Forums > Areas > Jalisco's Lake Chapala Region

Sherrill

Jan 9, 2006, 6:21 PM

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Gringos

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I just posted a response to the lovely report of Los Reyes celebration and I used the G word. So decided to look it up. Here is what I found on Wikipedia and, yes, I did edit out the derogatory portions cause after 6 years of living in Mex I think the word is part of the culture and used for easy identification: Etymology and meaning
Original meaning: Gringo is thought to come from griego ("Greek"), since Greek was the proverbial example of an unintelligible language ("It's all Greek to me!"). It was applied to speakers of foreign languages, especially the English language, by the eighteenth century. (The ancient Greeks, incidentally, coined barbarian in the same spirit; the word imitates the incomprehensible babble of foreign tongues.)
Latin America and Spain: It must be remembered that the word American used to refer to United States nationals is not popular in Latin America, since they believe that as inhabitants of the Americas they are also Americans. In most parts of these countries gringo means white-skinned person speaking a non-Romance language, especially Germanic languages like English.

johanson

Jan 9, 2006, 6:29 PM

Post #2 of 21 (1969 views)

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Re: [Sherrill] Gringos

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Here we go again. I did a spell check and the message disappeared.
.

(This post was edited by johanson on Jan 9, 2006, 6:31 PM)

Bloviator

Jan 9, 2006, 6:37 PM

Post #3 of 21 (1961 views)

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Re: [Sherrill] Gringos

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Sorry I got that started again. I think you missed our interminable discussion - in two threads - last week. Let's not start it again, but thanks for the comment about the posting about the Dia de los Reyes. It was a really special experience.

johanson

Jan 9, 2006, 6:38 PM

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Re: [Sherrill] Gringos

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I understand that one of the problems with Wiikipedia is that it is written by the public and the data is not always correct. You wrote or quoted the following:

In most parts of these countries gringo means white-skinned person speaking a non-Romance language, especially Germanic languages like English.

Now speaking a little German and Dutch and much less Swedish, let me tell you English is not a Germanic tongue. We learned in school that English was Anglo-Saxon or its origins are a combination of germanic and Latin tongues.

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Sherrill

Jan 9, 2006, 6:41 PM

Post #5 of 21 (1957 views)

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Re: [johanson] Gringos

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Hi Johanson,

miss your measuring of the lake.. Decided to actually leave my chair and go to the book case for the old Webster Collegiate- a 1973 version.

Gringo: [Sp. alter. of griego Greek, stranger, fr. L Graecus Greek]: a foreigner in Spain or Latin America esp. when of English or American origin -- often used disparagingly...

so too bad for my Pollyanna take on the word

Papirex

Jan 9, 2006, 6:45 PM

Post #6 of 21 (1955 views)

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Re: [johanson] Gringos

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Pete, That’s another good reason why I always write my posts, or replies using my word processor (MS Office). It has a great spell checker, I copy and paste them into the post, or reply box when I’m finished writing them. I can also quit halfway through writing one of them and finish and post it tomorrow. Once, a string had been locked when I was ready to post a reply. I did not lose everything I had written; I just started a new post and posted it there.

If you want to know how really brilliant I am, just ask my dogs. Wait until I have a couple of cookies in my hand though Wink

Rex
"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

johanson

Jan 9, 2006, 6:51 PM

Post #7 of 21 (1952 views)

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Re: [Sherrill] Gringos

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Thanks for your comments about my measuring of the lake level. I will measure the lake in a week or two, once I get back to Mexico. I wish we could give you some of our west coast rain. It's been raining like mad up here at the cottage half way between Seattle and Vancouver, due east of Victoria.

I haven't measured the level of Lake Chapala for a while because it is so much lower than last year and I was getting discouraged. Off the top of my head, it is still 3 meters higher than it was in May of 2003 but at least a meter lower than last year at this time.

johanson

Jan 9, 2006, 6:55 PM

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Re: [RexC] Gringos

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Good idea Rex. I sometimes do that, and sometimes I even do it in Outlook Express and then click F7

Every time I loose a message using the local spell check I start doing as you said unless the message is short like this one. But then give it a month or two and I am back to my bad habits

Sherrill

Jan 9, 2006, 6:59 PM

Post #9 of 21 (1947 views)

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Re: [johanson] Gringos

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I am loving my old dictionary and think that Wikipedia may be a dangerous thing.

From Webster's Collegiate:

Germanic: a branch of Indo-European language family containing English, German, Dutch, Afrikaans, Flemish, frisian, the Scandinavian languages, and Gothic.

Spanish, French, Italian are Romance languages and also refered to as Italic and amazingly enough include Rumanian and Haitian Creole.

Am sure this post will be sent to some other heading. But I cerainly am enjoying the input.

johanson

Jan 9, 2006, 7:10 PM

Post #10 of 21 (1944 views)

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Re: [Sherrill] Gringos

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So am I wrong? Isn't English "Anglo-Saxon"? isn't that a combination of germanic and the latin tongue?

Forgive me for straying away from the original intent of this post

(This post was edited by johanson on Jan 9, 2006, 8:07 PM)

Sherrill

Jan 9, 2006, 7:39 PM

Post #11 of 21 (1935 views)

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Re: [johanson] Gringos

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While the level of the lake is discouraging I really appreciate being informed re the current statistics. Is this just mother nature? Or result of more usage? I have not lived here long enough to know. We are fortunate to have a lovely spot on the lake and have seen the changes since we moved here. In September, the cows had to wade hip deep from one side street to get to another. Now they are walking thru shore-line dust to get to the greens. They seem to like lirio.I also miss the horses that used to be in front of our house. I have read about the dam project and am interested in learning more about it. I know we are SOOO off any topic and I am just waiting to be booted from this forum. If I am, I hope that you might send me a reply with any connections to info re the dam and look forward to your return.

Rolly

Jan 9, 2006, 7:46 PM

Post #12 of 21 (1934 views)

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Re: [johanson] Gringos

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Pete, get a Google Toolbar. It has a very good spell checker. And it's free. It even has a word translator for English<>Spanish and some other languages.

Rolly Pirate

johanson

Jan 9, 2006, 8:05 PM

Post #13 of 21 (1928 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Gringos

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Thanks for the tip Rolly. You just motivated me to activate same on the new laptop I have almost transferred to. Dell offers this as part of their startup package.

Oh by the way, just to make this Ajijiic related. You can now buy DELL products in Ajijic. Lagunanet the local Internet Service Provider is an authorized dealer or reseller. They are located on the second floor of the structure in Ajijic just across the street from the Telmex office and have DELL products in stock.

Sherrill

Jan 9, 2006, 8:06 PM

Post #14 of 21 (1927 views)

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Re: [johanson] Gringos

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You raise an interesting question. Again the old dictionary and Anglo Saxons "are a member of Germanic people conquering England in the 5th century and forming the ruling class until the Norman conquest"..1066. I don't find Anglo Saxon mentioned as a language but as a people. Are you wrong? Probably not! But I do think the basis for English language is Germanic. AND then combined with the Celtic, the Gauls. And please do not leave out Ceasar's trip from Gaul to England. Remember Bath and Hadrian's wall. I love etymology and hope perhaps we will hear from someone else.

Surely we are so far off the topic that we will be sent to cyber heaven...

Sherrill

Jan 9, 2006, 8:26 PM

Post #15 of 21 (1919 views)

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Re: [johanson] Gringos

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English is a Germanic Language of the Indo-European Family. It is the second most spoken language in the world.

http://www.krysstal.com/english.html

Try this site. It is very interesting.

Bubba

Jan 10, 2006, 7:00 AM

Post #16 of 21 (1880 views)

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Re: [Sherrill] Gringos

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Yes English is a Germanic language . I first learn German when I was 11 and then English when I was 14 and English was a breeze especially the irregular verbs. After learning the German irregular werbs , the English ones were very easy. Just like Spanish is easier to learn for an Italian, Portugese or French person.
I believe the Angles and the Saxons came to England kicking out the Celts to Wales and Scotland. Cetltic is still alive in France in Brittany, in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. In France the Celts also got pushed back to remote areas by Germanic tribes . The first French kings the Franks were Germanic.
In France only Basque is not an Indo European -language. I cannot remember but I think there are only a couple more languages( if that many) in Europe that are not coming from Indo-European.
I studied Indo-European at the University in Paris and the changes from Indo-European into Germanic and Latin languages. It is a fascinating subject that helps you see how languages evolve, totally useless but fun.

sandykayak

Jan 10, 2006, 3:11 PM

Post #17 of 21 (1822 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Gringos

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can't believe nobody jumped on Rolly's 1976 pic!!!

Were those really the good ol' days? (since we're so way OT anyway.....)
Sandy Kramer
Miami, Fla & El Parque

Papirex

Jan 10, 2006, 3:42 PM

Post #18 of 21 (1809 views)

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Re: [sandykayak] Gringos

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Sandy, Look in the “Home sales at Lakeside” string in this forum, or enter “dye job” in search posts.

Rex
"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

johanson

Jan 10, 2006, 7:49 PM

Post #19 of 21 (1753 views)

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Re: [sandykayak] Gringos

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Ok You folks. Help me here. German, Dutch, and Swedish all seemed pretty close, in fact after learning Dutch, I did not find German that hard to learn.

Spanish French, Italian, etc all seem pretty close. Learn one and the next is easier to learn.

English seems somewhere in-between, not close to any of the above languages

To an English speaking person, Spanish seems easier to learn than German, at least that is what we were all told in high school when we were given the choice of Spanish or German. (We were living South of SF in Atherton)

Now it seems to me that English has just as many words in common with Spanish as it does with German. (I speak all three languages, none, I say again, none of them well)

Are you folks serious, do you find English closer to German than Spanish? I find English very much in the middle, half way between the two languages.

N2Futur

Jan 11, 2006, 8:18 AM

Post #20 of 21 (1718 views)

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Re: [johanson] Gringos

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Pete - I find English to be in the middle, too. German seems closer to Spanish (at least pronounciation-wise - a, e, i, o and u are pronounced the same in both languages). Italian follows, then French. I don't speak Italian nor French, but I can read it and probably uinderstand about 70%).

I had no problems learning the English language, the rules are so much easier than German. I am working on my Spanish now (well, mostly when I'm in Mexico, which is about 4 times a year). I get 3 Mexican channels on DirecTV and watch them quite often and have found that I understand a lot more than I did just 2 years ago.

Elke
___________________________
"When choosing between two evils, I always like to pick the one I never tried before." - Mae West

skwala

Jan 11, 2006, 1:37 PM

Post #21 of 21 (1669 views)

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Re: [N2Futur] Gringos

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Well, here's my two bits worth. I seem to remember some professor saying that English is about 60% derived from Latin and 40 from the Germanic, which would certainly include the words from the Angles, the Saxons and other norsemen.