gringo
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Gringo (, , ) (masculine) or gringa (feminine) is a term in Spanish and Portuguese for a foreigner. In Spanish, the term usually refers to English-speaking Anglo-Americans. There are differences in meaning depending on region and country. The term can be considered derogatory,English dictionaries: Spanish dictionaries:
~8 min read
Encyclopedic overview
14 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- False etymologies
- Regional usage
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Chile
- Mexico
- United States
- Other uses
- Food
- Activism
- See also
- Notes
- References
Gringo (, , ) (masculine) or gringa (feminine) is a term in Spanish and Portuguese for a foreigner. In Spanish, the term usually refers to English-speaking Anglo-Americans. There are differences in meaning depending on region and country. The term can be considered derogatory, but is often used in a neutral or friendly way.
The word derives from the term used by the Spanish for a Greek person: griego. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded use in English comes from John Woodhouse Audubon's Western Journal of 1849–1850, in which Audubon reports that his party was hooted and shouted at and called "Gringoes" while passing through the town of Cerro Gordo, Veracruz.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “gringo” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.