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Puerto Ricans like to say it started wih them back when they first started to migrate to NYC, when they´d only be able to utter "I no spik inglis" that the slur became a thing.
We tend to have various theories about how terms came about, and most of them are false, despite being passed as "common knowledge" by many. Anybody knows where the word gringo REALLY came from? Hint: It has nothing to do with "green, go" or green military uniforms. It doesn´t even involve US citizens.
Gringo originated in Spain, and it was not related to US citizens.
actually gringo in latam just means white person or just foreign, a Norwegian is also a gringo.
its not derogatory as some people think.
Last edited by Snapshoot; 03-01-2019 at 07:36 AM..
you are the person thinking that way. and also Portugal and its culture will always be seen as Spain little weird cousin. or bootleg Spain?
Perhaps by some ignorant people Portugal pre dates Spain by 300 years. You don't know what you are talking about until entering the EU no one talked about or cared about Spain. There was a shared border but with the exception of a few people living near the border no one gave a damn about Spain it wasn't even relevant to the Portuguese people. Spaniards were viewed as enemies for centuries not as bad as the Moroccans but none the less Spain was not viewed fondly there was a popular saying that roughly translates from Spain nothing good comes nor winds nor marriages. You clearly don't know what you're talking it is only recent that some people have taken interest in Spain or Spaniard culture. The region where I'm from there were basically two foreign countries that were viewed with interest Brazil from the 1500's-late 1800's and the USA from late 1800's-1970's. The Portuguese were interested for the most part in the Portuguese speaking world as well as a few English speaking countries such as UK and the USA the honest truth is no one gave a damn about Spain.
it was not related to US citizens.
actually gringo in latam just means white person or just foreign, a Norwegian is also a gringo.
Not correct. In Latin America gringo means U.S. citizen and latin americans are aware of this. It will be used to refer to any white foreigner (including Europeans) only if it's assumed they're from the U.S. or if the speaker is too lazy to do anything but generalize.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aab7855
Anybody knows where the word gringo REALLY came from?
I've heard various theories of it. I don't know which one is true.
Puerto Ricans like to say it started wih them back when they first started to migrate to NYC, when they´d only be able to utter "I no spik inglis" that the slur became a thing.
We tend to have various theories about how terms came about, and most of them are false, despite being passed as "common knowledge" by many. Anybody knows where the word gringo REALLY came from? Hint: It has nothing to do with "green, go" or green military uniforms. It doesn´t even involve US citizens.
Where did the term gringo come from? I am curious to know.
Quote:
t was not related to US citizens.
actually gringo in latam just means white person or just foreign, a Norwegian is also a gringo
.
It might vary from place to place, but gringo for me is an American. I would never call a Nordic person gringo.
Not correct. In Latin America gringo means U.S. citizen and latin americans are aware of this. It will be used to refer to any white foreigner (including Europeans) only if it's assumed they're from the U.S. or if the speaker is too lazy to do anything but generalize.
I've heard various theories of it. I don't know which one is true.
Well there are WRITTEN DOCUMENTS with the word in it in Spain in the late 1700s.
So i doubt there is doubt.
Where did the term gringo come from? I am curious to know.
.
It might vary from place to place, but gringo for me is an American. I would never call a Nordic person gringo.
Gringo can just meant white or foreign, animals can also be gringo
for example the white chickens used for factory produced meat are called "gallina gringa"
the brown or colored ones raised in backyards, are called "gallina criolla"
Some people would not call an Italian a gringo or a Portuguese, some other would.
for some people the name is exclusively for non Latin people. like Americans or Germans.
no one would call an Spaniard a gringo.
Last edited by Snapshoot; 03-01-2019 at 10:36 AM..
Not correct. In Latin America gringo means U.S. citizen and latin americans are aware of this. It will be used to refer to any white foreigner (including Europeans) only if it's assumed they're from the U.S. or if the speaker is too lazy to do anything but generalize.
I've heard various theories of it. I don't know which one is true.
not at all, northen europeans are gringos, nothing to do with americans.
in spain the word guiri is used in the same way, to refer to people not from the peninsula. (but exclusively Europeans) Africans of latin americans are not guiris
so the term is basically racial.
I find the real story much more fascinating than any of the simplistic urban legends behind it.
The real origin of the word though, while unknown to many who use it, distresses me a little because it would imply that I speak gibberish-like, "Greek" Spanish. But it´s so encoded in the minds of many that it simply means foreigner often. Shoot, Colombian-Americans are sometimes called gringos, much to their chagrin.
I have read mainstream news sources here such as Semana and El Diario and they seem to insert the word in the place of norteamericano or estadounidense . I think the latest place I heard it was Caracol news, talking about the possibility of John Bolton putting "tropas gringas" in Colombia to pressure Maduro.
I find the real story much more fascinating than any of the simplistic urban legends behind it.
The real origin of the word though, while unknown to many who use it, distresses me a little because it would imply that I speak gibberish-like, "Greek" Spanish. But it´s so encoded in the minds of many that it simply means foreigner often. Shoot, Colombian-Americans are sometimes called gringos, much to their chagrin.
I have read mainstream news sources here such as Semana and El Diario and they seem to insert the word in the place of norteamericano or estadounidense . I think the latest place I heard it was Caracol news, talking about the possibility of John Bolton putting "tropas gringas" in Colombia to pressure Maduro.
gringo=greek is the most accepted version historically.
in latam if a person is too white is called gringo too, even if the person is from there, lol
Portugal es a rebel province of Spain. it will eventually fold back to become what it should be, the province of southern Galicia.
The irony of it all is that Spain will fold way before any of the above happens, because spain was never a nation to begin with.
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