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Is it racist to call a European person a 'gr**go'

Reply 20

Ladipidoo

14

What's a gr**go? :erm:

Fill me in on the 2 missing letters please :borat:

Edit: Nvm, just read lnjames' post. :ahee:

Reply 21

bansheeee*

4

am *NEWSFLASH** england is in europe too.

Reply 22

chris king

6

xps.systems

Obviously I can't spell the word out in full because it may be considered racially offensive!

Are you sure that as a white European you would not be offended by such words?! 'Gr**g* may not have offensive connotations in your opinion but what about words like 'gw**lo', which translates as 'Caucasian devil'? Would you not be offended by vitriolic material like that?

squish.

Na I would take less offence to it than if someone called me a bell end. Racial guns aren't offensive because they're not even aimed at you as a person, just aimed towards your race as a whole - and that doesn't affect me whatsoever. I wouldn't feel the need to be offended.

Reply 23

Neville 'Facking' Bartos

Americans can call me what the hell they like, because I know in relaity they haven't a patch on me.

After all, what nation votes George Bush in to power, not once, but twice. Was the first 4 years of the world laughing at you just not enough?

Reply 25

xps.systems

OP

13

jismith1989

Anyway, the word's gringo for those who haven't heard of it and want to look it up. (Don't be silly OP, you can say it; anyone who becomes offended by the mature discussion regarding the usage of a word, whatever it be, is quite a weeping willow indeed. :puppyeyes:

) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gringo

Do you remember when Prince William used the word 'p**i'? Even then it was in an apparently non-offensive context but there was much uproar. Surely people should be more careful in use of sensitive language like 'p**i, gr**g*, gw**lo, kr**t etc.?

squish.

Reply 26

assmaster

1

Enough with the squish.

Reply 27

frederizia

Um, it's not offensive at all, they just call every white person a gringo/a?! In Quito there's even a tourist agency operated by Europeans that's called Happy Gringo and no one finds it offensive.

Reply 28

faber niger

17

xps.systems

Do you remember when Prince William used the word 'p**i'? Even then it was in an apparently non-offensive context but there was much uproar. Surely people should be more careful in use of sensitive language like 'p**i, gr**g*, gw**lo, kr**t etc.?

squish.

Well, I can understand both sides of the argument in that situation -- his wanting to blend into military life and so using a rather coarse vernacular to refer presumably relatively affectionately to the Asian man and the opinion that the word is offensive whenever it is said by a white person to a South Asian, whatever the context. However, the situation isn't exactly analogous. He used the term in conversation. We're discussing the usage of the term, not actively using it in conversation, which we can't do if some of us haven't heard of it!

Reply 29

Svenjamin

17

Gringo isn't offensive in itself, although it can be used offensively if used in a derogatory way. . In a lot of the Americas all it means is outsider or foreigner. It can even be used to refer to foreigners from within the same continent (say, Argentinians may call Brazilian tourists gringos). When I was travelling round S. America pretty much everyone called me a gringo, it was never meant once in an offensive way.

It's hard to explain the way gringo is used, but the nearest approximation in english is probably tourist. It means outsider and you can use it in a nice way, or if you can say it in an offensive way. If I went up to a foreigner and said "Oi ****ing tourist" I'm sure they'd be offended, but if I was talking about tourists in general no one would bat an eyelid

Reply 30

tom//

17

gringo just means white doesnt it?

depends on the context to be honest

vin

Never in my life have I seen the word require asterisks...furthermore, i was raised thinking the word pretty much just referred to someone who doesn't speak spanish but also people who aren't of spanish heritage. Very matter of fact, not racist.

I'm very Americanized and sometimes my family will jokingly refer to me as a gringa.

It's not a bad word...why would perfectly civil elderly people and children use it if it was considered one?

Reply 33

xps.systems

OP

13

frederizia

Um, it's not offensive at all, they just call every white person a gringo/a?! In Quito there's even a tourist agency operated by Europeans that's called Happy Gringo and no one finds it offensive.

Are you sure?! I was in Panama so maybe things are different to in Ecuador. Also there is a significant European ethnic minority in Panama.

I think the correct term for a 'white European' in Latin America is usually 'europeo' or 'blanco'.

Remember that whilst some words may be OK to be said in some places they have offensive connotations in other places.

For example, whilst it is acceptable to say 'p**i' in say south India or in Australia, it would be probably considered offensive to say 'p**i' in London.

squish.

Reply 34

xps.systems

OP

13

tom//

gringo just means white doesnt it?

depends on the context to be honest

No... 'blanco' means white!

Sometimes it's synonymous with the word 'europeo'.

squish.

Reply 35

frederizia

xps.systems

Are you sure?! I was in Panama so maybe things are different to in Ecuador. Also there is a significant European ethnic minority in Panama.

I think the correct term for a 'white European' in Latin America is usually 'europeo' or 'blanco'.

I dunno, it might be different in Panama (I can ask my friends brother what his experience was) but in Ecuador and I'm pretty sure in Bolivia as well, it's just a term to describe a foreigner. It's in no way offensive at all and no one cares.

Reply 36

faber niger

17

xps.systems

No... 'blanco' means white!

Sometimes it's synonymous with the word 'europeo'.

squish.

Wikipedia:

"its etymology is "griego", the Spanish word for "a Greek person" that serves as a colloquial shorthand for any foreign (non-Spanish) person —similar to how the English language expression "it's Greek to me" can apply to any foreign (non-English) language."

"Hispanophones disagree on whether the term is derogatory; it is not considered as such by the authoritative Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española."

grongo?

xps.systems

Are you sure?! I was in Panama so maybe things are different to in Ecuador. Also there is a significant European ethnic minority in Panama.

I think the correct term for a 'white European' in Latin America is usually 'europeo' or 'blanco'.

Remember that whilst some words may be OK to be said in some places they have offensive connotations in other places.

For example, whilst it is acceptable to say 'p**i' in say south India or in Australia, it would be probably considered offensive to say 'p**i' in London.

squish.

To be honest, it's pretty weird to hear the word "blanco" when referring to a person. Gringo just means a white person. It can be used derogatorily, just like "brits" or "yanks" can be used derogatorily, with the right intonation. But I lived in Chile, and I once heard a person tell someone that their daughter was "casi gringa," meaning "almost white," referring to her blue eyes. The mother was absolutely beaming, because she knew it was a compliment (the girl really was beautiful).

Reply 39

DC Doberman

Nico_SU

Americans can call me what the hell they like, because I know in relaity they haven't a patch on me.

After all, what nation votes George Bush in to power, not once, but twice. Was the first 4 years of the world laughing at you just not enough?

wow, you hate bush so much you just had to let it out in a place where it makes absolutely no sense? do you even know what this thread is about?

Is it racist to call a European person a 'gr**go'

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