# Is this an offensive racial slur? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 28, 2002, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185 "2002-10-28T01:43:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frabus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@Frabus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frabus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185/21 "2003-01-30T17:13:31Z")
I think the story about General Pershing’s troops singing their regimental song “Green Grow the Rushes” (along with it’s very offensive parody about a Mexican prostitute named Lupe)probably did lead to the Mexicans calling them “Green Grows”. Another popular tale was that the american troops had green uniforms and the Mexicans lined the streets when the cavalry would ride through their towns and shouted “Green Go” at them. ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Ash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b3f665/32.png) [@Dragon\_Ash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Ash)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185/22 "2003-01-30T17:29:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tars Tarkas \* > \*\*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) \*\* Tars - this is an example of ‘hip’ Japanese. Flipping words around first was popular in the media/TV world, and it filtered down to university students and younger generations. Gai-jin becomes jin-gai, san-gurasu (sun glasses) becomes gura-san, hon-mono (the real thing) becomes mono-hon. You get the idea. Has zero to do with foreigners knowing the term ‘gaijin’. Gaijin in _Japanese_ is no more offensive than _foreigner_ is in English. People making an effort to be polite - more for the sake of the foreigner, not for the sake of using correct Japanese - will use gaikoku no hito, or gaikokujin. The media as well will use gaikokujin, further proof that the ‘be PC at all costs, even in the face of common sense’ is not only a US thing… ---
**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:** [January 30, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185/23 "2003-01-30T17:42:42Z")
I think it’s great when these supposedly offensive terms are flipped around and used by the same people their meant to demean. Kind of satisfying to deny bigots the pleasure of trashing someone because of their race. Travelling in Japan, we always refered to ourselves as “crazy gaijin”. And we often were-- stumbling over our lack of understanding of the culture. Travelling to Cabo the first time, we all looked at each other and just said: Hey, this place ain’t Mexico, it’s just us gringos here. And it was. Gringisimo! I’ve recently read that one city in CA is trying to ban the use of the term “nigger”. Or maybe not completely ban, but official launch a campaing to eliminate it’s use. Good luck!! ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185/24 "2003-01-30T17:51:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*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](http://www.americanpatrol.org/REFERENCE/NOTES/Gringo-Defined.html) > > Comments, anyone? (this started accidentally on SDGQ) > > \*\* That site has a rather antagonistic view of Mexican and Latin American immigrants. They are not necessarily an unbiased source of linguistic information. If you believed them, every Mexican or Latin American who ever used that word was a bitter resentful racist. The reality is that word means all sorts of things in different countries, from “white”, “foreign”, “Anglo”, “blond”, “European”. The bottom line is it means someone “different”. For instance, when I was leaning Portuguese from a Brazilian (a very blond college student of German descent) I was surprised to learn his definition of “gringo” included the Spanish speaking peoples of Latin America outside of Brazil. In Mexico it has gained its common meaning mainly because in much of Mexico, foreign visits and contacts overwhelmingly involve North Americans. Also, most native Mexicans will insist that Mexican-Americans such as me are every bit as “gringo” as any other Yankee. In Mexico, _gabacho_ is a rather stronger epithet for Anglo-Saxon/American. That word is actually an old Spanish epithet for the French which was transferred to Mexico, and altered to refer to Mexico’s northern neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Azael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Azael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azael)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185/25 "2003-01-30T17:55:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > I’ve recently read that one city in CA is trying to ban the use of the term “nigger”. \*\* Why am I not suprised? * * * I have never, ever, considered “gringo” to be an “offensive racial slur.” I’m sure somebody out there does though; the best I can hope for is to never meet this person. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185/26 "2003-01-30T17:56:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by syncrolecyne \* > \*\*That site has a rather antagonistic view of Mexican and Latin American immigrants. They are not necessarily an unbiased source of linguistic information. > \*\* I did not know that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185/27 "2003-01-30T18:09:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by istara \* > \*\*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. \*\* gora(h) is a word in Hindi/Urdu that literally means fair (as in complexion). Not literally the same as ‘white’. A description of an Indian girl on the lighter end of the skin spectrum would legitimately entail ‘gori’ (gori is the female noun) The word is used to distinguish. Someone can group all “gorahs” as being or doing something, but it can’t be used impolitely anymore than using the English word “whites” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185/28 "2003-01-30T18:40:59Z")
> [@](#): > > I think the story about General Pershing’s troops singing their regimental song “Green Grow the Rushes” (along with it’s very offensive parody about a Mexican prostitute named Lupe)probably did lead to the Mexicans calling them “Green Grows”. You would, however, be incorrect. (Not least because the tale in which the Yankees are singing _Green Grow the Rushes_ is associated with the U.S. conquest of Mexico in 1847-1848 under Winfield Scott, twelve years before Pershing was born. ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185/29 "2003-01-30T19:44:11Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by chula \* > \*\*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 f_cking gringo!" is offensive.\*\* I grew up right on the border, and “gringo” is one of those words that can really be offensive or not offensive depending on the context used. Interestingly enough, however, I don’t think that I’ve ever heard someone use the word “gringa” in a non-offensive way, (although I’ve never been to Chile.) “Gringa” seems to carry so much more than a female version of “gringo”. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185/30 "2003-01-31T06:07:53Z")
I guess I’d say that gringo is offensive in the sense that someone is being insulting. So it may be offensive _in situ_, so to speak. Outside of that, it doesn’t bother me. But that may be my whiteness talking; to phrase it in an offensive manner: why should I care if some spic calls me a gringo? If a member of another “group” is insulting my “group”, well I can’t say I care because my “group” is better than her’s anyway. If she uses it in a friendly way, in a “hey, you took my french fry you son-of-a-bitch” sort of a way, then why would it be offensive? It’s a sign of affection. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-offensive-racial-slur/134185.md?page=1)