Gringo

From Free net encyclopedia

Gringo (feminine, gringa) is a possibly derogatory term in the Spanish and Portuguese languages used to refer to foreigners, especially those from the United States. Gringo has various related meanings, and it is often misunderstood by English-speakers. The term "American" is ambiguous in Spanish, rather than referring to people from the United States, as is usual in English.

1 Meaning
2 Other uses
3 Etymologies
4 See also
5 Quotation
6 References

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Meaning

Mexico, Central America, and northern South America: In these countries the word normally means specifically a US citizen, regardless of language spoken or ethnic origin. Its use is sometimes derogatory.

Southern South America and Spain: In these countries a gringo is a person from North America or Europe outside of the Iberian peninsula, and the term is less derogatory than in northern Latin America.

The Anglosphere: Hispanic migrants in the USA occasionally use the term as a synonym of anglo. Most English language speakers have met the word in Western films. In the United States, the term can provoke reactions incommensurate with its largely innocuous Spanish-language sense.

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Other uses

In the context of Mexican cuisine, a gringa is a mixture of spiced pork (carne al pastor), cheese, and diced pineapple sandwiched between two wheat tortillas.

In some parts of Mexico such as Yucatan, a gringa is a flour tortilla taco of carne al pastor with cheese (mostly manchego, chihuahua or oaxaca cheese). The combination is heated on the comal until piping hot and then served with a choice of salsa.

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Etymologies

The Spanish etymologist Joan Corominas states that it was a variation of griego<ref>Griego at Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, Vol. III, Joan Corominas, José A. Pascual, Editorial Gredos, Madrid, 1989, ISBN 84-249-1365-5</ref> ("Greek language"), the proverbial name for an unintelligible language (a usage found also in the Shakesperean "That's all Greek to me"). From the language, it was extended to people speaking foreign tongues and to their usual physical features.

A recurring fake etymology for the derivation of gringo states that it originated during the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. It has been claimed that Gringo comes from "green go" and used in reference to the American soldiers and the color of their uniforms. This is an example of an invented explanation, because gringo was used in Spanish long before the war and during the Mexican-American War, the US Army did not use green uniforms, but blue ones.

Yet another story, from Mexico, holds that Mexicans with knowledge of the English language used to write "greens go home" on street walls referring to the color of the uniforms of the invading army; subsequently, it became a common habitual action for the rest of the population to yell "green go" whenever US soldiers passed by.

Another legend maintains that one of two songs – either "Green Grow the Lilacs" or "Green Grow the Rushes, O" – was popular at the time, and that Mexicans heard the invading US troops singing "Green grow..." and contracted this into gringo.

Another version, heard in Brazil, refers to the United States Air Force base near Natal, Brazil during World War II. The American soldiers, wearing green uniforms, would be commanded "green, go!" by their sergeants during training.

The story of "Green Go" can also be heard in most other Latin American countries, with numerous variations. Some stories have the term originating as recently as the Vietnam war. Other stories attribute the term to other conflicts, all of which occurred too late in history to account for the earliest usages of the word.

Yet another version, also heard in Brazil, claims that when the British were building the railroads in Brazil in the beginning of the century, they would instruct the locals on how semaphores worked: Red, Stop. Green, Go. The British were thereafter known as "gringo".

In the Dominican Republic it is said that the term was a mispronunciation of the words green gold, refering to the american currency. This theory has yet to be proven.

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