# Is the word "Chino/a" in Spanish a general term for Asians? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700 "2011-08-14T17:58:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/41 "2011-08-15T11:27:27Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I guess I have the benefit of working with only college-educated Mexicans (when working in Mexico), and have college-educated wife and in-laws. The standard term used in this crowd is almost always “asiático”; whereas “chino” is reserved for China. I would have thought that in general (not just amongst professional people, that is) that there’d be a lot more awareness of the differences in light of China being to Mexico what Mexico was to the United States in the 1990’s (the loss of manufacturing, etc.) Since, as you say, China is the East Asian country with much more interaction with Mexico than any other\*, this could (among all but the best-educated) actually _reinforce_ the confusion of “Chinese” with “East Asian”. But let’s not get so high and might about this, English speakers! After all, we (in the US) almost always use “Asian” to mean “East Asian”, conveniently ignoring the billion people on the Indian subcontinent, not to mention all those “Stans”. (Yes, now we use “South Asian” to refer to subcontinentals, but admit it…the word “Asian” only tends to evoke an East or Southeast Asian, for an American.) (\*I do know one Mexican of Japanese ancestry, so there are exceptions – **Colibri** might have met him in some professional capacity – and I believe the Japanese are investing in shrimp farms on the Sea of Cortez.) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/42 "2011-08-15T12:23:17Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > [Casta - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casta#Castas) > Then there’s _mulata_, as in “_bueno pa’ gozar, mulata._” Is dark/nonwhite skin coded as sexy in some cultures? The times I’ve heard chino used, it’s to imply Asian and/or Native American features (slanted eyes, dark skin, black straight hair). Please know, all of you, that even in the Caribbean there are plenty of Chinese (yes, real Chinese, from China) immigrants. Very few of other East Asian countries, or at least that they would publicly announce their countries. Not necessarily, at least in my culture, to imply someone from African descent. The “bueno pa gozar, mulata” is a line in a street song about dancing (although I can see what is implied). Just like in the US, in other cultures black people have had the stereotype of being better dancers. And a low-class mulata who can dance was more likely than a white rich girl whose parents would’ve frown of seeing her dance. I just never looked any deeper into a street song than that interpretation. Now, the terms “negra” and “negrita” as endearment, you can search for how that came to be. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/43 "2011-08-15T13:17:26Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > In Yucatan, it can also mean “curly-haired”. The same goes for central and northwestern Mexico, as well, or just “curly” when uses as an adjective. “El Chino” could be “the curly-haired one,” and “El trae el pelo chino” means “He’s got curly hair.” ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/44 "2011-08-15T14:52:13Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Fine with me; I’m not Panamanian. I’m only reporting here. Of course most colombianas are not prostitutes, and I’m sure that few if any of the hookers on Sunset Boulevard are Panamanian. The fact of the matter, however, is that nearly all the girls who hang out at the hooker bars and work the massage parlors and strip joints in Panama are colombianas. Well, at least in the high end places. Your girlfriend can take solace in the fact that colombianas here are considered top of the line. 😉 Your consistent capitalization of “Panamanian” and lack of it with “colombiana” makes me go :dubious: just a little bit. > [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I would suggest that you not call someone from the United States a gringo to their face. As he pointed out, it’s not always, or even usually, used with negative a connotation. I’ve been called gringo plenty of times and never took offense, because none was intended. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/45 "2011-08-15T15:07:49Z")
Because Panamanian is in English and supposed to be capitalized, but colombiana is in Spanish, and gerunds in Spanish are not capitalized. If he were saying Panañemo and colombiana, you may have a point, although he may also be accused of incorrect Spanish grammar. I suspect he may not want to write panameño because he may not want to deal with the ñ. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/46 "2011-08-15T15:16:46Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I would suggest that you not call someone from the United States a gringo to their face. > [@voltaire](#): > > As he pointed out, it’s not always, or even usually, used with negative a connotation. I’ve been called gringo plenty of times and never took offense, because none was intended. I’m called “gringo” here in Panama all the time, and I refer to other gringos as such in conversation. Both Panamanians and Americans use it as a simple descriptor; it normally has no derogatory connotations here. No offense is meant or taken. (But like any slang descriptor, it can probably be used in a derogatory way.) I think this is true in much of Latin America; in Peru one of the better known hotels near Machu Picchu is called [“Gringo Bill’s.”](http://www.gringobills.com/website/eng/main.php) Now this may differ in some areas where Americans as a group are more visible (and perhaps resented), such as northern Mexico. Mexico is the only place in Latin America where I have been called a gringo with offensive intent (and I’ve traveled in most countries in the region). > [@voltaire](#): > > Your consistent capitalization of “Panamanian” and lack of it with “colombiana” makes me go :dubious: just a little bit. I don’t know why that would be, if you are familiar with Spanish and English rules of capitalization. English capitalizes the names of nationalities, and Spanish does not. I was using the English word Panamanian, and the Spanish form for _colombiana._ If I was doing the reverse, I would have used _panameña_ and Colombian. Capitalizing _colombiana_ would be just as incorrect as not capitalizing Panamanian. Regarding “chino,” in Panama there are not only a large number of full-blooded Chinese, but a relatively large percentage of the population has some Chinese ancestry since Chinese immigrants have been here since the building of the Panama railroad in the 1850s. So it can often be hard to tell if someone who has an Asian appearance is actually part Chinese, or whether it’s due to Amerindian ancestry. And it’s not just in Panama. Chinese emigrated to much of Latin America to work on railroads and other construction projects or just to set up shops. There is often a Chinese restaurant, run by people of Chinese descent, even in small remote towns. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/47 "2011-08-15T15:17:30Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Your consistent capitalization of “Panamanian” and lack of it with “colombiana” makes me go :dubious: just a little bit. _Panamanian_ is an English word, and in English non-proper nouns deriving from proper nouns are capitalized. The world _colombiana_ is Spanish, and in Spanish non-proper nouns derived from proper nouns are _not_ capitalized. So not to capitalize the word _colombiana_ is correct, although, technically, when you write in English _about_ words–and especially foreign words–you should put them in italics, not quotation marks (as you did above), although that’s what most people do on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/48 "2011-08-15T17:07:56Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > So not to capitalize the word _colombiana_ is correct, although, technically, when you write in English _about_ words–and especially foreign words–you should put them in italics, not quotation marks (as you did above), although that’s what most people do on this board. Right. I was being a little lazy about italicizing words in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/49 "2011-08-16T00:32:33Z")
In CA, gringo can be anything from an epithet to an accurate descriptor. It all depends on the context. We have so many Latinos here that I will often call myself a gringo if I’m with mostly Latinos and I’m commenting on the fact that my Spanish is not very good or I don’t know much about Hispanic food/culture. I had some Hispanics working on my house a few years ago and I’d cook them lunch on most Fridays. Grilled tri-tip with rice, beans and tortillas. I called it: _carne asada al gringo_. It was my take on _carne asada_. And I wouldn’t italicize “gringo” since it’s an English word now. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/50 "2011-08-16T02:50:22Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > NB: i disagree with nava on some points, like how castillians pronounce double-L. Yeah, didn’t we already have that argument in a previous thread, ending on the conclusion that the “l-yeh” pronunciation has been out of use for 50 years? When I lived in Spain, I futilely tried to explain to my roommates on several occasions why the people who ran the city’s only sushi restaurant were not “chinos.” I guess it was just my own cultural ignorance talking, because in retrospect, when they called those people “chinos,” they didn’t mean they were Chinese, but rather were referring to them by a generic term for Asians. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/51 "2011-08-16T08:11:27Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > More often to refer to someone with “Chinese” eyes is to indicate that they have a strong indigenous appearance, rather than illness. In this song by El Gran Combo, it implies attractiveness: You seem to have missed my “OR”. A childhood friend of mine missed several months of classes due to hepatitis and was left jaundiced for years: people who didn’t know or remember his name would call out “hey, ¡el chino!” and he knew it was for him. Mothers of jaundiced babies would be told “poor baby, I hope he gets better soon, he looks like a chinito!” Neither my friend nor those babies had epicanthic folds. > [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > vivio en asia por quince años. Vivió en Asia durante quince años. would have been the correct form. For those who don’t read Spanish, it means “(s)he lived in Asia for 15 years”. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/52 "2011-08-16T11:38:48Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > As he pointed out, it’s not always, or even usually, used with negative a connotation. I’ve been called gringo plenty of times and never took offense, because none was intended. Would you advise someone visiting the United States to use the term Gringo? Most people in the United States aren’t familiar with the word except as an insult. The fact that no offense was intended might not be much consolation when they are picking their teeth off the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/53 "2011-08-16T15:12:13Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > Would you advise someone visiting the United States to use the term Gringo? Most people in the United States aren’t familiar with the word except as an insult. The fact that no offense was intended might not be much consolation when they are picking their teeth off the floor. Where do you live, exactly, that people take such severe offense? I’m from New York, and I doubt too many people would respond so violently there. As I mentioned, the word may be perceived as more offensive in areas where there is more conflict between Americans and Latinos, as in the border areas between Mexico and the US. The fact remains that in most of Latin America “gringo” is not meant as an offensive term. Americans who travel in the area should be aware of this, lest they take offense where none is meant. In my experience, when Latin Americans want to be offensive towards Americans, they are much more likely to use the term _yanqui_ than gringo. This is what you see in anti-American graffiti here, not gringo. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/54 "2011-08-16T15:49:18Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In my experience, when Latin Americans want to be offensive towards Americans, they are much more likely to use the term _yanqui_ than gringo. This is what you see in anti-American graffiti here, not gringo. Years ago, when I was dating a Salvadoran woman, I dropped her off at her apartment. There was a small group of Hispanic guys she knew from the complex, and on this day, they were hanging around near her walkway. She got into an argument with them (in Spanish) about something, and I stayed in my truck and watched from about 30 feet away. At one point, one of the guys pointed over my way a few times in an animated manner while peppering the simple word _blanco_ several times into what sounded to me like a lengthy stream of invectives. But in that particular case, there was a lot of situational context and body language that imparted offense, more than the word _blanco_ itself. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/55 "2011-08-16T16:18:26Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > As I mentioned, the word may be perceived as more offensive in areas where there is more conflict between Americans and Latinos, as in the border areas between Mexico and the US. I’ve encountered “gringo” (well, gringa actually, as it was meant about me and I’m female) both in Miami and in Houston, used with no intent to offend but just to identify. The people in Miami were all recent immigrants but the one in Houston could easily have been an American citizen from birth (he had worked at that particular factory for over ten years, and it wasn’t a place that employed people without all the proper paperwork). I think it’s a word that’s more likely to be perceived as offensive by those who’ll only use it to say it’s offensive than by those who’ll use it in any other way. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/56 "2011-08-16T17:11:38Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > Both myself and my very-Americanized Filipino husband were shocked when one of his young cousins (age 5 or so at the time) was referred to by his parents as “Chinky-eyed”. :o I haven’t heard this so much IRL, but it’s in a lot of American songs from the past 15 years. ‘Chinky eyes’ are apparently considered an attractive feminine trait. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/57 "2011-08-16T17:29:54Z")
I was kind of amused once when I saw the checklist the security guard of my building had to identify who’s in what apartment. Mine just said “gringo.” Now, however, more Americans have moved into the building so that doesn’t work as well as it used to. Also, I once had car trouble in western Panama and had to leave my Jeep Cherokee at a garage for a few days. When I picked it up, I saw that the key had a tag saying “Cherokee - Gringo.” I wouldn’t be surprised if other keys on the board weren’t labeled “Datsun - Chino” or “Nissan - Moreno.”😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/58 "2011-08-16T17:46:49Z")
The Mayans in the area of Mexico I am call everyone who isn’t Mayan a “Gringo”, even other Mexicans. Lots of local businesses geared to tourism from the US and Canada use “Gringo” in their names. [Loco Gringo](http://locogringo.com/) is one of the major travel sites in the region to books hotels and flights, etc. By in large, I don’t think the term is considered offensive to very many from the US unless it were used in an offensive context to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/59 "2011-08-16T17:46:52Z")
I work in the public defender’s office in a large county in Northern Virginia. We have a very large latino population here. We also have one attorney from Korea. He is called, “El Chino,” by the latino community… we were told sheepishly by one of the interpreters. I will say that an equal number of white folks will call and identify their attorney as, “the chinese one.” Anyway, he loves the nickname. He does not get offended in any way. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700/60 "2011-08-16T18:27:08Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > ‘Chinky eyes’ are apparently considered an attractive feminine trait. The more genteel term for this was/is “almond-shaped eyes”. They’ve got a long history as an attractive feminine trait. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-chino-a-in-spanish-a-general-term-for-asians/592700.md?page=4)