Re: List of natlangs
| From: | Padraic Brown <pbrown@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, December 16, 1998, 22:27 |
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On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, Andrew Smith wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Dec 1998, Carlos Thompson wrote:
>
> > BTW. The word "Gringo" used in Mexico and Colombia meaning a USA person or
> > in Argentina meaning any foreign person, mainly Italians, is suposed to be
> > derived from "Griego" = "Greek".
> >
> I remember reading somewhere that the name derived from American troops on
> one of their campaigns south of the border singing the song "Green grow
> the rushes, oh!" as they marched. This could be apocryphal.
There is also the (probably Merkin) folk etymology that "gringo" comes
from "green card", the (still current) common term for INS resident alien
id cards. [They've been pink for decades, but the older appelation seems
to have stuck.] Though how this could apply to US citizens, who do not
have _any_ id cards (no national id, anyway!), is a bit of a puzzle.
Padraic.
> - andrew.