Is "Gringo" an offensive or derogatory word?
My Mexican non-English speaking cousin-in-law asked me if I thought that "Gringo" was an offensive term. My response was "no". My reasoning is that "Gringo" is a slang term for non-Mexican North A...
Forum Discussion
The word gringo was first recorded in Volume II of the Diccionario castellano con las voces de Ciencias y Artes y sus correspondientes en las 3 lenguas francesa, latina e italiana (Castilian Dictionary including the Words of the Sciences and the Arts, and their Correspondents in 3 Languages: the French, the Latin, and the Italian, 1787), by Terreros y Pando,
( http://books.google.com/books?id=1SU3vKYK7pcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Diccionario+castellano+con+las+voces+de+Ciencias+y+Artes+y+sus+correspondientes+en+las+3+lenguas+francesa,+latina+e+italiana&hl=en&sa=X&ei=srvqUqnlMITNsQTNk4LACA&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false )
wherein it is defined as:
GRINGOS, llaman en Málaga a los extranjeros, que tienen cierta especie de acento, que los priva de una locución fácil, y natural Castellana; y en Madrid dan el mismo, y por la misma causa con particularidad a los irlandeses.
Gringos is what, in Malaga, they call foreigners who have a certain type of accent that prevents them from speaking Castilian easily and naturally; and in Madrid they give the same name, and for the same reason, in particular to the Irish.
The dominant view among etymologists is that gringo is most likely a variant of griego ‘Greek’ speech (cf. Greek to me).
A purported problem with this theory is that such usage of "gringo" in Spain had to do with peoples who originated in the eastern Mediterranean, rather than the northern European stock that dominated in the United States. However, the word gringo originated in Spain long before there was a Spanish-speaking Mexico and at one time, the word in Spain was often used to refer specifically to the Irish. And according to a 1787 dictionary, it often referred to someone who spoke Spanish poorly.
( http://spanish.about.com/od/wordsweshare/p/gringo.htm )
( http://etimologias.dechile.net/?gringo )
It has also been suggested that griego > gringo is phonetically unlikely, because the derivation requires two steps: (i) griego > grigo, and (ii) grigo > gringo. Instead it is claimed that gringo might derive from Caló, the language of the Romani people of Spain, as a variant of (pere)gringo ‘peregrine’, ‘wayfarer’, and ‘stranger’.
( http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/gringo.asp )
The gringo entry in the Nuevo diccionario francés-español (New French–Spanish Dictionary, 1817), by Antonio de Capmany, records:
( http://books.google.com/books?id=rRDCjVSNUeYC&pg=RA2-PA28&vq=gringo&dq=gringo&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=1800&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1820&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0#v=onepage&q=gringo&f=false )
. . . hablar en griego, en guirigay, en gringo.
. . . to speak in Greek, in gibberish, in gringo.
Gringo, griego: aplícase a lo que se dice o escribe sin entenderse.
( http://books.google.com/books?id=rRDCjVSNUeYC&pg=RA1-PA448&vq=gringo&dq=gringo&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=1800&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1820&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0#v=onepage&q=gringo&f=false )
Gringo, Greek : applies to what is said or written without understanding it.
Moreover, besides “Hablar en gringo”, Spanish also contains the analogous phrase “hablar en chino (To speak in Chinese)”, when referring to someone whose language is difficult to understand, thereby re-enforcing the notion that alluding to the languages of other nations is a cliché. Furthermore, in the 1840s, Johann Jakob von Tschudi said that gringo was common Peruvian Spanish usage in Lima:
Gringo is a nickname applied to Europeans. It is probably derived from griego (Greek). The Germans say of anything incomprehensible, “That sounds like Spanish”, — and, in like manner, the Spaniards say of anything they do not understand, “That is Greek”.
( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gringo )
gringo
noun grin·go \?gri?-(?)g?\
plural gringos
Definition of GRINGO
often disparaging
: a foreigner in Spain or Latin America especially when of English or American origin; broadly : a non-Hispanic person
See gringo defined for English-language learners
Origin of GRINGO
Spanish, alteration of griego Greek, stranger, from Latin Graecus Greek
First Known Use: 1849
( http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/08/07/209266300/who-exactly-is-a-gringo )
A college classmate asked me, "Where are you from?"
I gave him the long answer: I was born in Guatemala, but my mother is from Nicaragua, and I have lived in the U.S. my whole life.
"So, you're Guatemalan," he said. No, I'm not.
I may have been born in Guatemala, but I was raised in Florida. Regardless of the fact that I have lived in the U.S. since I was 2 years old, most Americans would find it strange to hear my grandma occasionally call me media gringa — a half-gringa.
I speak Spanish at home, and my last name is Ramirez. My mother is Nicaraguan, and my father is Guatemalan. But my grandmother knows that even though I was born in Guatemala, I am a foreigner in the place of my birth. I have no concrete ties to Guatemala or its culture. I have lived my entire life in the U.S. I am, as grandma says, media gringa.
Most people think "gringo" is only a derogatory epithet for white Americans, and they incorrectly assume that any use of the word is inherently offensive. That is not the case.
Gringo can be used to broadly and inoffensively refer to a group of U.S. citizens. I've also heard it used as a term for Europeans. I've heard the term used as a name for people who don't speak Spanish. It can also be used to refer to Hispanics who speak very little or no Spanish at all. Gringo is also sometimes used as a name for Hispanics who are not in touch with their Latino roots, or for any person who is ignorant of Latin American culture or history.
My mother and I call my brother a gringo because he doesn't eat gallo pinto, the traditional Nicaraguan dish of rice and beans. When he complains about a meal we say, "Ese se cree gringo" ("he thinks he's a gringo").
Beatriz Varela wrote the chapter "Ethnic nicknames of Spanish origin in American English" in the book Spanish Loanwords in the English Language: A Tendency Towards Hegemony Reversal. Varela explains many of the myths surrounding the word, detailing the flaws in the theory that it comes from the words "green" and "go," with "green" being phonetically spelled as "grin" in Spanish. She also mentions the folklore that Mexicans coined the word in the 1800s. This particular story claims that the word was a reference to "Green Grow the Lilacs," a song the U.S. military sang while marching.
My sixth-grade Spanish teacher claimed that the word was coined by Central and South Americans during the U.S. military occupation of various Latin American countries. According to him, the word refers to the color of the U.S. dollar.
In all three of these stories, the message is the same: Mexicans and Latin Americans came up with word because they wanted the U.S. military to leave: "Green, go home!"
But the 1786 Castilian Dictionary by Esteban Terreros y Pando traces the use of the word back to 1700s Spain. Spaniards used it as a name for people who could not speak Spanish, he said, or who spoke Spanish with a heavy accent.
Joan Corominas, an etymologist of Spanish and Catalan, gives us another theory behind the origins of the word. Corominas believes it may have evolved from the Spanish word for Greek: griego. "Está hablando griego," ("he is speaking Greek"), as in the figurative expression, "It's all Greek to me." Meanwhile, William Sayers of Cornell University traces gringo to the Andalusian word for pilgrim, peregrino, and the Romani word for foreigner.
Regardless of the actual origin of gringo, there is a common thread behind all the origin myths and theories. Namely, that it has historically been used to refer to a foreigner. Whether it is a traveler, a person whose language is unintelligible, or a person of foreign birth like me, gringo denotes the idea of otherness.
Which individuals and groups get labeled gringo will evolve as the demographics of the U.S. continue to change. Maybe one day more people will use gringo in the way my grandma uses it — as a name for Latinos in the U.S. Maybe the next time somebody asks me, "Where are you from?" I will be able to answer, "I am a gringa," and everybody will understand.
( http://blog.rev.com/articles/language/5-strange-origins-of-the-word-gringo/ )
5 Strange Theories on the Origins of the Word “Gringo”
1. Green Uniforms
Not exactly green are they?When the United States invaded Mexico, naturally some people were upset. So the denizens of Mexico saw the Yanks wearing their green outfits and said (in English, for some reason) “Green, go home!” Eventually, this was shortened to “gringo!” and became the word used today.
This clear theory is mostly just folklore. At the time, the United States military did not wear green clothing. This style didn’t take hold until World War 1, well after the invasion of Mexico.
2. Green Horns
Another interesting theory comes from the term for an apprentice jeweler. In Europe, they were referred to as “green horns.” This term drifted over to the United States, and people on the east coast of the nation were called the term, and eventually – so the story goes – Spanish-speakers appropriated “green horns” into “gringos.” (Folks on the west coast were called, appropriately, “westmen.”)
The origin of this theory is certainly in question too. Mainly because the term dates back to the 1800s, and “gringo” can actually be traced further back than that, read on!
3. Terreros y Pando
The first written example of “gringo” comes from Terreros y Pando’s “Diccionario castellano con las voces de Ciencias y Artes y sus correspondientes en las 3 lenguas francesa, latina e italiana.” In this 1796 book, there’s a passage that states, “gringos llaman en Málaga a los extranjeros 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.”
This translates to “gringos is what in Malaga they call foreigners who have any kind of accent which prevents them from speaking easy and natural Castillian; and in Madrid they give the same name in particular to the Irish.”
Basically, “gringo” was used to describe someone who the listener couldn’t understand properly.
4. Greek to Me
Have you ever heard the phrase “it’s all Greek to me?” Basically, this means whatever’s being said is so foreign and strange that you have no idea what they mean. Well, this isn’t just an English saying. In some Spanish cultures, anyone who is unintelligible is speaking “Griego,” or Greek.
However, “gringo” might not actually come from “Griego.” Scholars argue that it would take a few phonetic steps to get to that point. Instead, they say it comes from the Caló language from a variant of (pere) gringo, which means “wayfarer,” or “stranger.”
5. Musical Origins
Now that we’ve basically gotten it nailed down, let’s hear one more from folklore. During the Mexican-American War, several hundred Irish were sent down to fight for the US. While there, they deserted; Mexico was predominantly Catholic, like the Irish, while the US was predominantly Protestant.
Since the Irish’s main color was green and they sang songs with names like “Green Grow the Rushes, Oh!” and “Green Grow the Lilacs,” the Mexicans affectionately called them “gringos.” An ironic turn for a term that’s usually seen as very derogatory and an intriguing possibility given the use of the term in Madrid to also refer to the Irish.
( http://books.google.com/books?id=1SU3vKYK7pcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Diccionario+castellano+con+las+voces+de+Ciencias+y+Artes+y+sus+correspondientes+en+las+3+lenguas+francesa,+latina+e+italiana&hl=en&sa=X&ei=srvqUqnlMITNsQTNk4LACA&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false )
wherein it is defined as:
GRINGOS, llaman en Málaga a los extranjeros, que tienen cierta especie de acento, que los priva de una locución fácil, y natural Castellana; y en Madrid dan el mismo, y por la misma causa con particularidad a los irlandeses.
Gringos is what, in Malaga, they call foreigners who have a certain type of accent that prevents them from speaking Castilian easily and naturally; and in Madrid they give the same name, and for the same reason, in particular to the Irish.
The dominant view among etymologists is that gringo is most likely a variant of griego ‘Greek’ speech (cf. Greek to me).
A purported problem with this theory is that such usage of "gringo" in Spain had to do with peoples who originated in the eastern Mediterranean, rather than the northern European stock that dominated in the United States. However, the word gringo originated in Spain long before there was a Spanish-speaking Mexico and at one time, the word in Spain was often used to refer specifically to the Irish. And according to a 1787 dictionary, it often referred to someone who spoke Spanish poorly.
( http://spanish.about.com/od/wordsweshare/p/gringo.htm )
( http://etimologias.dechile.net/?gringo )
It has also been suggested that griego > gringo is phonetically unlikely, because the derivation requires two steps: (i) griego > grigo, and (ii) grigo > gringo. Instead it is claimed that gringo might derive from Caló, the language of the Romani people of Spain, as a variant of (pere)gringo ‘peregrine’, ‘wayfarer’, and ‘stranger’.
( http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/gringo.asp )
The gringo entry in the Nuevo diccionario francés-español (New French–Spanish Dictionary, 1817), by Antonio de Capmany, records:
( http://books.google.com/books?id=rRDCjVSNUeYC&pg=RA2-PA28&vq=gringo&dq=gringo&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=1800&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1820&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0#v=onepage&q=gringo&f=false )
. . . hablar en griego, en guirigay, en gringo.
. . . to speak in Greek, in gibberish, in gringo.
Gringo, griego: aplícase a lo que se dice o escribe sin entenderse.
( http://books.google.com/books?id=rRDCjVSNUeYC&pg=RA1-PA448&vq=gringo&dq=gringo&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=1800&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1820&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0#v=onepage&q=gringo&f=false )
Gringo, Greek : applies to what is said or written without understanding it.
Moreover, besides “Hablar en gringo”, Spanish also contains the analogous phrase “hablar en chino (To speak in Chinese)”, when referring to someone whose language is difficult to understand, thereby re-enforcing the notion that alluding to the languages of other nations is a cliché. Furthermore, in the 1840s, Johann Jakob von Tschudi said that gringo was common Peruvian Spanish usage in Lima:
Gringo is a nickname applied to Europeans. It is probably derived from griego (Greek). The Germans say of anything incomprehensible, “That sounds like Spanish”, — and, in like manner, the Spaniards say of anything they do not understand, “That is Greek”.
( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gringo )
gringo
noun grin·go \?gri?-(?)g?\
plural gringos
Definition of GRINGO
often disparaging
: a foreigner in Spain or Latin America especially when of English or American origin; broadly : a non-Hispanic person
See gringo defined for English-language learners
Origin of GRINGO
Spanish, alteration of griego Greek, stranger, from Latin Graecus Greek
First Known Use: 1849
( http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/08/07/209266300/who-exactly-is-a-gringo )
A college classmate asked me, "Where are you from?"
I gave him the long answer: I was born in Guatemala, but my mother is from Nicaragua, and I have lived in the U.S. my whole life.
"So, you're Guatemalan," he said. No, I'm not.
I may have been born in Guatemala, but I was raised in Florida. Regardless of the fact that I have lived in the U.S. since I was 2 years old, most Americans would find it strange to hear my grandma occasionally call me media gringa — a half-gringa.
I speak Spanish at home, and my last name is Ramirez. My mother is Nicaraguan, and my father is Guatemalan. But my grandmother knows that even though I was born in Guatemala, I am a foreigner in the place of my birth. I have no concrete ties to Guatemala or its culture. I have lived my entire life in the U.S. I am, as grandma says, media gringa.
Most people think "gringo" is only a derogatory epithet for white Americans, and they incorrectly assume that any use of the word is inherently offensive. That is not the case.
Gringo can be used to broadly and inoffensively refer to a group of U.S. citizens. I've also heard it used as a term for Europeans. I've heard the term used as a name for people who don't speak Spanish. It can also be used to refer to Hispanics who speak very little or no Spanish at all. Gringo is also sometimes used as a name for Hispanics who are not in touch with their Latino roots, or for any person who is ignorant of Latin American culture or history.
My mother and I call my brother a gringo because he doesn't eat gallo pinto, the traditional Nicaraguan dish of rice and beans. When he complains about a meal we say, "Ese se cree gringo" ("he thinks he's a gringo").
Beatriz Varela wrote the chapter "Ethnic nicknames of Spanish origin in American English" in the book Spanish Loanwords in the English Language: A Tendency Towards Hegemony Reversal. Varela explains many of the myths surrounding the word, detailing the flaws in the theory that it comes from the words "green" and "go," with "green" being phonetically spelled as "grin" in Spanish. She also mentions the folklore that Mexicans coined the word in the 1800s. This particular story claims that the word was a reference to "Green Grow the Lilacs," a song the U.S. military sang while marching.
My sixth-grade Spanish teacher claimed that the word was coined by Central and South Americans during the U.S. military occupation of various Latin American countries. According to him, the word refers to the color of the U.S. dollar.
In all three of these stories, the message is the same: Mexicans and Latin Americans came up with word because they wanted the U.S. military to leave: "Green, go home!"
But the 1786 Castilian Dictionary by Esteban Terreros y Pando traces the use of the word back to 1700s Spain. Spaniards used it as a name for people who could not speak Spanish, he said, or who spoke Spanish with a heavy accent.
Joan Corominas, an etymologist of Spanish and Catalan, gives us another theory behind the origins of the word. Corominas believes it may have evolved from the Spanish word for Greek: griego. "Está hablando griego," ("he is speaking Greek"), as in the figurative expression, "It's all Greek to me." Meanwhile, William Sayers of Cornell University traces gringo to the Andalusian word for pilgrim, peregrino, and the Romani word for foreigner.
Regardless of the actual origin of gringo, there is a common thread behind all the origin myths and theories. Namely, that it has historically been used to refer to a foreigner. Whether it is a traveler, a person whose language is unintelligible, or a person of foreign birth like me, gringo denotes the idea of otherness.
Which individuals and groups get labeled gringo will evolve as the demographics of the U.S. continue to change. Maybe one day more people will use gringo in the way my grandma uses it — as a name for Latinos in the U.S. Maybe the next time somebody asks me, "Where are you from?" I will be able to answer, "I am a gringa," and everybody will understand.
( http://blog.rev.com/articles/language/5-strange-origins-of-the-word-gringo/ )
5 Strange Theories on the Origins of the Word “Gringo”
1. Green Uniforms
Not exactly green are they?When the United States invaded Mexico, naturally some people were upset. So the denizens of Mexico saw the Yanks wearing their green outfits and said (in English, for some reason) “Green, go home!” Eventually, this was shortened to “gringo!” and became the word used today.
This clear theory is mostly just folklore. At the time, the United States military did not wear green clothing. This style didn’t take hold until World War 1, well after the invasion of Mexico.
2. Green Horns
Another interesting theory comes from the term for an apprentice jeweler. In Europe, they were referred to as “green horns.” This term drifted over to the United States, and people on the east coast of the nation were called the term, and eventually – so the story goes – Spanish-speakers appropriated “green horns” into “gringos.” (Folks on the west coast were called, appropriately, “westmen.”)
The origin of this theory is certainly in question too. Mainly because the term dates back to the 1800s, and “gringo” can actually be traced further back than that, read on!
3. Terreros y Pando
The first written example of “gringo” comes from Terreros y Pando’s “Diccionario castellano con las voces de Ciencias y Artes y sus correspondientes en las 3 lenguas francesa, latina e italiana.” In this 1796 book, there’s a passage that states, “gringos llaman en Málaga a los extranjeros 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.”
This translates to “gringos is what in Malaga they call foreigners who have any kind of accent which prevents them from speaking easy and natural Castillian; and in Madrid they give the same name in particular to the Irish.”
Basically, “gringo” was used to describe someone who the listener couldn’t understand properly.
4. Greek to Me
Have you ever heard the phrase “it’s all Greek to me?” Basically, this means whatever’s being said is so foreign and strange that you have no idea what they mean. Well, this isn’t just an English saying. In some Spanish cultures, anyone who is unintelligible is speaking “Griego,” or Greek.
However, “gringo” might not actually come from “Griego.” Scholars argue that it would take a few phonetic steps to get to that point. Instead, they say it comes from the Caló language from a variant of (pere) gringo, which means “wayfarer,” or “stranger.”
5. Musical Origins
Now that we’ve basically gotten it nailed down, let’s hear one more from folklore. During the Mexican-American War, several hundred Irish were sent down to fight for the US. While there, they deserted; Mexico was predominantly Catholic, like the Irish, while the US was predominantly Protestant.
Since the Irish’s main color was green and they sang songs with names like “Green Grow the Rushes, Oh!” and “Green Grow the Lilacs,” the Mexicans affectionately called them “gringos.” An ironic turn for a term that’s usually seen as very derogatory and an intriguing possibility given the use of the term in Madrid to also refer to the Irish.
