In Latin America the word gringo is an offensive term for a foreigner, particularly an American or English person. But the word existed in Spanish before this particular sense came into being. In fact, gringo may be an alteration of the word griego, the Spanish development of Latin Graecus, “Greek.†Griego first meant “Greek, Grecian,†as an adjective and “Greek, Greek language,†as a noun. The saying “It's Greek to me†exists in Spanish, as it does in English, and helps us understand why griego came to mean “unintelligible language†and perhaps, by further extension of this idea, “stranger, that is, one who speaks a foreign language.†The altered form gringo lost touch with Greek but has the senses “unintelligible language,†“foreigner, especially an English person,†and in Latin America, “North American or Britisher.†Its first recorded English use (1849) is in John Woodhouse Audubon's Western Journal: “We were hooted and shouted at as we passed through, and called ‘Gringoes.’â€
hmmmmm... the explanation i heard (which is probably wrong) is that the word "gringo" came about during the war between the united states and mexico. supposedly the u.s. soldiers wore green uniforms, and when they invaded mexico city, the mexican citizens, in what little broken english they could muster would say "green, go!" anybody else ever hear of this?
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I enjoyed this article very much. Even after living in Phoenix for my entire formative life I learned something. Thanks.
is not only mexicans.... all latin americans call northern peoples gringos.
In Latin America the word gringo is an offensive term for a foreigner, particularly an American or English person. But the word existed in Spanish before this particular sense came into being. In fact, gringo may be an alteration of the word griego, the Spanish development of Latin Graecus, “Greek.†Griego first meant “Greek, Grecian,†as an adjective and “Greek, Greek language,†as a noun. The saying “It's Greek to me†exists in Spanish, as it does in English, and helps us understand why griego came to mean “unintelligible language†and perhaps, by further extension of this idea, “stranger, that is, one who speaks a foreign language.†The altered form gringo lost touch with Greek but has the senses “unintelligible language,†“foreigner, especially an English person,†and in Latin America, “North American or Britisher.†Its first recorded English use (1849) is in John Woodhouse Audubon's Western Journal: “We were hooted and shouted at as we passed through, and called ‘Gringoes.’â€
hmmmmm... the explanation i heard (which is probably wrong) is that the word "gringo" came about during the war between the united states and mexico. supposedly the u.s. soldiers wore green uniforms, and when they invaded mexico city, the mexican citizens, in what little broken english they could muster would say "green, go!" anybody else ever hear of this?
heard of it, but it is wrong.
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