hispanic or latin-american national nicknames
Can those of you who know for sure help me with Latin American national nicknames? No reason but personal edification. I live in NYC, and cultural grease eases the wheel.The obvious two are:
Boriqua- Puerto Rican
Perucho/a- PeruvianI was a told by a former native that 'Dico' (likely mispelled?) is used by Costa Ricans, but no one else has ever verified this. Anything provided would be appreciated greatly.
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Replies

Here are someTICO for Costa Rica
CHAPÍN for Guatemala
GUANACO or CHERO for El Salvador
MUCO for Honduras
NICA for Nicaragua
CHILANGO for Mexicans born in Mexico D.F. (capital city).
JAROCHO for Mexicans born in Jalisco, Mexico
PAISA for people born in Medellín, Colombia
CARIOCA for people from Rio de Janairo, Brazil
ISLEÑO for Cuba
BORICUA fro Puerto Rico
GACHUPÍN for SpainCan't remember any more. hope this helps,
Magia (Chapina)
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Magia,You are truly a force of nature. Thanks so very much.Two quick questions:
Are all of the '-a' suffixed names gender neutral?
What up with the two Salvadoran forms, any info?Also, I asked Alex and would like to ask you about the minor discrepancies between both of the posts.
Notably:
Cuba- Guajiro/Isleño
Carioca- Brazil, (all)/Rio de Janairo
Jarocho- Mexico, Veracruz/JaliscoAnd thanks,
You rock.
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WellFirstly, thanks for the flowers. I'll be back tomorrow to collect my pot ;opQuestion #1
No, this are not neutral gender nouns. If it is for males it ends with an "O", if it is for females it ends with an "A". For Example Isleño/Isleña, Jarocho/JarochaAbout the the Salvadoran forms. A guanaco is a large mammal that lives in South America and is related to the llama. It is bigger than a llama and not domesticated. They mainly eat grass and live in the mountains. I have NO IDEA why it is that they got the nickname "Guanaco" at El Salvador. Maybe because of resemblance...? (kidding)
As for Chero, Salvadorans call each other "chero" or "Chera" (depending on gender). Chero means "pal", "body". I don't have the etymology of the word Chero, Sorry.About Cuba, Isleño translates literally into "from the island". Something like "Islander"... And Guajiro is Cuban slang for "peasant", so they are both accurate in "nicknaming" a Cuban.As for Carioca, I'm sure it is what Brazilians call people from Rio de Janeiro. It is just that perhaps, the rest of the world is not about to make distinctions, so a Carioca is a person from Brazil, to the rest of us.And about Jarochos, I must admit I was WRONG. They are from Veracruz and NOT from Jalisco. You are welcome,
Magia

This message was edited 10/29/2004, 6:39 PM

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I'm sorry. I was unclear.Are those names you listed with '-a' suffixes gender neutral? For instance I know Boricua is. Are Nica, Paisa, Carioca?Further, am I right to assume that Chapín & Gachupín are made feminine by simply adding an 'a'? If not, then how?And seriously, thanks again. You've answered a whole bunch of questions in just two posts.
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Yeah, I wasn't too specific about all of them, was I?... Sorry.
I will re-post them below, with gender forms added.
In Spanish, most words denote their gender by ending in "A" or "O". When a word is neutral, it normally ends in "E" or a consonant. Of course, there are exceptions to the rules. One very clear exception is the word "POLICIA" (police), even though it ends with an "A" it is also used to refer to males: EL POLICIA= the policeman LA POLICIA = The policewoman.TICO /TICA for Costa Rica
CHAPÍN/CHAPINA for Guatemala
GUANACO/GUANACA or CHERO/CHERA for El Salvador
MUCO/MUCA for Honduras
NICA (Neutral) for Nicaragua
CHILANGO / CHILANGA for Mexicans born in Mexico D.F. (capital city).
JAROCHO /JAROCHA for Mexicans born in Jalisco, Mexico
PAISA (neutral) for people born in Medellín, Colombia
CARIOCA (neutral) for people from Rio de Janairo, Brazil
ISLEÑO / ISLEÑA for Cuba
BORICUA (neutral) for Puerto Rico
GACHUPÍN / GACHUPINA for SpainHope this helps,
Magia.
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Thanks for clearing everything up.
That is pretty much what I thought.
This has all been so very helpful.
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I'm not sure if I understand the question...do you mean names like Cubano/Cubana used for people of Cuban heritage?
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Greetings.The correct spelling for the costa rican people nick is "TICO" as a dimminituve.
For the people of cuba, we have GUAJIRO, for brazilians, CARIOCA
i am mexican, and i dont know if we gave any nick standing as a national one, but we have many regional. JAROCHO for the people from veracruz, a state by the gulf, CHILANGO, for the ones living on the capital (mexico city) sorry i cant remember more, but i´ll keep searching Regards.
Alex. Mexico city....Pls check my inquiry. it is about a name: ITZUThanks!
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Thanks greatly.Sorry I couldn't help with ITZU.
Latin-American given names (what with Spanish and the native tongues so intermingled and so confusing to me) are probably my worst field of understanding in nomenclature.Seriously, I think my crap grasp of Korean names is superior to my understanding of any & all Mexican morphology. But I'm young yet, I pledge to study therein one day.Anywho, I would appreciate it very much if both you and Magia could address the minor discrepancies between posts.
Notably:
Cuba- Guajiro/Isleño
Carioca- Brazil, (all)/Rio de Janairo
Jarocho- Mexico, Veracruz/JaliscoYou both offer insights I find very valuable.
Thanks once again.
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}}thanks anyway!About the discrepancies:Carioca: agree with magia, carioca is a native from Rio
Cuba: Guajiro is a native and popular class of people, a singer mainly. Isleño is aplied for all the people.
Jarocho: This im sure, im mexican. The Jarocho is a native from Veracruz. My father is jarocho.
Give another: Chicano is a mexican living in the US.
Regio: Native from monterrey mexico
Ill remember moregreetings
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Absolutely great.
If any new nicknames occur to you, follow up by all means.
Just great.I'd thank you in Spanish, but I'm American. And my skills, they ain't so good.Seriously, thank you very much.
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