Guiri

Guiri (pronounced [ˈɡiɾi]) is a colloquial Spanish word often used in Spain to refer to uncouth foreign tourists, particularly people from Great Britain. However, it can be applied to people from other foreign countries. Although somewhat pejorative, it is not always considered a slur by Spanish speakers.^[1][2]

Sources

According to the Real Academia Dictionary, this word can be traced back to 19th century Carlist Wars in the form "guiristino", the pronunciation of Basque-speaking Carlist forces of the name of their enemies, the Cristinos (after regent Queen María Cristina).^[3] It entered the Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española in 1925. When a "guiri" would be the term used by the opposing political parties of the time, later to be exclusively used for the Guardia Civil and Policía Armada (Armed Police) under the Francoist régime.^[4]

There is another theory by Juan Goytisolo that guiri is a neologism from Caló, which itself derives from the Moroccan and Algerian Arabic gaouri (a word with a similar meaning applying to Europeans), which in turn stems from Ottoman Turkish gâvur.^[5]

See also

• List of terms for ethnic exogroups
• List of ethnic slurs
• List of common nouns derived from ethnic group names
• List of ethnic slurs and epithets by ethnicity
• Lists of pejorative terms for people
• Xenophobia
• Gringo

References