Brazzil

Green go away from my country. When the USA invaded Mexico, the USA soldiers used to hear Green Go from the Mexico population. So far USA did not live Mexico, they still occupy California, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and so on.

Let s bush s terrorism destroy our earth and all of us wil be equal ..the same s**t he make to áll abroad

Green Grown = GrinGo

Congrats Thaddeus! a very nice article ...

I like the explication of local elite exploitation/expansion of xenophobic propaganda. Clearly, the anti foriegn impulses are socialist in nature and support the power structure of the rulers in the North East as well as those connected to the Federal system.
Its hard to believe that the people in the south west put up with this nonsense.
(Except for the fact that it allows even the middle classes access to cheap domestic help)
The obverse, of course, is that the unilingual mindset will doom Brazilians to second class participants in the academic and financial affairs of the world.
With respect to the comparison of the immigrant in Brazil versus the immigrant in the West, there is a difference in status that changes the rationale for assimilation. There is virtually no immigration to Brazil for economic reasons, which of course, is the opposite of the case of Brazilians in the West.
Westerners must fight discrimination in Brazil because they love the people or have family there etc. They have no need to assimilate because it doesn't help them to improve their social status. It could be argued that their "otherness" gives them an elite status. In the West, the focus of the population is the perpetuation or expansion of the ideal bourgeois lifestyle that was made possible by stable government and laws. Even in multi ethinic societies (such as Toronto which has only 23% population that are not first or second generation Canadians), the focus amongst residents is not on differences (as almost everyone is different) but similarities. Brazil (for the most part) is not like this. It is a society that focuses on perpetuation of existing privilege and its most vocal proponents are looking backwards to the (imagined) golden age of isolation.

Nice piece Thaddeus.
Let me tell a funny thing. I'm a Carioca. My mother is Carioca and my father Mineiro. But I moved South, Santa Catarina after 14 yo, lived there for 10 years, I'm a Catarioca! Now I live in the USA for a decade, now I'm a Catariocan! I'm white, more now than ever, you know the winters here, 6,2 tall, green eyes, dark hair. so when my Brazilians gringos, here in US ask me where I'm from, and I reply I'm a Carioca! but I have lived in South of Brazil. More than once I hear "Oh, that explain it!" I just smile.

So, let's create a new term, since a foreigner in Brazil is called Gringo then a Brazilian living in a foreign country should be termed: Greengo.

Nice article, I enjoyed the essay!

A Greengo

I am a ceticist about human thougs.
whay we want to be diferent each other?
we are equal, gringoes or not
latinoes or not.
very wel
god blesses the children who does not understant nothing about this...

I know English is difficult to read for some people, but the article clearly shows that "green go" is not the root of "gringo". Gringo, according to the author, was in use in Spain and Portugal centuries before the United States invaded Mexico - it was in use before the U.S. even existed, in fact.

So here we have an article which destorys one of the biggest myths about "gringo" and - what - 3 out of 8 of the people above apparently didn't even click on that point.

i am an afro-north american who has visited brazil many many times over the past 15 years for periods as long as five months. during my initial visits, i was on several occasions called "gringo", which came as quite a shock, as i would be denominated in brasil as a moreno escuro, and of course, never thought of myself in terms of being white, blue-eyed, excessively U.S. centered, imperialist, culturally elitist, or economically exploitive. i consider myself gente boa. however, i was only called gringo when i opened my mouth attempting to speak portuguese. as i became more proficient in the language, i was never called gringo, except jokingly by my brazilian intimates who want to emphasize my foreigness in a specific context. i found the exposition of the term "gringo" extremely informative and right on the money.

Born and raised in Texas to parents who immigrated from Norway, there is no way I'll ever be mistaken for anything other than a gringo. As an adult I've lived in Colombia, Guatemala, and Venezuela, and as my skill with the language improved, and my love for the people and culture of these places grew, I realized that I no longer fit in back home in the States. As my alterity diminished "south of the border," it grew when I was north of it. Can one become a Gringo-Griego in the place of one's birth? It seems so. The article's reference to transformative experience is exactly right, and for me the biggest culture shocks happened when I went back home to the US, not the other way around.

Incidently I never felt threatened by the use of the word Gringo; when someone really wants to call me something nasty, they pull out the word "Yanqi."

Excellent article! I congratulate the author.
It's a shame that it's been polluted with such stupid comments.

Just the whining, comlpaining aritcle we needed to straighten all of this out. Keep up the sophomoric work.

"gringos". I've lived in Brazil for 7 years and speak Portuguese fluently, to the point where a couple of times have been mistaken for a Gaucho. However, the number of times that Brazilians have spoke to me in English, before I've even opened my mouth, has been many. Being 6ft., straight light brown hair, and green eyes, and white skin, most correctly assume I'm a gringo strictly by physical characteristics. I have to say it's an uncomfortable situation when one starts to speak broken english that's difficult to understand when we could communicate 100% better in portuguese...but because of assumptions.....

"I know English is difficult to read for some people..."

You are definitely not a Brazilian since you are showing here to have little sense of humor. However, If you are a Brazilian then you are scaring us.

The above posts were just to show how the Brazilians take the term “gringo” good-naturedly. You have to understand the Brazilian soul.

I liked your article about the use of the word "gringo" in Brazil. The understanding of any emotionally charged word like "gringo" requires delving on the meaning of a cultural milieu, particular manners, specific history, political context, and the ubiquitous necessity to keep an open mind. Mr. Blanchette has done a great job about detailing the use of the word "gringo" in Brazil in the year 2005.

Edgardo
Sherman Oaks, California, USA

Gringo is used all over latin america, I went to Colombia in 2004 with my entire classroom, and many of the of latin descent, and they were still gringos too.

for some reason Colombians consider U.S. born latinos gringos.

Actually you're wrong, Gringo is more of a westerner

I don't really think south americans are considered as gringos here in Brazil, I live in Sao Paulo and the image we have of gringo, is of an European or American.

I don't think a South American could be called gringo here.

This site used to be for intelligent discussion. WHAT HAPPENED? Man, I never thought so many idiots could get computers. Surprised they know how to turn them on.

"This site used to be for intelligent discussion. WHAT HAPPENED? Man, I never thought so many idiots could get computers. Surprised they know how to turn them on."

And the above addition to the discourse is proof of YOUR intellect?

The Brasilian eye (green-yellow-blue) is much prettier then the pale Gringo one in this article.

It was a good article!!... but does not matter the meaning of the word GRINGO> The most important is... the Brazilian love gringos! We respect them. We welcome them all. We offer a cafezinho to them, and.. we invite them for a free lunch in our house!! Bem-vindo os gringos!!

And the Mexican is doing a damn good job of trying to take it back for free!!!

What's up with that face!!!

Could pass as a Goat or something.

There are "w*****ks" amongst us in the USA.

I really liked this article. I am very interested in the way brazilians view us non, brazilians. I think when it all comes down to the very root of the issue, the portuguese need to ask for forgiveness for the way they entered the land of brazil. Insecruities and bitterness can be put away and Brazil as a country can make giant steps foward. Long live Brazil.

There are several degress of "gringoness"

Gringo at least its image is the one of a westerner, white, blonde hair, blue eyed north american or european or australian

however portuguese aren't really seen as gringos, and spaniards and italians though gringos, are usually considered more familiar, and less gringo than other europeans like the germans, or the british.

now there are also gringos, who aren't really gringos, that is south americans for the most, yes argentinians or chileans or columbians are gringos, but not exactly that much of a gringos, I guess they are gringos who can eventually become brazilians.

Thaddeus Blanchette here.

Despite the input from the poster from SP, I've seen latin americans being called "gringos" several times in Brazil. In the article, I mention an in-print version of this, with the headline "Gringo rouba gringo" being used to describe a mugging of an american tourist by a peruvian thief. My argentinian friends here in Rio routinely get called "gringo", much to their annoyance.

The article's several years old. After I wrote it, I found an article by the German sociologist Simmel entitled "Der Fremde" in which he analyzes a similar word's usage in German. Simmel points out that to be truly "fremde", one cannot be too familiar, nor too strange. Venusians aren't "fremdes": they are outside of our scale of reference. Likewise, your brother-in-law can't be a fremde, even if he is foreign: he's in your family.

In light of that, it's interesting to note that there is only one group of foreigners that I've never heard called "gringo" in Brazil: Asians. They are universally called a name that salients their Asianness - usually "japa", "china" or the like.

The next group that is very rarely called "gringo" - I've only seen two references of the word's use diurected against them and both were ironic - are the Portuguese.

I believe that the first group of people are too "foreign" (yes, I'm aware SP has a huge Asian population - nevertheless, they've historically been looked upon with a great deal of askance by people who believe in such things as a "Brazilian soul") and the second too "familar" to have gringo applied to them often, follwing Simmel's observation.

Next in familiarity would be not other Latin Americans but Africans. They get the word attached to them more than the Portuguese buyt less than, say, Mexicans or Argentinians. Then come other Latin Americans, then "Latin" Europeans (Italians and Spanish). Then, finally, we have "gringo plenos", which would be the foreigners from the U.S. and Northern Europe.

Oddly enough - and I've talked to a lot of people about this - being a black American doesn't reduce your chance of being called a gringo: you are simply a black gringo. Africans are more accepted because the vast majority of them here in Brazil come from Luso-Africa so they at least speak Portuguese.

As time goes by and one becomes more assimilated and - crucially - learns to speak Portuguese better, one starts becoming more "familiar" and one here's "gringo less - though it's always hovering about the edge somewhere. Typically, the first step for a white person is to be mistaken as someone from Santa Catarina or Argentina. Many white gringos point to this with pride and say "See? I'm almost assimilated." Unfortunately, the German-Brazilians of SC have the same rep for being poor players of the "let's be Brazilian game" as SP's Japanese. The coastal dwellers of the region still call them "gringos", in fact, so it's not much of a step up. The next step is to be mistaken for a Paulistan.

For black gringos the first step is being told, "Oh, no. You really look Brazilian and, in fact, if you wouldn't talk, I'd say you were". The next step - and I'd like to hear more from black gringos on this - but the next step, at least in the SE, seems to me to be mistaken for an Angolan: a black guy who speaks Portuguese with a funny accent.

That's where I'm with this idea now.

Thanks for the tips. I am African American, and I speak some portuguese. I will look out for these nuances in my interactions with the brazilians. They appear to be facinating people. They are my kinda people!!!!

Hi! First I would like to say I very much enjoyed your article.
I am a very white, very blonde, blue eyed, canadian girl, who speaks very poor portuguese. I have never noticed anyone call me gringo - however it could just be my portuguese is that bad! The first time I visited Brasil I stayed with a family in Blumenau. I felt extreemly welcome and at home. I did find the men rather forward, however, given how they treated my brasilian sisters, it wasn't just because I was white. I would not call the whistling at you and occasional grabbing sexual harrasment at all - I would call it brasilan men. One of the girls I stayed with actually saw a boy run into a lamp post in his car while he was whistling at her! She is a beautiful dark haired, brown eyed dark skinned brasilian. When she stayed with me in Canada she received a similar amount attention from canadian men, who were a bit more subdued. Foreign is exotic and sexy - either way! In Santa Catarina people often assumed I was German. I do speak german so that was fine. It was funny - once i had a tan people thought I was argentinian so they spoke to me in spanish which really confused things!
I also have visited Germany where even though I am fluent in the language and have family there - I felt much much more foreign. It is also the only place where I have felt sexually threatened by men. The men were not Germans but they were also living there.
I guess I would like to say to your friends Amy and Amber - they should try not to feel threatened by the attention. It isn't what a north american girl is used to, but for the most part it, isn't usually meant to be negative. I love the brasilian people. I have found them to be some of the most welcoming people I've ever met.

thanks,
Ami

can you send me a picture of yourbutthole...If ugly, i am calling Gringa Fria!

gringo in the Amazon, i will pretend he is game. He will be shot, his head stuffed and raised above my fireplace as a trophie!

Go home. Put on a funny hat. Do whatever it is morons do.

You will run your ass off...hide like to coward you are...kiss their asses if they wish...

People are missing the point. There are a rather large number of light complexioned, blond and blue-eyed people in Brasil, although the majority live mainly in the South.Anyone who lives in Brasil for any length of time will notice this, and will notice how many such people are not referred to as "gringo". Why?

It's not so much the complexion, hair and eye colour that tips off Brasileiros to the presence of a gringo, but:
- height (north american and many northern european gringos are quite tall compared to Brasileiros)
- body proportion (north merican and many northern european gringos have longer legs, larger hands and feet in proportion to the rest of their body than do Brasileiros)
- gestures and mannerisms (Brasileiros have distinct gestures, mannerisms and rhythm of movement than other Latinos, not to mention the considerable difference therein between Latinos and non-Latinos).
- dress (e.g. baseball caps, badly combined clothing, use of denim short pants almost always attact the label of "gringo")
- attitude (e.g. US natives generally speak very loud and broadly - you can hear them from great distance in almost any location outside the US)

A six foot tall woman with relatively large feet and long legs, walking in a typically stiff North American style will be easily scoped as a gringa, while a five-foot-four-inch blond, fair skinned, blue-eyed woman walking like a Brasileira would not.

Now, especially in cities like Blumenau, in the traditionally German area of Santa Catarina, even bad Portuguese won't attract a "gringo" label. People there know that many Catarinenses still speak German as a first language and have an accent and make certain errors in speaking Portuguese, and are no less Brasileiros than Cariocas or Penambucanos.

The "gringo" label is more a matter of subtle differences in physique, and less subtle differences in mannerisms and attitude....

maybe thats why i never heard gringo. i am fairly short and being raised in canada - i am quieter than some. i also didn't learn a lot of portuguese but i did pick up on light conversation and mannerisms - b/c i lived with a family. the family i lived with also told me what not to wear in public! i guess having an adopted brasilian mae helps!!!

ami

picture is the same guy (the inbred) that was on the movie Deliverance..playing the banjo.

That's one UUUUUUUUgly american muda!

keol

Ami, your experiences demonstrate just how f**king stupid people are. Thanks.

i don't think you understood what i was getting at. or you don't want to. relax. people are different. cultures are different and boys are funny. none of my experiences - at least in brasil have 'demonstrated how stupid people are' in fact they demostrated to me how welcoming and loving strangers can be. I went to brasil as a 17 year old girl. it was the first time i had traveled very far. i stayed with a family i had never met. my mae spoke no english so we had to talk thru sign language and pictures until i learned more portuguese. In brasil i learned how much you can say without language.
the story about the lamppost is funny! boy! loco! thats all. when i was 15 i ran a shopping cart into a stack of cereal boxes in a supermarket because i was looking at and trying to get the courage to say hello to a boy i had a crush on! so have i just proved to you how stupid i am??? well i'd like to see what you did as a teenager looking at people you had a crush on!
as far as where people guessed i was from - well i was in a german town and i don't act american so people were guessing. where i was there weren't many canadians. in anycase - relax. life is too short to waste on anger, hatred and fear.
cheers
ami

Any foreigner -- non-Brazilian. That's all. Any further imp**ation a reflection of your own state of mind/being.

People are different? Cultures are different? I did not know that.

"I did find the men rather forward, however, given how they treated my brasilian sisters, it wasn't just because I was white. I would not call the whistling at you and occasional grabbing sexual harrasment at all - I would call it brasilan men. One of the girls I stayed with actually saw a boy run into a lamp post in his car while he was whistling at her! She is a beautiful dark haired, brown eyed dark skinned brasilian. When she stayed with me in Canada she received a similar amount attention from canadian men, who were a bit more subdued. Foreign is exotic and sexy - either way! In Santa Catarina people often assumed I was German. I do speak german so that was fine. It was funny - once i had a tan people thought I was argentinian so they spoke to me in spanish which really confused things!
I also have visited Germany where even though I am fluent in the language and have family there - I felt much much more foreign. It is also the only place where I have felt sexually threatened by men. The men were not Germans but they were also living there."

Hmm, I don't find your tales of sexual harrassment and sterotyping to be "funny" at all. Maybe it's just me though.

the boys didn't bother me. in any case. my point was- it wasn't about being white and it wasn't meant to be mean. somwhat inappropiate - ok sure whatever. i've had far worse said to me in canada - and on this forum for that matter.
second - the sterotyping - i'm obviously not brasilian. i'm just telling you where some people guessed i was from. when i'm in the usa people ask if i'm canadian - and here - some people ask if i'm american. i can tell when someone's not canadian - and if they happen to be german or brasilian i make a point of talking to them and asking how they like canada - just like brasilians did for me.
sexual harrasment sucks. I have a problem when someone says - 'if you sleep with me i'll give you a job.' and i've heard that in canada. i don't mind a whistle - or 'hey pretty girl smile at me.' especially on the street - not in a work place.
ami

shut your pie hole? You are quite annoying and stupid as a brick!

Go play join the dots or something...irritating person!

Your NOT friend,

keol

PS. You are not welcome in Brasil either!

peace.

ami

" i don't mind a whistle - or 'hey pretty girl smile at me.' especially on the street - not in a work place."

Okay, well then don't complain about sexual harrassment. You seem to be encouraging bad behaviour from men. Not sure how you are able to distinguish the street from the workplace, honey. wooo…how about a smile, pretty girl?

i was trying explaining what behavior i find offensive and what i don't. it's hard to do this in short messages. i've tried. but i guess some people still don't quite understand what i mean. i'm sure you see the difference between someone threatening my work - vs someone just checking me out. well - i see the difference. in any case - we all have different boundries - so let's try to respect each other. really - it doesn't matter - these were just my experiences. i'm happy. i like men and i get along just fine with them.
peace. i'm done with this story.
ami

There's something suspicious about you Ami????

peace.

when i first traveled to brasil, my clothes and inability to speak portuguese branded me as a gringo, but because of my color i was perceived as some kind of darker moreno. thus, people were perplexed and hesitant to call me gringo i believe. upon being identified as from the US, people were more comfortable calling me gringo. however, it was still extremely disconcerting to me for the reasons stated in my prior comment. on subesequent visits as i began to dress in the more casual manner of brasilians (cariocas) and spoke enough portuguese to get by in casual, short encounters, i was never ever called a gringo. interestingly enough, because i tan deeply becomming very darkly bronzed and coppery (native american great grandmothe)r, brasilians were far less likely to call me gringo after about two weeks on the beach, and dressed in bermudas, camisa and chinelos. i generally pass as brasilian without question. however, if i have to speak portuguese at length, and my accent becomes apparent, i'm never asked if i am african, simply because relative to africans from former portuguese colonies, my complexion is lighter and my features less pronounced as purely african. i am asked if i am from the carribean, jamaican most often. i think that is because my accent is picked up as english, not spanish or another latin derived language, and i think because jamican music is widespread in brasil, the logical assumption is that i am a jamaican musician living and/or working in brasil. this is particularly the case when i'm in salvador, sao luis or anywhere in the northeast, not so much in rio, sao paulo or the southeast. there, people will ask if i'm from the US after they ask if i'm from the carribean. that response is due, i think, to the fact that black US citizens are more likely to visit sao paulo and rio. it's changing in salvador, which has become a popular spot for afro US folks. on the other hand, in places which are hardly ever visited by afro US folks, no one ever asks if i'm from the US even after they perceive i'm not a native, essentially because brasilians view US citizens as basically white and thus, "gringos". i've actually been accused of being a brasilian impersonating a "gringo" in some of the more out of the way places i've visited; a rank social climber, so to speak, trying to be an "exotic". in a sense, i took it as a compliment of having at least superficially assimilated such an extent. i then contrast that with the fact that on two occasions in two different cities in brasil, a taxi driver took me to my hotel with exteme reluctance because in his experience black people didn't stay in that particualr hotel, and only did so without any reticence when i showed my passport. then, and only then, did i become a gringo, and everything was right and made sense in his world. one's being perceived as a gringo aside from the essential fact of not being brasilian, depends on so many factors, including not only one's apperance and mannerisms, but also the social context. some factors are greater signifiers than others, and from my experience, color has been the greatest determinant in almost every context. however, social and economic class can turn one into a gringo when it is discovered that one is a foreigner, when color alone will sometimes prevent one from being perceived as such even if a non-brasilian.


.

Man! I bet you are slobbering at the mouth.

I've never seen you like this, what happened?

Calm down!! You're going to blow a gasket!

Comas,

Periods.

Paragraphs.

Please!

"There is virtually no immigration to Brazil for economic reasons, which of course, is the opposite of the case of Brazilians in the West."

You have no idea of how much this West crap pisses any averagely educated people off! Americans would be much more "welcome" if they stopped with this crap.

One day I wrote not a nice response in someone's blog (at a well know big US company site) because of it.

First, we ARE LOCATED IN WESTERN HEMISPHERE (check your atlas please), WE SPEAK A WESTERN LANGUAGE (portuguese a neo-latin, not chinese, nor cantonese, nor mandarim, nor japanese, nor korean, can you tell the difference!?), WE HAVE A SOCIETY SOMEHOW BASED IN SEVERAL OTHERS, THE PORTUGUESE WHICH IS WESTERN.

Besides taking ownership of the term America, now you want to own the ENTIRE HEMISPHERE!?

Yes, only the "sole superpower" (every article from any US magazine must have this two words every five paragraphs, I think that's to keep the morale up) could move a continent to the other side of the planet overnight!! Yes, using a very old technology, it's called STUPIDITY!

"There is virtually no immigration to Brazil for economic reasons, which of course, is the opposite of the case of Brazilians in the West"

BTW, for that reason, if our society is a pyramid, the ones that goes to US are from the very bottom of it, id est, undereducated hopeless people that accepts to live as a third class citizen make a third of an american salary. And being (deservefully) treated like a dog.

"hard work" for them is to clean toilets. They have never known, as most here in this forum I think (what poor person has a computer and knows english!?), what EDUCATION is, what COLLEGE is and so on.

Hard working for me and for any people in this forum (for the cited reason above) is to study my ass off for getting a honourable job, an intellectual one, where I can get enough money for having a decent life.

But some others want an easier life... they flee to US. There in US a loser can actually survive, here they starve. We keep the best and get rid of the worst.

people who clean tolettes are honorable!! people often emmigrate to north america and do unpleasent jobs so that their children can have better lives. our society will be far better for selfless people willing to work in awful condition in order to improve their families lives! in canada eduacation up to grade 12 is free. I know poor children still often have to drop out to work, but our government tries to help them stay in school so they have the opportunity to have better lives. poverty can be a cycle - but here people have the chance to escape. I know - my father was a poor child who dropped out at 15 and then had to continue high school at night. He worked as a kennel boy - cleaning animal's cages at a vets. My father is now a professor of veteranary medicine. He went to school; got a student loan and eventually university degrees.
I do not know how the education system works in Brasil. Is it free? Can poor children get help from the government to continue education?
people who give up there whole lives and more to a new country are brave and deserve our respect. Someone must clean the toilettes! It may not be a pleasent job - but it is making the world a better place, which is more than i can say for many university educated people.

ami

would you clean my caca box?

Brazilians have had an inferiority complex since the military went out of rule. This Gringo crap is just ignorance.
Most Brazilians have never even been to the U.S. and we have a couple of Million of Brazilians here that won't go home because once they get here, they get cars, houses, jobs, make money, go to school, have a good life, something most of them would never have in brazil. At least here they can buy a car and not be killed for having a nice car.
Now, I must be fair and say that many U.S. cities are crap, thanks in great part to our STUPID,IDIOTIC and assenine Illegal immigration laws. Places like California might as well be given back to the Mexicans, it's turning into a crap hole ruled by An Austrian who's as competent to run the place as Lula is to run Brazil. Two idiots.

AMERICANS HATE THE SPANISH SPEAKING WORLD, HAHAHAHAHAHAH I SPEAK SPANISH AND LET ME TELL YOU ONE THING f**kING YANKEES

I TRULY HATE YOU, I TRULY THINK YOUR f**kING AMERICAN SOCIETY IS TRASH, AND I ALSO HATE THOSE f**kING FILTHY SHORT FAT BROWN MEXICAN INDIANS WHO INVADE YOUR f**kING COUNTRY, BUT I AM HAPPY THAT THEY HAVE GOTTEN SO MUCH UP YOUR ASS THAT YOU CAN'T GO ANYWHERE IN THE US, WITHOUT SEEING A LITTLE SHORT f**kING AZTEC

EVENTHOUGH I SPEAK SPANISH I AM NOT OF THAT INDIAN s**t ANCESTRY, NEITHER I HAVE EUROPEAN ANCESTRY FROM SPAIN, BUT FROM ITALY AND JAPAN, BUT I WAS BORN IN VENEZUELA, AND I THINK YOU ARE ALLf**kING SCUM AMERICANS

I TRULY f**kING HATE YOU, AND I HOPE THEY DROP A HUGE f**kING ATOMIC BOMB OVER YOUR f**kING COUNTRY FULL OF FAT IGNORANT RACIST MOTHER f**kING AMERICAN CRACKERS n****rS AND SHORT LITTLE BROWN INJUNS FROM MEXICO, I LIKE THE MEXICANS WHO ARE NOT SHORT INJUNS, THOSE I AM OK WITH.

WHICH REMINDS ME HAHAHAHAHAH AMERICANS ARE SO f**kING STUPID THAT THEY ACTUALLY THINK THAT BUNCH OF SHORT BROWN FAT PIECE OF s**t w*****kS ARE SPANIARDS, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STUPID f**kING YANKEES, CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT A MAP AND SEE THAT SPAIN IS A EUROPEAN COUNTRY

AS FAR AS BRAZIL, BRAZIL IS A s**tHOLE, THOUGH PRETTY MUCH ALL OF SOUTH AMERICA IS A s**tHOLE, WHICH IS THE REASON I GOT A JAPANESE VISA AND I WILL MOVE TO MY MOTHER'S COUNTRY, YEAH THE PEOPLE IN SOUTH AMERICA , NOT ONLY IN BRAZIL ARE FRIENDLY BUT SO WHAT??
THEY ARE MOSTLY BACKSTABBERS, AND FAKE FRIENDS, WHO WILL HANG AROUND AS LONG AS YOU HAVE SOMETHING FOR THEM IN STORE, THATIS HOW SOUTH AMERICANS IN GENERAL ARE.

THAT IS WHY I AM MOVING TO JAPAN, MY MOM'S HOMELAND

I LIKE EVERY ONE , EXCEPT AMERICANS, I TRULY f**kING HATE YOU YANKEES, TO ME YOU'RE ALL GARBAGE

....Two idiots.....no no no....There are Three idiots, you forgot to add yourself to that list!

hehehe

keol

Is a fine specimen of an earlier form of homosapiens….What a loser!

hehehe

keol

"I have never noticed anyone call me gringo - however it could just be my portuguese is that bad! The first time I visited Brasil I stayed with a family in Blumenau." - Ami

Well, I'd say that you having been in the largest German colony in Brazil probably has a lot to do with your not being called a gringa. If you go up to Rio or farther north, that will change. I don't think either Amber or Amy were "threatened" by the attention, but I did see Amy go through some pretty nasty situations because she was picked out as a gringa.

"Most Brazilians have never even been to the U.S. and we have a couple of Million of Brazilians here that won't go home because once they get here, they get cars, houses, jobs, make money, go to school, have a good life, something most of them would never have in brazil. At least here they can buy a car and not be killed for having a nice car."

Very few Brazilians which I know in the States (and I know many) are entirely happy with living there. Over the long haul, of course, they assimilate, but that's true for gringos who've been in Brazil over the long haul as well. The big difference, as I see it, between Brazil and the States is that American working class people have access to credit and Brazilians don't. So your average Brazilian immigrant can all of a sudden spend more than he ever dreamt. Unfortunately, precisely because of this, he usually has no experience in managing credit and he shortly becomes hopelessly endebted. I know too many Brazilians, for example, who went and bought a new car in the States on credit when they really couldn't afford it.

Often, this dept ties them further into the States. That and immigration law. Even if they WANTED to go home, dropping their debts and leaving w/o a green card means they could never come back. So a lot of Brazucas make the best out of a s**tty situation by telling themsleves and others "how great it is in the States". Get them on their own and a little bit drunk, however, and you'll soon hear another story.

In my personal experience, perhaps 2 in 5 Brazilian immigrants are doing well in the States. Another 2 in 5 are treading water while working their asses off. And one in five is living a life something similar to those portrayed in "Dois perdidos numa noite suja". This might offend some Americans who believe that their country gives everyone untrammeled opportunity, but my experience tells me that the majority of Brazilians up there aren't doing so hot.

I have heard the green referred not to uniforms but to the color of the currency - green us dollars

You may call me a gringo. You may call me anything that you want to. The only thing that I ask is for you not to call me late for dinner. Interesting article and even some rational comments. ja

Fascinating article - I went looking for the true etymology of gringo after repeating what I'd been told by my Mexican ex-husband about the term's origin to people for years. Now I know I've been perpetuating a myth :-)

At the same time, I think what people believe about the word's origins to be to be worth investigating. The fact that every Mexican I've ever known has shied away from using to word to refer to US American friends/family is significant, as is the fact that even people who have read this article cling to the folkloric explanations for the term.

Living in Colombia, as a tall, white American, I hear the term all the time, but having grown up hearing it used only despectivamente, it used to sound harsh to my ears even when I knew it was being used affectionately. I'm trying to get over that though -- intent is important. Before moving here, I lived in Atlanta, where most Latino immigrants are from Mexico, and I got used to being referred to as la guerita, o la rubia. Here it's "mona" (another interesting term someone should examine) and gringa. Ah well.

""I have heard the green referred not to uniforms but to the color of the currency - green us dollars""

The Mexican war was before the greenback's introduction - not to mention that the expression gringo is older than the USA!

your illegals here are a detriment not a positive! they operate here commiting fraud break our laws create underground business operations and do not pay income taxs.basically the same thing they did in there home country.they have a snow balls chance in hell for getting amnesty. dont delude your self we will be sending them back to you even if its one at a time.any one knowledgebul with the current political situation in the usa should realize this.

your illegals here are a detriment not a positive! they operate here commiting fraud break our laws create underground business operations and do not pay income taxs.basically the same thing they did in there home country.they have a snow balls chance in hell for getting amnesty. dont delude your self we will be sending them back to you even if its one at a time.any one knowledgebul with the current political situation in the usa should realize this.

your illegals here are a detriment not a positive! they operate here commiting fraud break our laws create underground business operations and do not pay income taxs.basically the same thing they did in there home country.they have a snow balls chance in hell for getting amnesty. dont delude your self we will be sending them back to you even if its one at a time.any one knowledgebul with the current political situation in the usa should realize this.

to the brasilian american hater. we will be waiting for you when you attempt to cross the mexican border . face to face with a u.s.a. marines 50 caliber machine gun.

Thanks for the article - interesting experiences. I am from England myself, with one Spanish parent. I don't like the word gringo - partly because i first knew it as a quite negative word in Spanish, and I find that connotation difficult to shake off, and partly because I do not like general catch-all terms for foreigners.

In England 30 or 40 years ago you might have heard people say "Johny foreigner" or even "Johny Turk", but colloquialisms to cover any foreigner, focussing partly on definitions such as

- Speaker of non-germanic language
- Dark skin, eyes and hair

are just not acceptable.

I accept the point that it is not meant offensively, and normally I just bite my tongue - I am not going to change the Portuguese language on my own - but it makes me uncomfortable, and I certainly feel I am not accepted.

I have met several Brazilians, who have been the victims of the brasileiro/gringo divide. For example a Brazilian of Indian (i.e. from India) extraction, who could not wear his best coat in Sao Paulo, because people thought he was foreign and would rob him. He was rather fed up with the country he was born in - something nobody should have to feel.

Also, some Brazilians of Lithuanian ancestry in Tocantins, who were perceived as quite alien in a city, which was only built in 1989, and has no native citizens of their age.

Similarly, a blond Brazilian from the interior of Bahia, who often receives the bare-faced "cantadas" normally reserved for foreign women, who presumably aren't supposed to know the difference.

As for me, I have been here a total of about 3 years, by now virtually all my clothes were bought in Brazil, I have passed the highest level of the CELPE-BRAS, to the extent that Brazilians sometimes ask me for a word they are groping for in Portuguese, but the assumption is often still that I do not have much idea how things work, and I clearly want to pay above the market price for things. I don't think that is right.

To be fair, education is a lot better in England, because there is a lot more money for it, and the average Brazilian is fed a diet of stereotypes from a decidely lack-lustre media - unforgiveable soap operas and comedy shows that have not changed the format or many of the jokes since the 60's. Also, living in London, people are exposed to more established communities from other countries, where Brazilians perhaps see more people who are just on holiday.

Also, when I said to someone I don't know, who called me gringo, "I don't really like that word", he said "you can call me negao". Akin to "blackie" or "big black guy", which you shouldn't really do in England. (I dont think it would be correct to translate this word as "n****r", which is generally rendered as "criolo" in dubbed films.

So perhaps "gringo" is a word that must be accepted, but I do not like it, and I would not let an English person treat a foreigner like that in London.

foreigner = gringo
son/daughter of a foreigner but born in the actual country in which he/she is living = could be a gringo, depends on how he/she embraces local custmos/habits/accents.

gringo is not a word with bad meanings, just a foreigner, or someone who looks of behaves like a foreigner.

btw: gringos are very welcome, and people from small towns tend to like gringos more because of the cultural differences they are not used to see or hear. we just don't like annoying people, who thing them/theirs is better than we/ours. that's just it.

Portuguese is not Spanish, English, French, Italian …
Portuguese is the national language of Portugal (Azores), Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde Islands, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, East of Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome e Principe, Macau …My point is that the article is about people from Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brazil has 26 states plus the federal district, one word can have different meanings in some states and countries. Gringo to me is like n****r, spic…It’s a cultural thing, so, be aware that not all Brazilians classified the word gringo as a friendly word. The funniest thing I stated paying attention about discrimination only after I lived in USA (I’m current in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil)
Good Article!

A Gringo is just someone whose native language is the English. "Gringo" was an onomatopy for what the English language sounded to Mexican ears in the early XIX Century. If some Brazilians use the word "Gringo" for people who are not English-Speakers -even for Argentines- it just talks really loud about the the lack of education in Brazil.

Pigman, did you read the text? Or don't you believe in the best version of ''gringo'' origns?

Well compared to India, East Africa etc., Brasil is probably pretty west but I was only there for six days so who would know.

The article explains very well the meaning of 'gringo' in Brazil, especially in the so-called touristic cities, such as Rio, Foz do Iguaçu or Salvador - A funny way to call a foreigner, but almost never an insult

Very nice insight in the gringo concept, I'm a carioca living in Washington DC now, and now I'm the gringo, but even when I was in brazil when i had a mohawk or dyed my hair in funky colors I would be called or aproached as a gringo, more contextual then biological.

Abracos