Gabacho

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In the Spanish language, the word gabacho ( f. gabacha) describes foreigners of different national origins in the history of Spain. The word gabacho originated in Peninsular Spain, as a derogatory term for "French" people and things, and in contemporary usage term retains the initial meaning, however, in other Hispanophone countries, the word gabacho acquired a meaning similar to the word guiri, in Spain.

In some Hispanophone countries of Latin America, the word gabacho refers to people and things from the U.S.A., and refers to the country when the definite article el is used, as in the phrase "el gabacho". In México, Guatemala, and El Salvador gabacho is a deprecatory reference for someone from the U.S. In Mexico, el gabacho also identifies the U.S. as a place: "Voy para el gabacho" (I’m going to the U.S.). Moreover, in the Central American varieties of Spanish, the word gabacho refers to certain types of work-coats, such as the laboratory coat of a doctor, the smock of a kindergarten student, and a ceremonial vest worn in school-graduation ceremonies.^[1]