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Entry: Race, Nationalism, and Patriotism, Part III: Patriotism Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/race_nationalism_and_patriotism_part_iii_patriotism#15935 Post contents: Mr. Capp, It doesn't matter what "gringo" means in other countries and other languages, but what it means in this country, in English. As used in English, "gringo" often tends to be used to express resentment against Anglo-American whites. I wouldn't take kindly to someone who repeatedly called me a "honky," only to say that it is "general, non-pejorative" word for whites. Is it about feelings? Yes, to the extent we are not to offend others needlessly. You are Appalachian. Well, I know some words that frequently are used to deride people of that ancestry. I don't use them because they offend. I will give an example of bizarre use of language. I am from Illinois. If someone from Latin America or from the South called me a "Yankee," I would understand their usage of the word. If someone from New England casually referred to me as a fellow "Yankee," I'd tell him, "I am not a Yankee, I am a Midwesterner." "Yankee" to a Mexican means "from the U.S.A." to a Southerner it means "someone from a state that didn't secede," but to someone in the Midwest it means someone from New England. My ancestors came from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the Carolinas, and my Marylander ancestors owned a tobacco plantation and slaves once upon a time. Hrdly "Yankee." Likewise, whatever foreigners mean when they use the word, "gringo" has negative connotations in American English. Why the long dissertation on this? There have been some serious vocabulary problems on these threads over the past few days. Sent at: 2008 07 05