Gringo (Alberto Gutiérrez, Cuba)

Alberto Gutierrez forwards “Where Did The Word ‘gringo’ Come From Anyway?” by Maggie Van Ostrand .
Here is the essential part of the excellent article: The word “gringo” was mentioned in Spanish literature as early as the eighteenth century. In his famous Diccionario, compiled prior to 1750, Terreros y Pando, a Spanish historian notes that “gringo” was a nickname given to foreigners in Malaga and Madrid who spoke Spanish with an accent. Maybe it sounded like gibberish. One story says the word “gringo” was derived from the song, “Green Grow the Rushes, O” by Scottish poet Robert Burns, as it was sung by English sailors in Mexican seaports. This is a crock of abono, and not supported by any real evidence. Charles E. Ronan S.J., of the Department of History of Loyola University of Chicago, discredits that alleged origin in his article, “Arizona and the West.” He gives many examples of the use of “gringo,” but does not support any known theories of origin. An example of “gringo’s” early use is in Bustamante’s 1841 edition of Francisco Javier Alegre’s Historia de la Companis de Jes? la Nueva Espa񡬠in which he explains that the Spanish soldiers sent to Mexico in 1767 by Charles III were called “gringos” by the Mexican people. Fine, but that doesn’t tell us why. Apparently, however, during the late 1760’s and the early 1830’s, the word was not even used, since no mention of it during that period has been found. Perhaps the gringos had left Mexico, and there wasn’t any reason to use the word.

Skipping right along to the 1830s, there are numerous references to the word “gringo” in the New World travel accounts, in dictionaries, and in Spanish-American literature. For example, two early 19th century travelers, the German Johan Jakob von Tschudi and the Frenchman Arseve Isabelle, both testify to the use of the word. In his travels in Peru during the years 1838-1842, Tschudi recounts how Peruvian women “prefer marrying a gringo to a paisanito.” In his diaries, Isabelle complains about insulting names that travelers were called, such as “gringo.” As for dictionaries, Diccionario (1846) of Vicente Salva y Perez, list “gringo” as a nickname given a foreigner who speaks an unintelligible language. This doubtless refers to people from the land of Gibber.

The word is not incorporated into Diccionario de la Real Academia until the 1869 edition. In Spanish literature, “gringo” appears in Manuel Breton de los Herreros’ “Elena,” a drama presented for the first time in Madrid in 1834. ?Que es eso? ?Contais en gringo? (What is this? / Are you using gringo language?)
According to one opinion, “gringo” is a corrected form of griego as used in the ancient Spanish expression hablar en griego, that is, to speak an unintelligible language or “to speak Greek.” There’s that gibberish thing again. Evident from all of this is that “gringo” was used long ago before any English-speaking cavalry soldiers were riding near the Mexican border, as has been suggested in yet other opinions. Where did “gringo” come from? If any of you readers are familiar with the paintings of scowling foreigners who hung out in Mexico a couple of hundred years ago, the gentle Mexican people probably took one look, decided the strangers should smile and depart, and cautioned them to “Grin. Go.”

RH: One of the ironies of Hispanism is that its major etymological dictionary was written by a Catalan: Joan Corominas, Diccionario Cr�co Etimol󧩣o de la Lengua Castellana (four fat volumes, published by Francke in Bern, Swutzerland. To my amazement, “gringo” does not appear. Perhaps Corominas did not consider it a Castilian word. I knew Coromonas, who was a professor at the Univerity of Chicago, but he is long since dead. I suppose he used the term “Castyilian” because Catalan is a Spanish language, Castilian another one.The Royal Academy publishes a dictionary of the Spanish language, meaning Castilian is THE Spanish language. It gives the definition mentioned above, with the note “desp裴ivo” (derogatory).

The Spanish edition of Wikipedia has a long article on “gringo”. From the English verstion, here is the essential:
Latin America and Spain: The use of the term American to refer to United States nationals is not popular in Latin America, as inhabitants of the Americas they are also Americans (see Use of the word American). In most parts of these countries gringo means white-skinned person speaking a non-Romance language, especially Germanic languages like English. In Argentina, it generally refers to an immigrant ? especially from Italy. However, influenced by the Mexican meaning, many people now apply this term only to people from the United States.

Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador: In these countries the word normally means specifically a US citizen, regardless of language spoken or ethnic origin. Its use is not derogatory and is rather akin to “mexican”. Websters Dictionary lists the word gringo as a noun “broadly : a non-Hispanic person.” [1]

Brazil: after learning the word from its Spanish-speaking neighbors, the Portuguese meaning of the word has kept closer to its original sense, meaning a foreigner speaking a language not understandable to the local population. Its use is not derogatory and is rather akin to “foreigner”.

Wikipedia debunks the story that “gringo” came from the green uniforms of the American troops invading Mexico. They wore blue uniforms.

Plan to attend the WAIS conference on “Critical World Issues ” at Stanford July 31-August 1, 2006. It will be a rare opportunity to meet other WAISers. Tell interested friends.