You may have heard the word “gringo” used in movies.
Or maybe someone called you a gringo. What does it mean? And is it just a cute nickname?
The word “gringo” is generally used in Latin America to refer to non-Lating Americans.
It is most commonly used an insult but not always. Like many other derogatory words it can depend on the context.
The first time the word “gringo” appears in English history was in the Western Journal in 1849-1850.
John Woodhouse Audubon reported in that journal that his party was hooted and shouted at and called “gringos” will passing through the town of Cerro Gordo, Veracruz.
But it has been recorded in Spanish literature as far back as 1787 in the Spanish dictionary: Diccionario Castellano Con Las Voces de Ciencias Y Artes (Spanish Dictionary with the Voices of Sciences and Arts).
Why “gringo”?
A theory is that the word “gringo” evolved from the word “griego” which means “Greek” in Spanish.
When a foreigner spoke with a poor Spanish accent, what the native heard was incomprehensible. “It all sounds Greek to me.”
Over time, it evolved to become a term for basically any foreigner, not just English-speaking ones.
Movies.
The most famous one is the movie simply called “Gringo.”
This 1h 51m movie from 2018 is a dark comedy with action and drama. It is a fish-out-of-water story about a businessman who goes from being a law-abiding citizen to a wanted criminal.
Worth watching perhaps.
