[OSGeo-Discuss] What is North America?

[Seven (aka Arnulf)]

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Dan,
thanks for the advice. To all Americanos, I apologize if my post was
disparaging anyone.

Just for the record: The same Wikipedia page says "...in Spanish it
simply identifies a foreigner, without any negative connotation."

Further down on the same Wiki page it says: "The term Gringo in Mexican
culture also refers to "Green Go", as visitors from the United States
are considered to be hasty, and are known to offer more money(American
dollars=Green) to get things done faster (Go)."

According to what friends in Peru told me another connotation is that
the "green" (referring to the US military clothing) should "go" home. I
just verified on http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gringo that this is a myth
somehow related to "la Batalla de El Álamo, Texas en 1836, los mexicanos
les gritaban Greens, go! (Verdes, váyanse)" which does not make sense
because the United States military at that time wore blue.

Again - no intention of disparaging anyone and I will simply refrain
from using the term in future.

Best regards,
Arnulf

PS:
Just another proof of how easy it is to insult folks by not knowing the
culture. I probably do this all the time without even knowing which is
why I appreciate when people give me a hint.


On 11.11.2011 17:06, Daniel P. Ames wrote:
> Arnulf, many Americans (Amerikans?) find the term "gringo" to be quite
> disparaging. Close, but not quite as bad as other racist terms (n*,
> etc). Please avoid using it. Also your etymology of the term is
> completely wrong ("green go"!?)
> 
> "in Spanish it simply identifies a foreigner"
> "The word was used in Spain - although the word is nowadays rarely
> heard there - long before it crossed the Atlantic to denote foreign,
> non-native speakers of Spanish." - Wikipedia.
> 
> - Dan
> --------------------------
> Daniel P. Ames, Ph.D. PE
> Associate Professor, Geosciences
> Idaho State University - Idaho Falls
> dan.ames at isu.edu
> geology.isu.edu
> www.mapwindow.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 3:29 AM, Seven (aka Arnulf) <seven at arnulf.us> wrote:
> Now that a North American Regional Chapter is emerging I wanted to
> understand what the term "North America" actually means. Just a few
> example:
> 
> In my cultural context (Germany) the Unites States on their own are
> typically called "Amerika" which in reality is a whole continent. To
> many Germans Kanada (yes, with a "K") is just a US wilderness adventure
> park (Canadians: no offence meant). In many South American countries US
> citizens are nowadays called "Gringo" which originally meant "Green Go"
> and relates to US "interventions" in Middle and Southern America.
> 
> So for many non-North-Americans the term might be really, really fuzzy
> which is why I thought it would be a good idea to define it more
> closely, started here:
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Talk:North_America_Regional
> 
> Looking at the typical roles of a local chapter (or in this case a "meta
> local chapter" or "regional chapter") I would suggest that this chapter
> would be the primary point of contact for the organization of a FOSS4G
> event in English language in either the US or Canada. Extending it
> beyond these two countries would probably raise a whole lot of
> additional issues starting with language (Spanish) and ending with
> politics (Cuba) - which will probably complicate things beyond
> recognition. I can also see other meta chapters forming with a more
> Spanish speaking background in the Middle Americas, so there is no
> exclusivity here at all. The Spanish speaking Local Chapter might also
> be a good template to see how this could look.
> 
> But anything I say here is absolutely not fundamental at all, just 2ct
> from an outsider (sent in the hope that this list will see a broadly
> inclusive dialog about how this group will evolve).
> 
> Have fun,
> Arnulf
> 
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- -- 
Exploring Space, Time and Mind
http://arnulf.us
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