two of us fair skinned) cycled from Tijuana, through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. For those 8 months we are consistently mocked, jeered, grunted at, pointed at, laughed at, ALL THE TIME BEING LABELLED GRINGOS. If that is not racist, i dont know what is. "Gringo!, Gringo! Gringo!" for 8 MONTHS. i excuse the 3 year old children at the side of the road who used it and pointed at us because even though they were learning fast, they clearly didnt know better. The word may be used affectionately and we could tell the difference some times but for 80% of the time it was a slur. To us, the word meant "hey, look you're a gringo!" like it was a bad thing. because it was used the laughter, pointing, mocking..."blimey, you're a gringo! i feel so sorry for you!"....

...my girlfriend she started referring to me as her gringuito until i told her that i took offense to it. I TAKE HUGE OFFENSE to it. why not just say "Hola!" why make the distinction....why didnt the people of latin america just say "Hola, como están?" o "Como te va?" their gringo shouts were never accompanied by a Hello or similar question. it is hugely offensive....can you imagine what would happen if three spaniards cycled 3500 miles across the US and every single person shouted "[censored]!" as they went past?

Your point being...? It's interesting how even your girlfriend innocently called you "gringo", until you shut her up with your ignorant oversensitity. I couldn't come up with better proof that the word is not inherently offensive if I tried! FilipeS 19:17, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

yer I shouted "hey n'gger hahahahahaha" at some bloke from Africa that was cycling past on a bike yesterday. For some reason he got offended. Silly him for his ignorant oversensitity. i was really being polite. I call my girlfriend n'ggroid, that's just affectionte banter because I need to use a word that differentiates that she's not white & English. Its really funny. hahahahaha. My Spanish mate, pocho beaner do we laugh at the fact that he eats beans, hahahahahaha... 62.254.79.111 (talk) 10:31, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

What would be interesting is to know why people were jeering at you as this sounds very unusual, though perhaps your attitude to the term explains in part why people were reacting to you, but it doesnt fully explian it. It makes Latin America sound like a place unfriendly to Gringos which it absolutely is not for the great majority of people. Wierd, SqueakBox 21:51, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

(To the unsigned comment) Sorry for the unpleasant experience, but maybe you and your friends are taking this word too seriously. Usualy, when "fair skinned" people come to México, or any other place in Latin America for that matter, they're treated quite nicely by the locals, because they're usualy believed to be loaded with cash (this is specially true in beach resorts or similar places). Even in places when this may not be so (like large capital cities) it's highly unlikely to find people like the ones you described, blatantly hostile to blondes/redheads/whatever. To tell you the truth, it's very hard for me to believe what you posted; It's just not plausible that every single time you entered a new town you guys were harrased just by being "fair skinned". It just doesn't work that way here; read other comments in this talk page: Latin American people doesn't think in terms of "race". Racism it's just not that rampant here. Sorry to be blunt, but this is not the US! 189.192.88.35 00:36, 5 May 2007 (UTC) Corrigiendo nomás

Hello again, I am the original whinger who made the above post. It is not surprising to read filipe's comment and I stand by everything i wrote. For the other two posts, i would like to add that our experience in latin america was overwhelmingly a positive one. people from all the countries we visited were incredibly friendly and many very generous. Our attitude was nearly always positive, we spoke to the locals as much as possible and those that did more than grunt and shout at us were very nice people. yet, what i am trying to say above is that the overall memory and feeling we took from latin america was one of grunts, jeers and cries of "gringo" for 8 months. obviously it had a lot to do with us being on bikes, not being in a tourist bus, etc. we were "available" to the people. what i am sensitive about is that there were just too many instances of "gringo" said in bad blood. even happy go lucky truck drivers, smiling broadly, waving out of the window etc (i.e. in a very friendly manner and in a completely non-hostile manner) who shouted "Gringo!" just added to our "gringo fatigue" because of the bad times. we were drowned in it, and our over sensitivity spread over such a long time, when probably only 1 in 3 gringo shouts were hostile, caused us to shutdown and take offense. i have read and agree with a lot of the posts on this subject, of the non hostile use of the word etc, but interestingly my opinion of latin america has changed as a result of the bike trip. its a great shame. everytime someone refers to me as a gringo in buenos aires (in a cariñoso way) its hard not to think back to mexico (or wherever) and visual the people "taking the piss".... what a shame.. james wilson... wilsj76@gmail.com

A great shame indeed. I find the illusions people hold about me as a gringo far more difficult to cope with than any alleged insults (oh he's a gringo, he must be rich etc), SqueakBox 19:57, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

So even you didn't think the word was really a slur. Thanks for the information. FilipeS 19:49, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

Spaniards are not Latin Americans therefore that does not apply to them. Latin Americans are completely different to say [censored] to them it just stupid. (XGustaX 19:53, 20 May 2007 (UTC))

Indeed, large parts of Latin America are entrenched in the third world, SqueakBox 19:57, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

Having recently returned from Venezuala I found that the word gringo was used there almost exclusively as a racial slur, I think we should add that it is a very negative word in some S. American countries. Gtadoc 05:31, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

• Gringo is a inocent term; you is a dramatic!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.71.77.13 (talk) 09:07, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

I currently live/exist in san antonio texas and i think gringo is very often used as a racial slur and i am not being oversensitive just perceptive or, let's put it this way, no more sensitive than if i were being called nigger or spick or chink. I think today its not politically correct for whites to be offended by racial slurs. Just look at the media and its seldom addressed or if so quite inocuously by other races besides white that play the word down as just a point of reference. I think gringo is often used in a mocking insider type of slur that many people mockingly engage in within earshot of the target.

I cannot speak for the use of the term "gringo" since I am not familiar with it. Suffice it to say that almost every nationality and culture has a tease name or some sort of slang expression for foreigners and people not of their own extraction. This expression may not necessarily be racist or derogatory, depending on the usage. The word "Yankee" for instance may be used as an epithet in certain European circles (or southern USA for that matter), or endearingly by a New York baseball fan. Merlin1935 (talk) 18:30, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

in Europe the word we use is 'Yank(s)' as slang for our USA buddies and its definitely not offensive unless you say 'fucking Yanks'. but we wouldn't stand at the side of te road and shout 'Yanks. hahahahaha' = that would be offensive. Gringo is as offensive as spic, wog, nigger, paki, chink 62.254.79.111 (talk) 10:40, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

There seems to be an agreement on the discussion page that EVERYONE DISAGREES whether or not "Gringo" is pejorative. I think we can all agree that it depends where it is used and the context in which it is used. I think this should be noted in the "Meanings" section that it is considered offensive in the US. RAE does not describe the word as denigratoria, but Merriam Webster says it is Often Disparaging. I think it can be noted that it is offensive in the US according to popular perception and according to Merriam Webster. We have nearly all other spanish-speaking regions covered (South America, Latin America, the Caribbean, and part of North America). The US is 16% Latino, so it should be noted that the term here is offensive (and yes, the USA has one of the "Academias" that make up the Real Academia). The term is equally offensive as "Wet Back" or "Nigger" in the US.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.195.63.121 (talk) 03:05, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

I find it odd that it's use as a racial slur against fair-skinned people's is not included AT ALL in the main article. Nor the fact that hispanic legal citizens of the United States often use it to refer to white people in a deragatory way. Until reading this wiki, I didn't even know it had another use.

Extension of the word

Gringo is not used "principally in latin america", Gringo is used ONLY in latin america. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.16.155.213 (talk) 01:14, 12 May 2011 (UTC)

Except say, in the United States where it is used by immigrant communities far, far more than it is said in their native countries? Sure then, I guess that's kinda right. Or not even remotely. I've also heard the odd Spaniard use it, but they tend not to because they know it's considered a racial slur in some parts of the world. And if they didn't speak Spanish themselves, and there wasn't a culture of idealizing the culture of those from Spain, that the word would be applied to them based on physical appearance alone. I can say, for certain, that the feeling is not shared by Spaniards, as very few Latin Americans actually have much Spanish ancestry, and are considered "Native Americans" largely in Spain, having abandoned their native cultures and languages, and adopted the identity and culture of Spaniards wholesale.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.101.204.248 (talk) 04:58, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

Apologetics

I've noticed that this article contains a fair amount of apologetics. While I certainly understand why such material is in here, as it should be as a sort of disclaimer, I find it way over the top. Sourced and academic yes, but I can actually find about 40 times the sources to prove otherwise, especially if the criterion where how it is "used" rather than how it "originated" or is used in countries where it is rarely said. In Mexico (and by extension, and even more so, the immigrant community in the States, at the very least) it is indeed considered a racial slur and it's a rare day when it isn't used in some critical context. While this applies to, like I said, the United States more so than Mexico, it is the reality, and should be reflected as such. A person reading this article would assume that the usage demonstrated in this article is accurate, and it's some sort of "cultural misunderstanding" that it's used to refer to people pejoratively rather than how than how it "should" be used. Comments? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.101.204.248 (talk) 04:58, 16 August 2011 (UTC)