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 [email protected] geology.isu.edu www.mapwindow.org On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 3:29 AM, Seven (aka Arnulf) <[email protected]> wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > 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 > > - -- > Exploring Space, Time and Mind > http://arnulf.us > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (GNU/Linux) > Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ > > iEYEARECAAYFAk68+PcACgkQXmFKW+BJ1b3AjwCbBtXfHpHfxPE3fAirmMtYT2SB > TlYAn2Zdv5qgVjS6jf1MkSBxYBPUzdDx > =ocyQ > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss > _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
