Is this an offensive racial slur?

Great Debates
1

I never took it that way. But, in looking for something else, I came across a post similar to this:

http://www.americanpatrol.org/REFERENCE/NOTES/Gringo-Defined.html

Comments, anyone? (this started accidentally on SDGQ)

If you want to add any other terms which some may be clueless about, but others find offensive, go for it. I shall enjoy hearing any non hateful thing you have to say. (watch your mouth)

This would obviously exclude certain words which are almost always meant to hurt.

Please, everyone, be nice to each other. But make whatever point you want to

2

It may be meant offensively, but I don’t take any offense to it (although I’m instantly on guard if I hear it directed my way by somone I don’t know).

One of my favorite Texas bands of the 80’s-early 90’s was the “Loco Gringos” out of Dallas. Dreadlocked weirdos, drove a flametricked hearse, sang songs like “Texas Ranger Man,” gave away homemade corn dogs at shows…great party band. Unfortunately, their lead singer “Pepe Lopez,” aka Tom Foote, passed away at the height of their popularity (miss ya Pep!). The word “gringo” evokes primarily fond memories of youth for me.

So yes, it may be a racial slur, but most of us honkeys don’t get too wound up about it.

3

I’ve never really taken offense to it in most situations. Amongst friends, we’ll often use it jokeingly to make fun of each other’s cultural ineptitude- no matter what the culture. I’ve got a pretty diverse group of friends and we are constantly running into terrible cultural faux-pas. But this certainly isn’t something to say to strangers.

I’d be somewhat offended if I was called a gringo by a stranger. I mean it’s true and all, but it doesn’t really need to be pointed out.

4

I’m not bothered by it. Any more than I am hearing Asians (sub-continental) refer to me or other white people as “gorahs” (sp?) - even though it isn’t always politely meant.

5

do you mean gaijin? That is what the Japanese call foreigners. or Shiro or Hakujin.
for the OP, i don’t get bothered by Gringo.

6

Tars: The Japanese media and government call foreigners “gaikokujin” since “gaijin” is a slur, at least according to the Japanese media and government.

7

gaikokujin was listed in our vocab for the week, but i learned gaijin years before i took this class, so it is what i use first. (gonna have to adjust for the test, though). I have also heard that some are using Jingai instead because they know the foreigners know gaijin, but that sounds pretty stupid, so i don’t know if it is true (i’ve never heard it, at least among the Japanese here, but i’ve not been to Japan yet)

8

Interesting to note…

You may be familiar with the term “gook” being a racial slur toward asians, specifically Vietnamese. Although I’m wondering if it originated during the Korean War as a term for the North Koreans, anyone know?

The reason I ask is because “gook” is a perfectly neutral word in Korean, meaning person or place (country) and wondering if American Soldiers hearing it used, perverted it to be meant as a slur.

For instance, in Korean, South Korea is called “Hangook” (Korea) and Korean people “Hangookin” or “Hangook Saram.” The Formal name of the country is Daehan Mingook (Republic of Korea).

China is Choong-gook and Chinese people Choong-gookin.
America is Mi-gook and Americans Mi-gookin.

Whereas all foreigners (non-koreans) are referred to collectively as “waygookin”. Now the term Waygook is generally neutral but it has negative conontations when used.

Curiously, the Japanese whom many Koreans hold deep-seeded racial emnity are not referred to as any sort of <blank>-gook but simply as Il-bon.

9

Tars - if you see the brilliant new film (Brit comedy) “Bend It Like Beckham” you will hear non-Indians referred to repeatedly as “gorahs”. I had already heard the word from Pakistani colleagues here, one used to use it jokingly “you gorahs” etc, and IIRC it means “white” or “pale”.

10

Personally, I find “gringo” to be almost comical, as I associate with stereotypical Mexican characters in old movies.
“I don’t gots to show you no steenkin’ badges!”

11

I like “gweilo”: Cantonese for “foreign devil” :smiley:

12

Or because “gook” sounds like slime, or sludge?

Wasn’t there a Gregory Peck movie called “Old Gringo?”

13

A little like “Honky” being used as offensive slang for a white person. The term has become so stereotyped that it is more offensive to those who would supposedly use the word than those it’s intended to be used against.

14

The Old Gringo movie was made from a novel of the same title by Carlos Fuentes, the multi-prize winning author from Mexico (who grew up in Washington, DC, as his dad was the Mexican ambassador). El Gringo Viejo was Fuentes’s imagination of what happened to Ambrose Bierce, who was last seen traveling to Mexico in 1913-14 during the Revolution and was never heard from again. Bierce himself had written in a letter on the way there: “If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think it a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico - ah, that is euthanasia!” In Fuentes’s story (IIRC from having seen the movie years ago),

Bierce, ever the cynic, confronted a Villista revolutionary commander who had seized a treasure chest of property deeds and thought he was now rich. Or something like that. Bierce said it was all worthless now and threw it away, and said the whole revolution was pointless anyway. This pissed off the Villista who lost his temper and plugged him.

As to the etymological theory that the word gringo comes from Yanks singing “Green Grow the Rushes O”, it’s a weak theory and off the mark. The theory that it comes from griego, ‘Greek’, hence unintelligible talk, hence foreigner, is more likely to be true. Not especially complimentary, but then, not all that vile as derogatory terms go.

The derogatory term gook for Asian indeed comes from a misunderstanding, or misuse, of the Korean word guk meaning ‘country’ (which is a loanword from the Chinese word guo). This was even explained in Lucy Herndon Crockett’s juvenile novel about the Korean War, Pong Choolie, You Rascal! — this Korean kid calls the Americans “Mei Guk Saram” — from Chinese Mei Guo ‘America’ and Korean saram, ‘person’. The Americans GIs don’t want to bother with learning to pronounce so many syllables, so they just say “Gook” — and laugh.

Chinese calls America Mei Guo, literally ‘Beautiful Country’, but before Yanks get a swelled head about that, the reason is that mei is just used to represent the sound of the stressed syllable in America. Any foreign word represented (more or less) phonetically in Chinese syllables will involve the use of existing Chinese words. Sometimes this can be funny. According to Charles Berlitz, the name of President Nixon transcribed into Chinese characters reads “Mud Overcoming Forest.”

15

Just FYI: “kuk” in Korean can also mean “soup.” Back in my meat-eating days, my favourite Korean soup was mandukuk.

16

Ever since I took a class on Gypsy language and culture, I’ve personally avoided using “gyp” to mean “rip off.” Kind of like hearing people using “jew” as a verb… offensive.

I’ve shared this knowledge with a few of my friends, but I’m not sure I’d ever call someone out for saying it. I genuinely believe most people are unaware of the word’s origin and the status of Gypsies as an ethnic group.

I still use “gibberish” though.

-fh

17

Given that “gypsy” derives (erroneously) from “egyptian”, you might want to instead base your decision on those poor souls in Cairo…

Masses and masses of abusive/negative terms are just the names of other races: vandals, slaves, buggers.

18

I’m sure the question of whether “gringo” is offensive has come up before. Its connotation depends on the country. I was taken aback when the first thing my landlady in Chile said to me was that I was the third gringa to live with her - the first two were from England and France. “Gringo” in Chile means any white foreigner and is not considered the slightest bit offensive. In Mexico, it refers to Americans and is considered mildly offensive. It’s OK to say, “I met a gringo yesterday,” but “You fcking gringo!" is offensive. But the same could be said about any term used to refer to a group of people. "You fcking Jew!” would be clearly unacceptable, for example.

19

Yeah, I know. I guess it’s down to admittedly subjective opinion about how disassociated the words are from their origins, but I can’t think of anyone who thinks Slavs have a slavish nature (this could be different in Europe I’ll grant you), while the stereotype of con artist Gypsies still exists. And vandal? Even if you met someone who could prove they were descended from one of the Vandal groups from 1500 years ago, I doubt anyone would try and keep them visiting museums for fear they’d sack the place. Bugger has also had the benefit of about a thousand years of disassociation from, what? Bulgaria?

-fh

20

I never call my white boy a gringo, but gringo isn’t an offensive term and why would I want to disparage his lovely milky-whiteness, as he is very inoffensively pigmented. I like him. Then again, living in Central California, his most distinguishing characteristic isn’t his fair skin amongst the caramel-colored such as myself and he isn’t exactally a novelty. I have seldom heard gringo used at all and I call him Squishy Bear when I want to be offensive.