The China Thread

[Duque de Bragança]

Probably sticking it to the 'gringos' and lining his pockets with that Xi money.

Wrong language. 
Gringo in Portuguese just means foreigners (depreciative however), not Yanks.
Xi money is spot on however (Bolsonaro or Lula). Not to mention Putin's.

[Admiral Yi]

Gringo in Portuguese just means foreigners (depreciative however), not Yanks.

How bizarre that an expression based on the English "green go home" migrated to Portuguese to mean foreigners in general.

Closest thing I can think of how in Japan "arbeit" means part time job.

[Duque de Bragança]

Gringo in Portuguese just means foreigners (depreciative however), not Yanks.

How bizarre that an expression based on the English "green go home" migrated to Portuguese to mean foreigners in general.

Closest thing I can think of how in Japan "arbeit" means part time job.

It's more of a Brazilian thing anyways, which may explain the semantic drift.

[Sheilbh]

How bizarre that an expression based on the English "green go home" migrated to Portuguese to mean foreigners in general.

Closest thing I can think of how in Japan "arbeit" means part time job.

FWIW I think the origin is believed to be "Griego" basically from "it's all Greek to me" which exists in Spanish and Portuguese. So no more bizarre than that term drifting to mean Americans.

I think it's only specifically Americans in Mexico. Certainly used for non-yankees in, say, Argentina.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Probably sticking it to the 'gringos' and lining his pockets with that Xi money.

Wrong language. 
Gringo in Portuguese just means foreigners (depreciative however), not Yanks.
Xi money is spot on however (Bolsonaro or Lula). Not to mention Putin's.

I'm aware the Brazil is speaks Portuguese and that gringo is more for Spanish speaking south Americans.
I used it as a placeholder for a general anti-west sentiment that exists in the region, and in many places in the world to be honest. Makes you occasionally wish that these countries were made to enjoy a century of 'Russian peace' or Chinese harmony', with all the genocide that entails. They'd then understand that the Americans are not the worst in the line-up. And might very well be the best, historically.

Luckily the desire for that wish passes quickly, as this timeline is bad enough as it is.

[celedhring]

FWIW I think the origin is believed to be "Griego" basically from "it's all Greek to me" which exists in Spanish and Portuguese. So no more bizarre than that term drifting to mean Americans.

Like many other things in life, Greek has been substituted by Chinese in the current version of that idiom 

But yeah, "gringo" as "foreigner" has been recorded in Spanish since the XVIIIth century.

[Duque de Bragança]

FWIW I think the origin is believed to be "Griego" basically from "it's all Greek to me" which exists in Spanish and Portuguese. So no more bizarre than that term drifting to mean Americans.

Grego has other meanings, beside the Greek ethnicity obviously:

agradar a Gregos e Troianos
To please opposed parties

ver-se grego
To be in real trouble

I think it's only specifically Americans in Mexico. Certainly used for non-yankees in, say, Argentina.

As for gringo, not just Mexico, according to Dictionary of the Real Academia, among other meanings:

1. adj. coloq. Extranjero, especialmente de habla inglesa, y en general hablante de una lengua que no sea la española. U. t. c. s.

3. adj. Bol., Chile, Col., Cuba, Ec., El Salv., Hond., Nic., Par., Perú, Ur. y Ven. estadounidense (United Statesian). U. t. c. s.

https://dle.rae.es/gringo?m=form

[Sheilbh]

Fascinated by the Soviet colour footage of the foundation of the PRC - hadn't seen this in colour before:
https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/090602-004-A/mysteries-from-the-archives/

[Duque de Bragança]

Mystères d'Archives from ARTE and INA is interesting most of the, this video is one of the best.
Lost the habit of catching on TV due to moving schedules, but catch-up TV solves the issue.

PS: just saw they had a video on HK reverting to China. Tempus fugit...

[Jacob]

Apparently China is going through some large scale ecological devastation right now, converting what little remaining wilderness they have to farmland. This is apparently an attempt to increase food security in case of war.

[Josquius]

Apparently China is going through some large scale ecological devastation right now, converting what little remaining wilderness they have to farmland. This is apparently an attempt to increase food security in case of war.

Right now as in since covid or...?

Sad to hear. Past news did suggest China had largely realised its environmental disaster and was taking steps to fix it, with the exception of its rivers.

[Jacob]

As in: it's something that's happening all across China in the last few weeks. "These wetlands are being drained and converted to farmland" etc.

[Jacob]

And yes China realized, but their current ruler has a grade 3 education, a strong centralizing instinct (through himself, with expertise valued through a purely political/ loyalty lens), and a belief in his destiny as a great emperor bringing Taiwan back under Beijing rule.

Asserting Zhongnanhai's imperial prerogative with impunity is higher priority than anything related to the environment.

[Hamilcar]

This still doesn't fix the fact that all their trade passes through shipping lanes which are only open at the pleasure of the US Navy.

[Hamilcar]

Apparently China is going through some large scale ecological devastation right now, converting what little remaining wilderness they have to farmland. This is apparently an attempt to increase food security in case of war.

Do you have a good link for this story?