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Slang file #009Cooling offPeople & places

What does gringo mean?

Say itGREEN-goh/ˈɡɾiŋɡo/noun and adjective

Where you’ll hear it
  • Mexico
  • Central America
  • South America
  • Cuba

An informal word for a foreigner, especially an English speaker, and in Mexico and much of Latin America for a person or thing from the United States (gringa for a woman).

Written by the Second Language TeamWritten

Gringo is an informal Spanish word for a foreigner, especially one who speaks English. In the RAE’s dictionary (the RAE is the Royal Spanish Academy, which sets standard Spanish), it can also mean anyone whose language isn’t Spanish [1]. In Mexico and much of Central and South America, it usually means a person from the United States. It can describe things too: moneda gringa is "US money" [2]. For a woman, it’s gringa. You hear it from friends, from a partner’s family, on TV, and sometimes in angry talk about US politics.

Say it GREEN-goh, and gringa is GREEN-gah. The Spanish r here is a quick tap of the tongue, like the tt in a fast American "butter," and the i sounds like "ee." The word is casual, everyday Spanish, not a swear word. Its tone depends on who says it and how. It can be neutral, a friendly joke, or an insult [1].

Word stats

How casual
Everyday spoken Spanish, especially in Mexico, but too informal for a report or an email to a client.
OK at work
Coworkers may joke with it, but in a meeting estadounidense ("from the US") is the safer word.
Abuela-safe
Not a bad word, and abuela (grandma) may say it herself. Just keep the tone friendly.
Rudeness
Friendly from friends and family, and fine about yourself, but it can be an insult from a stranger or in angry political talk.
Freshness
People have used it since at least the 1780s, and fewer looked it up this year than last.

Spotted in the wild

Group chat · roommates in Mexico City
  1. Danitacos hoy? hay una taquería nueva
  2. Youyes!! I want to try the gringas
  3. Danijaja the gringo ordering gringas 😂
  4. Mauva, pero a la gringa, cada quien paga lo suyo

What it means here: Dani asks "tacos today? there’s a new taco place." The gringas are a food, a folded tortilla with meat and cheese, while "the gringo" is you, the friend from the US. Mau says "okay, but a la gringa: everyone pays for their own."

Family group chat · your partner’s family
  1. Tía Rosa¿viene el gringo el domingo?
  2. Sofíasí tía, y dice que quiere aprender a hacer tamales
  3. Tía Rosaay qué lindo mi gringo 😄

What it means here: Aunt (tía) Rosa asks "is the gringo coming on Sunday?" and Sofía says "yes, and he wants to learn to make tamales." Gringo is a warm nickname for Sofía’s partner from the US, and "qué lindo mi gringo" means "how sweet, my gringo."

Text from your host in Cusco, Peru
  1. Martaen julio hay muchos gringos en la ciudad
  2. Youso I should book the train early?
  3. Martasí, ya! los boletos se acaban

What it means here: Marta says "in July there are lots of gringos in the city," and here gringos means foreign tourists in general. Then she says "yes, now! the tickets sell out."

How to use it

  • ser gringo / gringa (to be a gringo)Mi vecino es gringo, de Texas. ("My neighbor is a gringo, from Texas.")
  • noun + gringo / gringa ("from the US")Pagué con moneda gringa. ("I paid in US money.")
  • a la gringa (everyone pays for their own)¿Pagamos a la gringa? ("Should we each pay for our own food?")
  • Soy gringo / gringa (about yourself)Soy gringa, perdón por mi español. ("I’m a gringa, sorry about my Spanish.")
  • los gringos / las gringas (a group)Los gringos celebran Thanksgiving en noviembre. ("Gringos celebrate Thanksgiving in November.")

Don’t say it like this

  • Sounds offMi novia es gringo.

    Say thisMi novia es gringa. ("My girlfriend is a gringa.")

    Use gringo for a man and gringa for a woman. Use gringos for a mixed group and gringas for a group of only women. As an adjective, it matches the noun: moneda gringa, tropas gringas.

  • Sounds off"GRING-goh," with a short i and an English r

    Say this"GREEN-goh," with a tapped r

    The Spanish i sounds like "ee," and the r is one quick tap of the tongue. The English version is close, but it still sounds like English.

  • Sounds offLos turistas gringos llegan mañana. (in an email to a client)

    Say thisLos turistas estadounidenses llegan mañana. ("The US tourists arrive tomorrow.")

    Gringo is informal and sometimes an insult [1]. In writing and at work, estadounidense ("from the US") is the neutral word.

  • Sounds off"Gringo comes from US soldiers singing ‘Green Grow the Lilacs’ in the 1840s."

    Say this"Gringo is older than that war. It may come from griego (‘Greek’)."

    A Spanish dictionary recorded gringos around 1787, decades before the US–Mexican War of 1846–48, and Etymonline says the song story has no factual basis [3]. The griego idea isn’t settled either, because the RAE marks the origin as disputed [1].

gringo or not?

Is each of these gringo? Pick an answer to find out.

  1. At a market in Mexico, a seller says the price is "diez dólares, moneda gringa" ("ten dollars, gringo money"). Does gringa mean "from the US" here?

  2. A taquería menu in Mexico lists "gringa de pastor." Is it talking about a person from the US?

  3. After dinner in Mexico, a friend asks "¿pagamos a la gringa?" Is she calling someone at the table a gringo?

  4. In Lima, Peru, a friend points at a tour group from Texas and says "mira, gringos." Is gringo about people from the US here?

The gringo family

  • yanqui"Yankee": a person from the US, common in political talk.You’ll see it on protest signs more often than on birthday cards.
  • gringolandiaA joking name for the United States: "gringo land."No passport stamp says it, but everyone knows where it is.
  • agringadoSomeone or something that has taken on US habits (agringada for a woman).Say "we eat dinner at 5:30" and see who calls you agringado.

Where it came from

  1. 1787Esteban de Terreros’s Spanish dictionary records the word. In Málaga, a city in southern Spain, gringos are foreigners with a certain accent, and in Madrid the word is used especially for the Irish [3].
  2. 1805A Spanish edition of Don Quixote explains in a footnote that gringo is used for Germans, Swiss, and people from "Northern nations" [3].
  3. 1841By this year, the word shows up in English, used in Chile for an Englishman [3].
  4. TodayIn Mexico, gringo describes anything from the US, from money to tourists [2], and a gringa can even be lunch. The RAE still marks the word’s origin as disputed [1].

Is gringo offensive?

It depends on who says it, how they say it, and who they say it to. Spanish dictionaries call it informal and say people use it as an insult only sometimes [1]. English-language dictionaries tend to be stricter and often describe it as disparaging. In real life, tone and context decide.

SituationHow it usually sounds
A friend or your partner’s family calls you "el gringo" ("the gringo")Friendly teasing, often warm
Someone in Mexico talks about "moneda gringa" or "tropas gringas" ("US troops")Neutral: it just means "from the US" [2]
You call yourself a gringoUsually fine, and often a little funny
A stranger says it in an angry voice, or it comes up in angry political talk about the USHostile

Who counts as a gringo also changes from place to place:

  • Mexico: anyone or anything from the US. The DEM, a dictionary of Mexican Spanish, also lists a second meaning: a blond person who speaks a foreign language [2].
  • Central America, South America, and Cuba: the RAE lists "from the US" as a meaning in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela [1].
  • Everywhere: the RAE’s main meaning is any foreigner, especially an English speaker. In Uruguay, it can also mean English or Russian [1].
  • Argentina and Uruguay: in the past, gringo was a word for European immigrants who didn’t speak Spanish, often Italians.

If you aren’t sure how it will sound, use estadounidense ("from the US") or extranjero ("foreigner"). Both are neutral everywhere.

Sources

  1. gringo, ga | Diccionario de la lengua españolaReal Academia Española
  2. gringo | Diccionario del español de MéxicoEl Colegio de México
  3. Gringo - Etymology, Origin & MeaningOnline Etymology Dictionary (Etymonline)

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