Gringo
Encyclopedia
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
word used in Spanish-speaking
Hispanophone
Hispanophone or Hispanosphere denotes Spanish language speakers and the Spanish-speaking world. The word derives from the Latin political name of the Iberian Peninsula, Hispania, which comprised basically the territory of the modern states of Spain and Portugal.Hispanophones are estimated at...
and Portuguese-speaking
Lusophone
A Lusophone is someone who speaks the Portuguese language, either as a native, as an additional language, or as a learner. As an adjective, it means "Portuguese-speaking"...
countries in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, to denote foreigners, often from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The term can be applied to someone who is actually a foreigner, or it can denote a strong association or assimilation into foreign (particularly US) society and culture. While in Spanish it simply identifies a foreigner, without any negative connotation, in English the word is often considered “offensive” or “disparaging”.
The word was used in Spain - although the word is nowadays rarely heard there - long before it crossed the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to denote foreign, non-native speakers of Spanish
Hispanophone
Hispanophone or Hispanosphere denotes Spanish language speakers and the Spanish-speaking world. The word derives from the Latin political name of the Iberian Peninsula, Hispania, which comprised basically the territory of the modern states of Spain and Portugal.Hispanophones are estimated at...
.
Etymology
The word is first attested in 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 1786, which says: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
'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
Most scholars agree that gringo is a variant of griego 'Greek' (cf. Greek to me
Greek to me
That's Greek to me or It's Greek to me is an idiom/dead metaphor in English, claiming that an expression is incomprehensible, either due to complexity or imprecision. The expression may be used with respect to verbal expressions with excessive jargon of dialect, mathematics, or science...
); but it has also been argued that griego > gringo is phonetically unlikely (it requires two separate steps, griego > grigo, and after, grigo > gringo), and that it may instead come from the language of the Spanish Romani, Caló
Caló (Spanish Romani)
Caló is a language spoken by the Spanish and Portuguese Romani. It is a mixed language based on Romance grammar, with an adstratum of Romani lexical items through language shift by the Romani community. It is often used as an argot, a secret language for discreet communication amongst Iberian...
, as a variant of (pere)gringo 'wayfarer, stranger'.
Its entry in a 1817 French-Spanish dictionary, written by Antonio de Capmany, includes:
Also in common Spanish language it is frequent to say "hablar en chino" (to speak in Chinese) to refer to somebody whose language is difficult to be understood, re-enforcing the notion that alluding to other nations is a frequent "cliché".
Johann Jakob von Tschudi
Johann Jakob von Tschudi
Johann Jakob von Tschudi was a Swiss naturalist and explorer.Tschudi was born in Glarus, and studied natural sciences and medicine at the universities of Neuchâtel, Leiden and Paris. In 1838 he travelled to Peru, where he remained for five years exploring and collecting plants in the Andes...
observed that the term "gringo" was used in Lima, Peru in the 1840s:
In English
"Gringo" has been in use in the English languageEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
since the 19th century. According to the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
, the first recorded use of the term in an English source is in John W. Audubon's Western Journal of 1849; Audubon recalls that he and his associates were derided and called "Gringoes" while passing through the town of Cerro Gordo, Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
.
Folk etymologies
One common folk etymology purports that gringo comes from a tune Green Grow the LilacsGreen Grow the Lilacs
Green Grow the Lilacs is a folk song of Irish origin that was popular in the United States during the mid-19th century.The song title is familiar as the source of a false etymology for the word gringo: the myth states that the Mexicans misheard U.S. troops singing "green grow" during the...
sung around campfires by invading Anglo-Americans, not only English but Irish and German. When the Mexican-American War began in 1846, from a few to several hundred recently immigrated Irish, German, and other Catholic Americans who were sent by the U.S. government to fight against Mexico came to question why they were fighting against a Catholic country for a Protestant one, combined with resentment over their treatment by their Anglo-Protestant officers, and deserted to join forces with Mexico. Led by Captain Jon Riley
Jon Riley
Jon Patrick Riley , also known as John Patrick O'Riley, , a United States Army private, was one of the several hundred immigrant Catholic Irishmen who defected from the US Army and formed the Saint Patrick's Battalion to fight for Mexico in the 1846-48 Mexican-American War...
of County Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
, they called themselves St. Patrick's Battalion (in Spanish, Batallón de San Patricio). Green was the color of the Irish, who also first used the Gaelic slogan Erin go Bragh
Erin Go Bragh
Erin go Bragh , sometimes Erin go Braugh, is the anglicisation of a Gaelic phrase, and is used to express allegiance to Ireland. It is most often translated as "Ireland Forever."-Origin:...
("Ireland forever"), but more importantly the soldiers frequently sang "Green Grow the Rushes, Oh!," an old folk song (and most likely not the song based on the similarly-entitled Robert Burns poem, "Green Grow the Rashes"), or an earlier Scottish tune "Green Grows the Laurel", which they called "Green Grow the Lilacs", which traces back to a song composed in the early 16th century by English king Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
called "Green Grows the Holly".
Rafael Abal considers the origin of gringo as "green horn", an apprentice jeweller in Europe. In the United States, men from the west coast are called "westman", while people from the east coast are called "green horns". Spanish speakers called them "gringo".
All these folk etymologies place the origin of the word gringo in the 19th century, although the word has been documented from the 18th century, including the 1786 Diccionario castellano con las voces de Ciencias y Artes y sus correspondientes en las 3 lenguas francesa, latina e italiana by Esteban de Terreros y Pando, and South American literature. In Esteban Echeverría's El matadero (1840), and in José Hernández's Martín Fierro
Martín Fierro
Martín Fierro is a 2,316 line epic poem by the Argentine writer José Hernández. The poem was originally published in two parts, El Gaucho Martín Fierro and La Vuelta de Martín Fierro . The poem is, in part, a protest against the modernist tendencies of Argentine president Domingo Faustino Sarmiento...
(1872, 1879), the word gringo refers to persons from England.
Brazil and Portugal
In Brazilian and Portuguese popular culture, someone unintelligible is traditionally said to speak Greek.Absorption from Spanish is also reflected in that the word usage is not naturally widespread and only generally in regions exposed to tourism like Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. There, the word means basically any foreigner, North American, European or even Latin American. Generally it applies more to any English-speaking person, not necessarily based on race or skin color but on attitude and clothing. The more popularly-used terms for fair-skinned and blond people would be "alemão" (i.e., German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
), "russo" (Russian) or "galego" (Galician
Galician people
The Galicians are an ethnic group, a nationality whose historical homeland is Galicia in north-western Spain. Most Galicians are bilingual, speaking both their historic language, Galician, and Castilian Spanish.-Political and administrative divisions:...
).
The opposite of alemão/russo/galego among white people in Brazil is branco moreno, or white people of dark hair
Hair color
Hair color is the pigmentation of hair follicles due to two types of melanin: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Generally, if more melanin is present, the color of the hair is darker; if less melanin is present, the hair is lighter...
or darker complexions
Human skin color
Human skin color is primarily due to the presence of melanin in the skin. Skin color ranges from almost black to white with a pinkish tinge due to blood vessels underneath. Variation in natural skin color is mainly due to genetics, although the evolutionary causes are not completely certain...
. Moreno is actually the opposite of the most formal term for people of fair complexion (including most East Asians and many Levantine Arabs, among others Middle Easterners and other ethnicities of light skin), pálido (ˈpalidu).
"Moreno white people", apart from most people of pure or majoritarily European, Romani and/or Levantine descent in Brazil, also includes those of mixed-race perceived to be phenotypically closer to Caucasians than to Pardo
Pardo
In Brazil, Pardo is a race/colour category used by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics in Brazilian censuses. It is a Portuguese word that encompasses various shades of brown, but is usually translated as "grayish-brown"...
s — caboclo
Caboclo
A caboclo or caboco is a person of a mixed Brazilian Indian and European ancestry. In Brazil, a caboclo is a specific type of mestiço as is the mulato, a person of a mixed Afro-Brazilian and European ancestry....
s (Pardos, or Brown people
Brown people
Brown people or brown race is a political, racial, ethnic, societal, and cultural classification, similar to black people and white people. Like these, it is a metaphor for race based on human skin color, reflecting the fact that there are shades of skin colour intermediate between "Mediterranean" ...
, of both Amerindian and White ancestry: the overwheming majority of Brazilians, of all races/skin colors, possess some Amerindian descent), for example, generally have more Amerindian features than many people labeled as mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
in nearby nations, since it actually describes strictly non-white people (and not those which fall somewhere in-between), but this broader definition of white people also includes light-skinned mulattoes of loosely coiled or straight hair and features more resembling Europeans than Africans. Moreno can describe people of all races and ethnicities in Brazil, but is most often used for White Brazilians and Pardos, and nowadays is not politically correct referring to an Afro-Brazilian by this term (because it can be subtly interpreted as blackness
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
being a minor deniable element of the person's characteristics — the stigma of being Black or partly Black in Brazil made the phenomena of "racially promoting" i.e. highly educated or affluent Afro-Brazilian being historically assumed as Pardos, or very colloquially, morenos, and Pardos being assumed as white people).
The most pejorative terms for white people in Brazil, both for locals and foreigners, even used by brancos morenos against fair-skinned White Brazilians, are branquelo (bɾɐ̃ˈkɛlu, literally ) and the even more disparaging leite azedo (ˌlejtʃ(j) aˈzedu, , in reference to the combination of an unusual light complexion, almost white as the milk, and the negative stereotype of the bad smell
Body odor
Body odor or body odour, sometimes colloquially abbreviated as B.O., is the smell of bacteria growing on the body. The bacteria multiply rapidly in the presence of sweat, but sweat itself is almost completely odorless to humans....
in Westerners — in most of Brazil, including White-majority states
Demographics of Brazil
Brazils population is very diverse, comprising many races and ethnic groups. In general, Brazilians trace their origins from four sources: Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians....
of Centro-Sul
Centro-Sul
Centro-Sul is the name given to the Southeastern, Southern and Central-West regions of Brazil , excluding the north of Minas Gerais and most of Mato Grosso and along with some of Tocantins....
such as Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro (state)
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...
and São Paulo
São Paulo (state)
São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...
, the normative
Norm (sociology)
Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...
social habit is to take at least one bath per day year-round, and Westerners are said to generally be not used to this — still the term is so common that in some regions it does not carry more the same negative conotation it carried in the past, although without losing its disparaging meaning). Gringo, on the other hand, is almost absent of pejorative connotation outside politically nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
circles.
In Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
the word is seldom used and so is "Ianque" (Portuguese spelling of Yank
Yankee
The term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...
). It is never used in a formal context. It specifically describes someone from the USA (as does "Ianque"), and is not related to any particular physical or racial features.
Other uses
In Mexican cuisineMexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine, a style of food that originates in Mexico, is known for its varied flavors, colourful decoration and variety of spices and ingredients, most of which are native to the country. The cuisine of Mexico has evolved through thousands of years of blending indigenous cultures, with later...
, a gringa
Gringas
Gringas are a variety of tacos which uses as a base a quesadilla, consisting of a flour tortilla filled with cheese and "al pastor" meat, topped with cheese. This is then grilled in the same manner as a quesadilla...
is a flour tortilla with al pastor meat with cheese, heated on the comal
Comal
Comal can refer to:*COMAL, a computer programming language*Comal , frequently used to cook tortillasComal is the name of several places:*Comal County, Texas*Comal River, Texas*Comal Springs...
and then served with a salsa de chile (chile sauce). It is thought that the dish was born when an American citizen living in México City went to the same taco place and always ordered a pastor taco with cheese. The waiters started calling this dish "taco de la gringa."
In the 1950s, the blue fifty Mexican peso
Mexican peso
The peso is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 15th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use its sign, "$". The Mexican peso is the 12th most traded currency in the world, the third most traded in the Americas, and by far the most...
bill was called an ojo de gringa ("gringa's eye").
Meanings
- For Latin Americans the word is simply a more accurate term to describe someone specifically from the U.S. The other two options would be either "Estadounidense" (Unitedstatesan), which becomes too long, or "Americano," which Latin Americans generally begrudge (Spanish geography nominates all nations in North and South America, not as two separate continents, but as one American Continent with its northern, central and southern sections. For this reason, the term "Americano" seems incorrect to those who live in Mexico, Central, and South America).
- In MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and El SalvadorEl SalvadorEl Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
the term applies for U.S. citizens, widely accepted as a colloquial demonymDemonymA demonym , also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality. A demonym is usually – though not always – derived from the name of the locality; thus, the demonym for the people of England is English, and the demonym for the people of Italy is Italian, yet, in english, the one...
. Depending on the context, it may or may not be pejorative. - In Central America, the word is not viewed as pejorative by users of the word. In CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
and PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
the term refers to U.S. citizens (regardless of race). In Cuba the term "Yuma" is also used but means the same thing. In HondurasHondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, the term is not viewed as pejorative by users of the word and is used to refer to white English-speakers, mostly people from the United States. In the Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
it also means a non-free range store bought chicken (pollo gringo), it's also a way to call the people from the United States, often not viewed as derogatory. In Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, the term refers to U.S. citizens in the U.S. mainland. - In the countries of South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
where this term is used, the word is viewed as only mildly pejorative by users of the word. In some countries it may be used to refer to any foreigner who does not speak Spanish as a native language, or in BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, someone who does not speak PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
as a native language, but in other countries it is used just or especially to refer to U.S. citizens; it may also be used to describe a blond or brunette white native person with soft facial features and light colored eyes. For instance, it is a popular nickname. Also, in Rio Grande do SulRio Grande do SulRio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
(Brazil's southernmost state), gringo is how the Italian settlers (or their descendants) are called, with absolutely no pejorative meaning.- In BoliviaBoliviaBolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, ParaguayParaguayParaguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, and PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
the word refers to light-skinned, blonde haired people, whether local or foreign. There can be a pejorative connotation depending on the context of the sentence. In Argentinian Spanish, gringo means a foreign from USA. - In EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
the word gringo can be used to refer to foreigners from any country, not only the United States, though the likelihood of being described as a gringo increases the closer one's physical appearance is to that of a stereotypical Northern EuropeNorthern EuropeNorthern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
an. - In VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
the word is used specifically to denote foreigners hailing from the U.S., regardless of physical characteristics, and it is accepted as a colloquial demonymDemonymA demonym , also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality. A demonym is usually – though not always – derived from the name of the locality; thus, the demonym for the people of England is English, and the demonym for the people of Italy is Italian, yet, in english, the one...
without a pejorative connotation (unless so used in context). For European foreigners, the term "Musiú" (Moo-see-oo') is applied, a corruption of the French "Monsieur."
- In Bolivia
See also
- AngloAngloAnglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
- Bolillo
- BuleBuleBule is a commonly used word in Indonesia to describe a foreigner, especially Caucasians.Many dictionaries point out that the strict definition of the word is albino. However, this definition have lost usage in both spoken and written form over the English loanword, albino...
- CanuckCanuck"Canuck" is a slang term for Canadians. Its origins are uncertain.-History:The term appears to have been coined in the 19th century, although its etymology is unclear, it usually referred to those who worked in a forest, usually cultivating wood....
- CrackerCracker (pejorative)Cracker, sometimes white cracker, is a pejorative term for white people. It is an ethnic slur that is especially used for the white inhabitants of the U.S. states of Georgia and Florida , but it is also used throughout the United States.-Etymology:One theory holds that the term comes from the...
- FarangFarangFarang , also spelled falang, is the generic Thai word for a Westerner. A general term for foreigners is khon tang prathet . There is no expressly negative or positive implication in the word itself. However when it is used along with other words, it can bring a negative meaning depending on...
- GabachoGabachoGabacho is a word used in the Spanish language to describe foreigners of different origins:* In Spain, it is used as a pejorative for French people. It comes from Occitan gavach...
- GaijinGaijinis a Japanese word meaning "non-Japanese", or "alien". This word is a short form of gaikokujin , which literally means "person from outside of the country". The word is composed of two kanji: , meaning "outside"; and , meaning "person". Thus, the word technically means "outsider"...
- GoyGoyis a Hebrew biblical term for "nation". By Roman times it had also acquired the meaning of "non-Jew". The latter is also its meaning in Yiddish.-In Biblical Hebrew:...
- Gringo TrailGringo TrailThe Gringo Trail refers to a string of the most frequently visited places, by "Gringos", US-Americans and other foreigners in Latin America.Highlights of the Gringo Trail:* Antigua, Guatemala* Bay Islands, Honduras* Bocas Del Toro, Panama...
- Güero (disambiguation)Güero (disambiguation)Güero or is a word used in Mexico to denote a person of fair complexion or with blond or red hair. The feminine form is güera. Although Güero/a typically refers to a blond person, in Mexico, it can mean anyone of lighter skin and hair, even a person with light brown hair, especially auburn hair...
(Huero) - GuiriGuiriGuiri is a colloquial Spanish name used in Spain applied to foreigners.- Source :According to the Real Academia Dictionary, this word traces back to XIX Century Carlist Wars, when Basque-speaking Carlist forces took the "cristino" nickname of their enemies and changed into "guristino".In the late...
- GweiloGweiloGweilo or Gwailo is a common Cantonese slang term for foreigners, and has a long history of racially deprecatory use. If there is some racially deprecatory meaning or it is expressive of hate, it is shown by the addition of the adjective, sei or as a prefix: seigwailo...
- HonkyHonkyHonky is a racial slur for white people, predominantly heard in the United States...
- List of terms for white people in non-Western cultures
- MoskalMoskalMoskal is a historical term and present day ethnic slur referring to Russians. It is primarily used as a slur in Ukraine, and Belarus.-Ethnic slur:Moskal can be a type of ethnic slur with a mild negative connotation....
- Old GringoOld GringoOld Gringo is a 1989 film directed by Luis Puenzo and co-written with Aída Bortnik, based on the novel Gringo Viejo by Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes.The film stars Jane Fonda, Gregory Peck, and Jimmy Smits....
- PakehaPakehaPākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
- Pindos
- PochoPochoPocho is a term used by native-born Mexicans to describe Chicanos who are perceived to have forgotten or rejected their Mexican heritage to some degree. Typically, pochos speak English and lack fluency in Spanish...
- Use of the word AmericanUse of the word AmericanThe meaning of the word American in the English language varies, according to the historical, geographical, and political context in which it is used. It is derived from America, a term originally denoting all of the New World...
- YankeeYankeeThe term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...
- Mat Salleh