Of Gringo Origin

Where did the word “gringo” (or in feminine form, “gringa”) come from anyway? I have heard many stories, including the oft told one about the Mexicans during the Mexican-American war imploring the U.S. soldiers in green uniforms to leave their country by shouting “green go!” However, according to Wikipedia that is just a story and bears no resemblance to the truth. There are many other such “legends” surrounding the origin of the term throughout Latin America, where the word is used to refer to white people from the U.S.A. Gringo, it seems, appeared in the Spanish language in the early 19th century and is a derivation of the word “griego,” meaning Greek. It was used to denote an indecipherable language along the lines of “it sounds Greek to me.” Alternatively, it may have first been used simply to refer to a foreign person, a “greek.” In Costa Rica, gringo is used to refer to folks from the U.S. However, it is not used in any pejorative sense. It is just a way of referring to us “gringos” and nothing ugly or offensive is meant by it. That leads me to address the deeper question of what do the ticos really think about us “gringos” anyway? I am often asked by my customers about tico attitudes towards gringos. The answer is a bit complicated. On a general level the U.S. is viewed as the proverbial “800 pound gorilla” that is a bit too fond of “throwing its weight around.” That attitude, one of an “imperialist U.S.A.” is not nearly as deeply entrenched here in Costa Rica as it is in, say, Nicaragua or Panama, both of whom have a living generation that bore witness to U.S. intervention. Costa Rica has always enjoyed a relatively cozy relationship with the U.S. and has never had to endure U.S. occupation or intervention….well there was a little bit of an attempt during the Ollie North-Iran-Contra episode of the late 1980’s, the left-overs of which can be viewed even today in Manuel Antonio in the form of a fine dining experience (a cargo plane from North’s operation of delivering arms to the Contras was transported from the clandestine airstrip in Northern Guanacaste to Manuel Antonio and converted into the popular restaurant known as “El Avion.”). Costa Rica is the number one tourism destination in Central America and fast becoming one of the hottest in the world. Over 50% of tourists are from the U.S. So, it goes without saying, Costa Ricans certainly do enjoy the “green” of the gringos. I have heard it said that the economic motivation behind the environmental protectionism in Costa Rica is because they want to keep the country green so they can get your (the U.S. tourist’s) green (dollars, that is). Due to the fact that most ticos view the U.S. as a “rich” country, and most gringos as wealthy, there is a tendency by many to view us as having a big $$-sign stamped on our foreheads. This can translate into things like price discrimination….the so called “gringo-price.” That is most often associated with real estate, but it is not limited to that context. Gringo prices are charged for many simple services, like maid-service, car repair, yard-work, home or office rents, etc., etc. In fact, I would say that in the real estate context, in terms of buying and selling real estate (as opposed to leasing), that the market for resort properties has become efficient enough to where gringo prices no longer exist on as wide a level as they once did. I mean if you are talking about a beach property in, say, Jaco, there are now more gringo buyers than there are ticos, so why should the owner offer the tico a better price? That is a level of “cultural altruism” that I don’t think exists here in Costa Rica. It also makes no economic sense and ticos aren’t stupid. The common misconception that all gringos are rich can also interfere with the development of healthy relationships, either in terms of friends, or with members of the opposite sex.  The real motivation behind the relationship has to be carefully explored prior to committing to it too whole-heartedly.  I guess the bottom line is that while ticos are generally friendly to gringos, there is still that underlying level of suspicion, distrust and desire to “maintain some distance.” That is, if you visit here, or move here, don’t expect right away to be taken in as one of them, because you aren’t. You are a gringo and always will be. There are many things, however, you can do to win friends and influence people as a gringo in Costa Rica. One that is indispensable is to learn the language. Even a genuine, yet not so successful, attempt at doing so will go a long way toward gaining you respect amongst the ticos. Also, by all means leave any sense of an arrogant, impatient, I’m an “American” attitude behind, because that only fosters and foments the little bit of hostility that does exist here towards gringos, and in that case, it is a hostility that is well-deserved.