View source for Gringo

{{short description|Pejorative term}}
{{other uses}}

'''''Gringo''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|r|iː|n|g|oʊ|}}, {{IPA|es|ˈɡɾiŋɡo|lang}}, {{IPA|pt|ˈɡɾĩɡu|lang}}) (masculine) or '''''gringa''''' (feminine) is a term in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese language|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 is often considered [[derogatory]],<ref name=":0">English dictionaries:

* {{cite web|title=gringo|url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/british/gringo?q=gringo|access-date=17 November 2021|work=Cambridge Dictionaries Online|publisher=Cambridge University|quote=used in Latin American countries to refer to people from the US or other English-speaking countries Note: This word is usually considered offensive.}}
* {{cite web|title=gringo|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gringo|access-date=17 November 2021|work=definition of gringo|publisher=The Free Dictionary|quote=Often Offensive: (in Latin America or Spain) A foreigner in Latin America, especially an American or English person.}}
* {{cite web|title=gringo|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gringo|access-date=17 November 2021|work=Merriam-Webster Dictionary|quote=often disparaging: a foreigner in Spain or Latin America especially when of English or American origin;}}
* {{cite web|title=Gringo|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gringo|access-date=17 November 2021|publisher=Dictionary.com|quote=Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive: a term used in Latin America or Spain to refer to a foreigner, especially one of U.S. or British descent (often used facetiously).}}
Spanish dictionaries:

* {{cite web|title=gringo, ga|url=http://clave.smdiccionarios.com/app.php|url-status=dead|access-date=17 November 2021|work=SM Diccionarios|quote=desp.: Persona nacida en los Estados Unidos de América (país americano)|archive-date=6 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206223752/http://clave.smdiccionarios.com/app.php}}
* {{cite web|title=gringo - Definición - WordReference.com|url=http://www.wordreference.com/definicion/gringo|access-date=1 December 2018|website=www.wordreference.com|language=es|quote=Persona nacida en Estados Unidos, en especial la de habla inglesa.}}

Portuguese dictionaries:

* {{cite web|title=gringo, ga|url=https://www.dicio.com.br/gringo/|access-date=17 November 2021|work=Dicio|quote=Pessoa que não nasceu no Brasil; estrangeiro}}</ref> but is not always used to insult,<ref name="bbc">{{Cite web |last1=Llorente |first1=Analía |date=2020 |title="Gringo", "yanqui", "yuma" y "gabacho": por qué los estadounidenses tienen tantos apodos y de dónde viene cada uno |url=https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-53689005 |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=BBC News Mundo |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Carl Franz |author2=Lorena Havens | title = The People's Guide to Mexico | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XaI5DgAAQBAJ&dq=%22gringo+isn%27t+always+meant+to+be+offensive%22&pg=PT494 | publisher=Avalon Publishing | date=2012 | page=494 | isbn=9781612380490}}</ref><ref name=Ramirez>{{cite web |last1=Ramirez |first1=Aida |title=Who, Exactly, Is A Gringo? |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/07/209266300/who-exactly-is-a-gringo |website=NPR |access-date=23 June 2023 |date=2013}}</ref> and in the United States, its usage and offensiveness is disputed.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Alicia C. |date=2011-01-24 |title=Is The Word "Gringo" Offensive Or Just Distracting? |language=en |work=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2011/01/24/133117715/is-the-word-gringo-offensive-or-just-distracting|access-date=2021-09-29}}</ref>

The word derives from the term used by the [[Spaniards|Spanish]] for a Greek person: ''griego''.<ref name="snopes" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Gringo: origen y significado de la palabra|url=https://www.milenio.com/cultura/gringo-origen-y-significado-de-la-palabra|access-date=2021-09-29|website=MILENIO|date=7 April 2019 |language=es-MX}}</ref> According to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', the first recorded use in English comes from [[John Woodhouse Audubon]]'s ''Western Journal of 1849–1850'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/audubonswesternj00audufo|title=Audubon's western journal, 1849-1850; being the ms. record of a trip from New York to Texas, and an overland journey through Mexico and Arizona to the gold fields of California|first1=John Woodhouse|last1=Audubon|first2=Maria Rebecca|last2=Audubon|first3=Frank Heywood|last3=Hodder|date=20 September 2017|publisher=Cleveland, A. H. Clark|access-date=20 September 2017|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref name="OED">[https://www.oed.com/dictionary/gringo_n?tab=factsheet#2494698 "Gringo"] From the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''. Retrieved November 28, 2008.</ref> in which Audubon reports that his party was hooted and shouted at and called "Gringoes" while passing through the town of Cerro Gordo, [[Veracruz]].<ref>Audubon, John W. (1906). [https://books.google.com/books?id=HrnMqMrDrSwC&pg=PA99 ''Audubon's Western Journal 1849–1850''], p. 100. Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark Company.</ref>

==Etymology==
The word ''gringo'' originally referred to any kind of foreigner. It was first recorded in 1787 in the Spanish ''Diccionario castellano con las voces de Ciencias y Artes'':<ref name="Varela">Beatriz Varela, "Ethnic Nicknames of Spanish Origin", in {{cite book|last=Rodríguez González|first=Félix|title=Spanish Loanwords in the English Language: A Tendency Towards Hegemony Reversal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09NEuGHh2R8C&pg=PA143|year=1996|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-014845-9|page=143}} (''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5XtdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA143 backup link]'')</ref><ref name="First">{{cite book|author=Esteban Terreros y Pando (S.I.)|title=Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes en las tres lenguas francesa, latina é italiana: E-O|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SU3vKYK7pcC&pg=PA240|year=1787|publisher=en la imprenta de la Viuda de Ibarra, Hijos y Compañia|page=240}}</ref>{{efn|"Castilian Dictionary including the Words of the Sciences and the Arts, and their Correspondents in Three Languages: French, Latin, and Italian"}}

{{blockquote|GRINGOS, llaman en Málaga a los extranjeros, que tienen cierta especie de acento, que los priva de una locución fácil, y natural Castellana; y en Madrid dan el mismo, y por la misma causa con particularidad a los Irlandeses.
<br />
''Gringos'' is what, in Malaga, they call foreigners who have a certain type of accent that prevents them from speaking Castilian easily and naturally; and in Madrid they give the same name, and for the same reason, in particular to the Irish.}}

The most likely theory is that it originates from ''griego'' ('Greek'), used in the same way as the English phrase "it's [[Greek to me]]".<ref name="snopes">{{cite web|url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/gringo/|title=Etymology of Gringo|date=17 April 2011|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="Tschudi1847">{{cite book|author=Johann Jakob von Tschudi|author-link=Johann Jakob von Tschudi|title=Travels in Peru, During the Years 1838-1842: On the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, Into the Primeval Forests|url=https://archive.org/details/travelsinperudu01rossgoog|year=1847|publisher=D. Bogue|page=[https://archive.org/details/travelsinperudu01rossgoog/page/n150 122]}}</ref> Spanish is known to have used Greek as a stand-in for incomprehensibility, though now less common, such as in the phrase ''hablar en griego'' (lit. 'to speak Greek'). The 1817 ''Nuevo diccionario francés-español'',{{efn|"New French–Spanish Dictionary"}} for example, gives ''gringo'' and ''griego'' as synonyms in this context:<ref name="Montpalau1817">{{cite book|author1=Antonio de Capmany y de Montpalau|author2=Imprenta de Sancha (Madrid)|title=Nuevo diccionario francés-español: en este van enmendados, corregidos, mejorados, y enriquecidos considerablemente los de Gattel, y Cormon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rRDCjVSNUeYC&pg=RA1-PA448|year=1817|publisher=Imprenta de Sancha|location=Under ''Hebreu'' and ''Parler''|pages=448, 628}}</ref>
{{verse translation|... hablar en griego, en guirigay, en gringo.
Gringo, griego: aplícase a lo que se dice o escribe sin entenderse.
|... to speak in Greek, in gibberish, in gringo.
Gringo, Greek : applied to what is said or written but not understood.}}

This derivation requires two steps: ''griego'' > ''grigo'', and ''grigo'' > ''gringo''. Corominas notes that while the first change is common in Spanish (e.g. ''[[wikt:priesa|priesa]]'' to ''[[wikt:prisa|prisa]]''), there is no perfect analogy for the second, save in [[Old French]] (''Gregoire'' to ''Grigoire'' to ''Gringoire'').<ref name="cor">''Griego'' at ''[[Diccionario crítico etimológico de la lengua castellana]]'', Vol. II, pag. 784 (25), [[Joan Corominas]], Francke Verlag, Berna, 1954, {{ISBN|978-84-249-1361-8}}</ref> However, there are other Spanish words whose colloquial form contains an [[epenthesis|epenthetic]] ''n'', such as ''[[wikt:gordiflón|gordiflón]]'' and ''[[wikt:gordinflón|gordinflón]]'' ('chubby'), and ''[[wikt:Cochinchina|Cochinchina]]'' and ''[[wikt:Conchinchina|Conchinchina]]'' ('South Vietnam'). It is also possible that the final form was influenced by the word ''jeringonza'', a game like [[Pig Latin]] also used to mean "gibberish".<ref name="Varela" />

Alternatively, it has been suggested that ''gringo'' could derive from the [[Caló language]], the language of the [[Gitanos|Romani people of Spain]], as a variant of the hypothetical *''peregringo'', 'peregrine', 'wayfarer', 'stranger'.<ref>Irving L. Allen, ''The Language of Ethnic Conflict: Social Organization and Lexical Culture'', 1983, {{ISBN|0-231-05557-9}}, p. 129</ref><ref name="sayers">{{Cite journal | doi=10.1080/14753820902937946|title = An Unnoticed Early Attestation ofgringo'Foreigner': Implications for its Origin| journal=Bulletin of Spanish Studies| volume=86| issue=3| pages=323–330|year = 2009|last1 = Sayers|first1 = William|s2cid = 193235188}}</ref>

===False etymologies===
There are several [[False etymology|false etymologies]] that purport to derive the origin of ''gringo'' from word coincidences. Many of these folk etymologies date the word to the [[Mexican–American War]] (1846–1848):

* Gringo is a result of American troops singing songs which began with "Green grows..." such as "[[Green Grow the Rushes, O]]", "[[Green Grow the Lilacs]]", and various others.<ref name="snopes" /> 
* Another theory involves locals yelling "Green, go home!" at invading American soldiers (sometimes in conflicts other than the Mexican–American War), in reference to their supposedly green uniforms.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Colorful Origin Stories of "Gringo" |url=https://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/the-colorful-origin-stories-of-gringo/ |website=www.visualthesaurus.com |access-date=14 November 2018}}</ref> 
* Another derives from the Irish "[[Erin go bragh]]" ("Ireland forever"), which served as the motto for [[Saint Patrick's Battalion]] who fought alongside the Mexican army.<ref name="Nipongo2001">{{cite book|author=Nikito Nipongo|title=Perlas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=huZsN0oQOkUC&pg=PA24|year=2001|publisher=LD Books|isbn=978-968-5270-38-0|page=24}}</ref><ref name="Hernández1925">{{cite book|author=José Hernández|title="Martín Fierro", comentado y anotado|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmgCAAAAMAAJ&q=Erin+go+bragh|year=1925|page=421}}</ref>

==Regional usage==
===Argentina===
The word ''gringo'' is mostly used in rural areas following the original Spanish meaning. ''Gringo'' in Argentina was used to refer to non-Spanish European immigrants who first established agricultural colonies in the country. The word was used for [[Swiss Argentines|Swiss]], [[German Argentines|German]], [[Polish Argentine|Polish]], [[Italian Argentines|Italian]] and other immigrants, but since the Italian immigrants were the larger group, the word primarily referred to [[Italians]] in the ''[[lunfardo]]'' [[argot]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fhuc.unl.edu.ar/portalgringo/crear/gringa/elportal/pdf/editoriales/gringo1.pdf | title=En busca del término "gringo". Precisiones caracterológicas en Argentina (In search of the term "gringo". Characterological precisions in Argentina) | language=es | access-date=2024-02-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=La Barcelona Argentina: migrantes, obreros y militantes en Rosario, 1870-1912|last=Falcón|first=Ricardo|publisher=Laborde Editor|year=2005|isbn=978-9879459966|pages=221|language=es}}</ref> It also found use in the intermittent exercise [[Gringo-Gaucho]] between [[Argentine Naval Aviation]] and [[US Navy]] aircraft carriers.

===Brazil===
In [[Brazil]], the word ''gringo'' means "foreigner" and has no connection to physical characteristics or specific countries. For example, foreign [[Association football|football players]] in the [[Brasileirão|Brazilian Championship]] that come from other South American countries are referred to as "gringos" by the sports media<ref>{{cite web|title=gringo footballers in Brazil 2015|url=http://www.lancenet.com.br/minuto/Confira-gringos-pintar-futebol-brasileiro_0_1268273211.html|publisher=Lance Net|access-date=10 February 2015|quote=The word being used for Hispanic American footballers in Brazil.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150211075055/http://www.lancenet.com.br/minuto/Confira-gringos-pintar-futebol-brasileiro_0_1268273211.html|archive-date=11 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=gringo footballers in Brazil 2015 (ESPN)|work=ESPN |url=http://espn.uol.com.br/post/467443_conheca-gringos-que-podem-reforcar-times-brasileiros-na-temporada-2015|publisher=Lance Net|access-date=10 February 2015|quote=The word being used for Hispanic American footballers in Brazil.}}</ref> and by sports fans.<ref>{{cite web|title=Expanded "gringo" limit in Brazilian Championship|url=http://doentesporfutebol.com.br/2014/07/novo-limite-faz-numero-de-gringos-aumentar-no-brasil/|access-date=10 February 2015|quote=The word being used by a fan as a synonym of "foreigner" in the Brazilian Championship.|date=2014-07-28|archive-date=2014-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730083410/http://www.doentesporfutebol.com.br/2014/07/novo-limite-faz-numero-de-gringos-aumentar-no-brasil/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Tourists are called ''gringos'' regardless of their ethnic origins (i.e. Latin Americans or people from other regions, like Europe).<ref>{{cite web|title=turistas gringos|url=http://www.redebomdia.com.br/noticia/detalhe/69817/torcedores-gringos-elogiam-e-reclamam-do-brasil|publisher=Terra|access-date=10 February 2015|quote=The word being used for European and Latin American tourists in Brazil.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125230641/http://www.redebomdia.com.br/noticia/detalhe/69817/torcedores-gringos-elogiam-e-reclamam-do-brasil|archive-date=25 January 2016}}</ref>

As the word has no connection to physical appearance in Brazil, [[Black people|black African]] or [[African Americans|African American]] foreigners are also called ''gringos''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cameroon gringos|url=http://migramundo.com/2014/06/09/camaroes-conquista-copa-gringos-mas-o-futebol-e-os-migrantes-saem-como-vencedores/|publisher=Migra Mundo|access-date=10 February 2015|quote=Black immigrants from Cameroon play the "Copa Gringos" in Brazil.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202181131/http://migramundo.com/2014/06/09/camaroes-conquista-copa-gringos-mas-o-futebol-e-os-migrantes-saem-como-vencedores/|archive-date=2 December 2014}}</ref> Popularly used terms for fair-skinned and blond people are generally based in specific nationalities, like "alemão" (i.e., [[Germans|German]]), "russo" ([[Russians (ethnic group)|Russian]]) or, in some regions, "polaco" ([[Polack]]) and "galego" ([[Galician people|Galician]])<ref>{{Cite web|title = Significado de "galego"|url = http://www.dicionarioinformal.com.br/galego/|website = www.dicionarioinformal.com.br|access-date = 2016-01-25}}</ref> which are used for both Brazilians<ref>{{cite web|title=Brazilian reality show celebrity nicknamed Alemão|url=http://extra.globo.com/famosos/ex-bbb-diego-alemao-reaparece-irreconhecivel-durante-festa-no-rio-15147097.html|publisher=Extra|access-date=10 February 2015|quote=The word Alemão as nickname for non-German Brazilian.|date=2015-01-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Brazilian footballer nicknamed Alemão|url=http://terceirotempo.bol.uol.com.br/que-fim-levou/alemao-1582|publisher=Bol|access-date=10 February 2015|quote=The word Alemão as nickname for non-German Brazilian Footballer.}}</ref> and foreigners<ref>{{cite web|title=Complexo do Alemão|url=http://www.encontrapenharj.com.br/penha/complexo-do-alemao.shtml|publisher=Encontra Penha RJ|access-date=10 February 2015|quote=The word Alemão as nickname for Polish Immigrant Leonard Kaczmarkiewicz eventually lead a whole community to be known as Complexo do Alemão(German's Complex).}}</ref> with such characteristics, regardless of national or ethnic origins.

=== Chile ===

In Chile, the word ''gringo'' is mostly used to refer to [[Americans|people from the United States]].<ref name="biobiogringo">{{cite news |last1=Reyes |first1=Felipe |title="Nos echaron de Chile": profesor y youtuber "gringo" se va tras años sin residencia para su esposa |url=https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/nacional/chile/2022/03/24/nos-echaron-de-chile-profesor-y-youtuber-gringo-se-va-tras-anos-sin-residencia-para-su-esposa.shtml |access-date=26 August 2023 |publisher=BioBioChile.cl |date=24 March 2022}}</ref><ref name="laterceragringo">{{cite news |last1=Donoso |first1=Carlos |title=La singular historia del "Gringo", el estadounidense que logró un ascenso en Chile y dejó el fútbol para convertirse en sacerdote |url=https://www.latercera.com/noticia/el-gringo-la-ola-mas-famosa-de-chile/ |access-date=26 August 2023 |publisher=La Tercera |date=11 August 2014}}</ref> The word ''Gringolandia'' is used colloquially as synonymous with the [[United States of America]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Cómo sobrevivir en "gringolandia" según una chilena |url=https://www.emol.com/noticias/Tendencias/2014/08/01/740664/Como-sobrevivir-en-gringolandia-segun-un-chilena.html |access-date=26 August 2023 |publisher=Emol.com |date=1 August 2014 |ref=emol-gringolandia}}</ref>

Sometimes, it is used for people from some [[English-speaking world|English-speaking countries]], like [[Great Britain]]<ref name="redgol-brereton">{{cite news |last1=Jeria |first1=Diego |title=Danilo Díaz vuelto loco y en éxtasis con Ben Brereton frente a Paraguay: destaca "el partidazo del gringo" de la Roja |url=https://redgol.cl/seleccionchilena/Danilo-Diaz-Que-partido-de-Ben-Brereton-el-gringo-se-mete-de-lleno-en-la-historia-de-nuestro-futbol-20211111-0142.html |access-date=26 August 2023 |publisher=Redgol |date=11 November 2021}}</ref> or [[Canada]].<ref name="publimetro-gringa">{{cite news |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Alejandro |title="A very chilean moment": Tiktoker gringa es viral al mostrar cómo se pasan los días de lluvia en el campo chileno |url=https://www.publimetro.cl/social/2023/07/13/a-very-chilean-moment-tiktoker-gringa-es-viral-al-mostrar-como-se-pasan-los-dias-de-lluvia-en-el-campo-chileno/ |access-date=26 August 2023 |publisher=Publimetro.cl |date=13 July 2023 |ref=publimetro-gringa}}</ref>

=== Mexico ===
[[File:Gringo Gazette.jpg|right|thumb|A woman reading the English-language ''[[Gringo Gazette]]'' in [[Baja California Sur]], Mexico]]
In Mexico, the use of the word "gringo" has been reserved for people from the U.S.<ref name="bbc" /> (who belong to the country or are related to it),<ref name="dem">{{cite web |author=Diccionario del español de México |title=gringo |url=https://dem.colmex.mx/ver/gringo |website=dem.colmex.mx |publisher=El Colegio de México |access-date=21 January 2022 |language=es}}</ref> or also those who have white skin,<ref name="bbc" /> blond hair<ref name="dem" /> or European appearance.<ref name="damer">{{cite web |author=Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española |title=gringo |url=https://www.asale.org/damer/gringo |work= Diccionario de americanismos |date=29 January 2025 | access-date= 8 February 2025 |language=es }}</ref> It is also used to refer to [[Hispanics]] who speak poor or no Spanish, or who out of touch with their Latino roots.<ref name="bbc" />

The term is mentioned in its meaning of "incomprehensible language" from the 18th century (1789) to the 1830s, but also to indicate foreign troops, at first, coming from Spain in the second half of the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Martínez Levy|first=Adrián Rodrigo|date=2019|title=Acerca de los significados del marcador adverbial dizque en el español de México: una aproximación desde el Enfoque dialógico de la argumentación y la polifonía|journal=Pragmalinguistica|issue=27|pages=155–174|doi=10.25267/pragmalinguistica.2019.i27.08|issn=2445-3064|doi-access=free}}</ref> A text published in Mexico, but written by a Spaniard, denigrates a Mexican from Sonora for speaking "gringo", in reference to the indigenous language. After the [[Mexican–American War]], ''gringo'' began to be used for citizens from that country, with expressions such as "American gringo" or simply ''gringo'', attested as in popular use in Tepetitlán in 1849.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Garone Gravier|first=Marina|date=2020-04-10|title=Los catálogos editoriales como fuentes para el estudio de la bibliografía y la historia de la edición. El caso del Fondo de Cultura Económica|journal=Palabra Clave (La Plata)|volume=9|issue=2|pages=e085|doi=10.24215/18539912e085|issn=1853-9912|doi-access=free}}</ref> Since then, ''gringo'' became a way to designate United States citizens exclusively.<ref>{{Citation|title=DESARROLLO HISTÓRICO DE LA REPRESENTACIÓN FÍLMICA DEL ESPACIO FRONTERIZO ENTRE MÉXICO Y ESTADOS UNIDOS|date=2014-12-31|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.31819/9783964563248-002|work=Miradas que se cruzan|pages=31–62|publisher=Vervuert Verlagsgesellschaft|doi=10.31819/9783964563248-002|isbn=978-3-96456-324-8|access-date=2020-11-16|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The term is deeply rooted in [[Culture of Mexico|Mexican culture]] and art; for example, in the novel ''[[The Old Gringo]]'' by [[Carlos Fuentes]] or in the songs ''[[Frijolero (song)|Frijolero]]'' by [[Molotov (band)|Molotov]] and ''[[Uniendo Fronteras|Somos Más Americanos]]'' by [[Los Tigres del Norte]].<ref name="bbc" />

=== United States ===
In the United States, ''gringo'' is often used by [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Latino Americans]] to refer to [[Anglo-Americans|Anglo Americans]].<ref name=":1" /> Sometimes it is also used by Americans to refer to themselves.<ref name=Arellano>{{Cite web |last=Arellano |first=Gustavo |date=2022-02-11 |title=Column: The last lament of the California gringo |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-02-11/column-california-gringos-lament |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> It is considered to be a [[racial slur]] targeted towards non-Hispanic white people but it may also refer to any person that is not [[Latin (demonym)|Latino]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Thompson|first=Nicole Akoukou|date=2013-11-11|title=John Leguizamo & Kanye West Use Re-appropriation to Change Perceptions|url=https://www.latinpost.com/articles/3547/20131111/kayne-west-john-leguizamo-celebrities-reappropriate-term-object.htm|access-date=2021-10-14|website=Latin Post - Latin news, immigration, politics, culture|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Croom|first=Adam M.|date=2014-11-01|title=Spanish slurs and stereotypes for Mexican-Americans in the USA: A context-sensitive account of derogation and appropriation: Peyorativos y estereotipos para los Mexicano-Americanos en EE. UU.: Una consideración contextual del uso despectivo y de apropiación|journal=Pragmática Sociocultural / Sociocultural Pragmatics|volume=2|issue=2|pages=145–179|doi=10.1515/soprag-2014-0007|s2cid=27718979|issn=2194-8313|quote="...and the slur gringo by Anglo-Americans, explaining that "The act of re-appropriating or re-contextualizing, the process by which a group reclaims a term or artifact that disparages that group and then uses it in a different context, is not something new""|doi-access=free}}</ref> Among the US Latino communities it may also disparagingly refer to another Latino person perceived to not be culturally Latino, e.g. inability to speak Spanish.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-08-07|title=Who, Exactly, Is A Gringo?|url=https://www.tpr.org/2013-08-07/who-exactly-is-a-gringo|access-date=2021-09-29|website=TPR|language=en}}</ref>

[[Alicia Shepard]] stated that there is a disagreement between Hispanics and non-Hispanics about its offensiveness.<ref name=":1" /> She argued that even though in Spanish it is defined as a neutral term and not as an insult, in English it can be interpreted as such, and should be avoided.<ref name=":1" />

[[Gustavo Arellano]] said that the term is "technically a slur", but "its power to offend nowadays is minimal".<ref name=Arellano /> He compared the ban on the term as an attempt to cancel aspects of Mexican culture.<ref name=Arellano />

==Other uses==
=== Food ===
In [[Mexican cuisine]], a ''[[gringas|gringa]]'' is a flour tortilla with [[al pastor]] pork meat with cheese, heated on a ''[[comal (cookware)|comal]]'' and optionally served with a ''salsa de chile'' (chilli sauce). Some attribute the name to the white flour used.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.lamag.com/digestblog/tacopedia-a-complete-taco-encyclopedia-of-l-a/|title=Tacos in LA: A Complete Taco Encyclopedia of L.A.|date=July 24, 2015|work=Los Angeles Magazine|access-date=February 10, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Activism===
In 1969, [[José Ángel Gutiérrez]], one of the leaders of the [[Mexican American Youth Organization]], said his and MAYO's use of the term, rather than referring to non-Latinos, referred to people or institutions with policies or attitudes that reflect racism and violence.<ref>{{cite web|last=Diehl|first=Kemper|date=26 April 2006|title=STATEMENTS BY JOSE ANGEL GUTIERREZ, SAN ANTONIO EVENING NEWS, APRIL 11, 1969|url=http://www.uta.edu/public-affairs/official-statements/stories.php?id=2133|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070917033004/http://www.uta.edu/public-affairs/official-statements/stories.php?id=2133|archive-date=17 September 2007|website=UTA.edu|quote=A person or an institution who has a certain policy or program or attitudes that reflect bigotry, racism, discord and prejudice and violence.}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Anglo#United States|Anglo]] – used as a synonym for [[Non-Hispanic or Latino whites|non-Latino whites]] in the United States
* [[Gabacho]]
* {{lang|es|[[Guiri]]}}
* [[List of ethnic slurs]]
* {{Annotated link|Yankee}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Wiktionary|gringo}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{White people terms}}
{{Ethnic slurs}}

[[Category:1780s neologisms]]
[[Category:Anti-Americanism]]
[[Category:Pejorative terms for people]]
[[Category:Mexican slang]]
[[Category:Mexican Spanish]]
[[Category:History of Mexican Americans]]
[[Category:Spanish words and phrases]]
[[Category:Portuguese words and phrases]]
[[Category:Social rejection]]
[[Category:Stereotypes of white Americans]]
[[Category:Ethno-cultural designations]]