Here’s my gringo story: I was 18 and I had just arrived in Guatemala to work as a volunteer teacher with Global Vision International. It was my first time living abroad and I barely spoke Spanish. I left my hotel in Antigua to go exploring, and from the window of a house across the street, a little girl saw me, pointed and shouted, “Griiiiiiiiiingooooooooo!” It was so adorable, but even though I didn’t know what the word meant at the time, I somehow knew it was offensive.
Or is it? In the years since that first encounter, my relationship with the word has evolved considerably. I’ve heard it used offensively, but also as a term of affection (¡Mi gringito!) and nonchalantly like any other Spanish descriptor. In the Spanish-speaking world, and definitely in Ecuador, people tend to describe exactly what they see. So to refer to someone as niña, gordo or negro, doesn’t necessarily imply anything offensive. Perhaps it’s the same with gringo. But then again, it still stings when someone I don’t know shouts the word at me.
Dressed for any type of weather, a gringo often comes prepared.
I did some research to better understand the origins of the word gringo(a), and I found two recurrent explanations. One claims that gringo derives from the word griego, or greek, used to refer generally to light-skinned Europeans. The second says that the word comes out of the early 20th Century, when the United States frequently sent troops to occupy various Latin American countries. Apparently, local people, tired of American occupying forces, would shout at the green-clad uniformed soldiers, “Green Go!” as they passed by. “Green-Go” became gringo and the word stuck.
I find neither explanation enitrely convincing. Whatever the origins, the word complicates my experience as a volunteer living in a rural, Ecuadorian agricultural community. Even when used passively or affectionately, for me it’s an uncomfortable reminder of the gap that separates us culturally and economically.
Do you find the word offensive, an embarassing stereotype? Or is it much to do about nothing? Does it even apply to you? I’ve heard the word used to refer to anyone from the U.S., so it sometimes seems to transcend race. If you are currently working, volunteering or traveling in Latin America, do you have your own gringo story? Let’s hear it.
To read more about Dan’s adventures in Ecuador, check out his personal blog: http://danmalin.wordpress.com
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Raised in the US by a Chilean mom, I was lovingly nicknamed “La Gringuita” in our family because of my blue eyes and blond hair. After a visit to Chile in 1975, I learned that the taxi driver at the park in Copiapó was also nicknamed “El Gringo” for those same features. My mom, now 84, says the name was tagged to those with such features, far from being an insult. I do not recall ever having felt offended by anyone using the word, but numberless times people have felt compelled to ask me to forgive them upon refering to me as such. Doesn´t bother me in the least. And certainly here in Ecuador, people can use it very derogatorily.
The word gringo in Mexico at least, is not really seen as an insult anymore. Mexicans like nicknames a lot, we call people gordo , flaco, guera, etc. We usually don’t mean anything by it, we can call someone guera (which means blonde) and she could easily be a burnette. Most of the times oru nicknames meand just the opposite and are just ways to show afffection. We use those nicknames usually out of love. Gringo may have started as an offensive word but now its just used when we are talking about people from the States. We actually have no other way of calling you. We could either call you Estadounidense, which is way to long, or gringo or gabacho. I dont knwo if you heard the word gabacho before? Well if you haven’t is probably because it’s only used in Mexico. We use it either to refer to people from the States or to talk about the States as a country “el Gabacho”. If you ever go to Mexico and hear someone call you gringo don’t think of it as offensive, its just like saying Colombian, French, or German. We really mean nothing by it. Actually most mexicans really like gringos. So the next time you hear it dont worry too much about it, its just a harmless nickname.
Nice comeback! Just calling it like you see it, ha, I love it. That reminds me of my friend (female) who, when whistled at on the streets in Quito, would whistle right back at them. She had the whole high pitched, loud 2-finger whistle down. Guys seemed sort of shocked, as if it never occured to them that she could respond in any way she wanted.
In Peru “gringo” often seems more like a benign descriptor than an insult, and, as you said, people often are just pointing out what they see. It gets a bit frustrating when you walk down the street and a random person passes you and says “Hey, gringo,” in a way that’s more a comment than a greeting, like the way you’d say “Hey, a fire hydrant.” I’ve just taken to answering back, “Hey, Peruano!”
I fully agree that coming from a liberal PC background makes it all the more weird. Back home if I passed someone and said “Hey, Indian!” I’d probably get punched, and deserve it, so it’s hard to get used to the fact that people (in Peru at least) really aren’t trying to be offensive.
Meg,
I’ve had the same experience. It’s almost as people want to head off my questions before I get the chance to ask them.
awjrichards,
Equally great comment! That’s interesting that you mentioned coming from a PC culture affects the way you perceive the way you feel about the word. Coming from New York, DC and RI, my liberal PC background probably influences me more than I realize.
You’re right, it is a loaded word rooted in some unpleasant world history lessons. I guess I just do my best to be a good ambassador and try to lesson the negative connotations of the word. I still drink a lot of water here, though, so it’s an uphill battle.
Great post! Thanks for writing this – it has definitely been something I’ve struggled with living in Guadalajara, Mexico. I’ve given it a lot of though but come up with nothing concrete. In a lot of ways it’s thrown around very loosely here – especially among friends even if they are not light skinned and/or from the States. It gets used similarly to güero (generally someone with light skin, or a more complimentary version of ‘gringo’) and güey (literally ox, but colloquially ‘dude’ or ‘dudette’) in a friendly context.
For me, generally when it comes from someone who knows and respects me, I interpret it in a friendly way. But when it comes from someone I don’t know, it definitely hits me in a negative way.
Coming from such a PC culture in the States, I still haven’t gotten used to hearing or being called ‘gringo’. Think of all the baggage-laden words/names/stereotypes that more and more are eschewed at home – in a lot of ways I feel that ‘gringo’ would fit into the same category. But that PC culture doesn’t exist here in the same way it does back home – at least not in San Francisco or Berkeley!
On the other hand, the ongoing history of colonialism and imperialism between the ‘global north’ and the ‘global south’ is incredibly deep. And I think that no matter what, for better or for worse, we are ambassadors of where we come from. No matter your opinions on the matter, our words, accents, dress, even skin color are constant reminders of that relationship. So for me, I still sometimes feel a level of responsibility, a sense that whatever negativity is loaded into the word ‘gringo’ is warranted. Perhaps this is just a symptom of my own white guilt, but at the very least I think it’s worthwhile to consider the broader the socio/economic/political weight behind the relationship.
Any way, at the end of the day, I try not to take it too personally – but it’s clear that just that one little word, ‘gringo’, packs an awful lot of meaning and feeling.
I’ve had a couple people in Nicaragua and Costa Rica explain (unprompted by me) that it is not a negative term anymore. They insist that it is really just a descriptive word to explain who I am. I’m still a little skeptical, however, especially given the tone it is often said in.