Gringo??? Yankee???

Is it a "gringo" the same as a "Yankee"? What do you think?

Well, if you look up the word "gringo" in the dictionary, you will find out that it is a term mainly used in Spanish speaking countries to refer to foreigners who don't speak Spanish or who speak it poorly.In most Latin American countries the word refers especially to someone from the United States, and it is sometimes used derogatorily.

There are different theories that deal with the etymology of this word, but the most widespread are the ones within folk etymology, which say that the term derives from word coincidences; for example during the Mexican-American war some marching songs , sung by US soldiers, became popular in Mexico, as "Green Grow the Lilacs".Native Spanish speakers had difficulties in pronunciation and they said "green-gos".

Another theory said that the US soldiers wore green uniforms and the locals shouted at them "green go", as they wanted them to leave.

The word "Yankee", spelt "yanqui" in Spanish,refers to people from the USA.However, if you use this word within the States, you mean people from the north, especially the ones from New England.

During and after the American Civil war (1861-65) confederates used the term "Yankee " to refer to their northern enemies.

Nowadays major league  baseball 's New York Yankees has contributed to make the term even more popular!