Origin of "Gringo"

I discovered two explanations as to the origin of "Gringo":-

GRINGO
Often used in Latin America to refer to people from the United
States, “gringo” also has a Scottish connection. The term
originates from the Mexican War (1846-1848), when American
Soldiers would sing Robert Burns’s “Green Grow the Rashes,
O!”, or the very popular song “Green Grows the Laurel” (or
lilacs) while serving in Mexico, thus inspiring the locals to
refer to the Yankees as “gringos”, or “green-grows”. The song
“Green Grows the Laurel” refers to several periods in Scottish
and Ulster-Scottish history; Jacobites might “change the green
laurel for the “bonnets so blue” of the exiled Stewart
monarchs of Scotland during the Jacobite Rebellions of the
late 1600’s – early 1700’s. Scottish Lowlanders and Ulster
Presbyterians would change the green laurel of James II in
1690 for the “Orange and Blue” of William of Orange, and later
on, many of these Ulstermen would immigrate to America, and
thus “change the green laurel for the red, white and blue.”

Another account of Gringo from Tom Mathews


"Gringo" is a corrected form of griego as used in the ancient
Spanish expression "hablar en griego", that is, to speak an
unintelligible language or "to speak Greek." Which is also a
Latin expression “Graecum est; non potest legi” (It is Greek;
it cannot be read).

Verification: Diccionario Castellano of 1787 noted that in
Malaga "foreigners who have a certain type of accent which
keeps them from speaking Spanish easily and naturally" were
referred to as gringos, and the same term was used in Madrid,
particularly for the Irish.

As you can see the word gringo was documented in Spanish
dictionaries long before the Spanish (Mexican) American war.


http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/rednecks/rednecks.html

By carlossimon on Feb 17, 2006, 12:45 in Friendly Talkzone.

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jalf12 says on Feb 17, 2006, 14:36: Green Go! My paisa father in law told me a company had american mercenaries working for them who massacred a bunch of villagers the company didn't like. They wore the green camo outfits so the villagers translated "Green Go Home!". I don't know how accurate this story is but that is the explanation he gave me. 0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 17, 2006, 15:15: carlossimon is right This has been discussed extensively here before. All research confirms the fact that the word "gringo" is a corruption of the word "griego". I kind of liked those myths of green grow and greengo home....but that's what they are, just myths. Cheers, Desi Embrace your uniqueness. Time is much too short to be living someone else's life. -Kobi Yamada "When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth) 0 funny, 0 helpful.

Monpirri says on Feb 18, 2006, 06:40: Juanes le tocó hablar inglés...Del griego al español "Juanes solto la lengua en inglés y dejo gringos a sus fanaticos" Anoche el la entrevista sobre los Premios Billboards. Ver más detalles aqui! CARACOL EN VIVO!! Seleciona, "Emisión febrero 17 de Noche" y despues seleciona "VER" www.www.canalcaracol.com/envivo/default.asp?envideo.html The life spam of a taste bud is ten days 0 funny, 0 helpful.

JLynISU says on Feb 22, 2006, 18:23: I used to get offended when I was referred to as a gringa during my study abroad experience in Mexico. Then I learned that "gringo/gringa" was normally a common term for any foreigner in Mexico and even most parts of South America. I still do not like the term personally, then again it's probably no different than Hispanic, etc. Being called a gringo in the States, it's normally considered an insult. 0 funny, 0 helpful.

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