The Social Setting 107Name Calling
In Bolivia, name calling is not always intended as a put-down.
The art of name calling is a social custom in most of Latin
America. In fact, people are often nicknamed affectionately
according to their physical differences or oddities—a social
taboo in many other countries.
A chubby friend of mine was referred to as Gordito, a
superb example of how literal translations may connote the
opposite of their original intention. Gordito, for example,
is a term of affection in Spanish literally meaning ‘Fatty,’ a
disparaging term in English. I’ve been referred to as Flaquito,
with obvious fondness, yet I would not be so pleased to be
called ‘Skinny’ in English.
Try calling a dark skinned person ‘Blackie’ in the United
States. You’ll end up in court and receiving front page
coverage in the New York Post. Yet the equivalent Spanish
nickname Negrito is simply construed as a recognition of
what one is. When the crafty Afrobolivian football forward,
Demetrio Angola, scored a goal against Argentina in the
1995 America Cup football tournament, the nation’s
football commentators fell in love with El Bonbón (The
Chocolate Candy).
El Gringo
In politics, the term ‘gringo’ often carries a negative connotation.
Yet a blonde Bolivian friend of mine is known as El Gringo. When
both of us were introduced to a third party one afternoon, it sounded
quite bizarre:
“Let me introduce you to The Gringo,” said my brother-in-law,
referring to our Bolivian friend. And then, looking at me, he said,
“and here is the real gringo.”‘While other societies have been cultivating taboos on
crude references to ethnic origin on race or sex,’ writes
Latin American specialist, Calvin Sims, ‘Latin culture is
still surprisingly straightforward about these things. Latin
Americans,’ adds Sims, ‘say this makes them more direct and
honest than North Americans, who even while struggling to