Guido (slang)

Derogatory term for working-class Italian Americans

Guido (/ˈɡwiːdoʊ/, Italian: [ˈɡwiːdo]) is a North American subculture, slang term, and ethnic slur referring to working-class urban Italian-Americans. The guido stereotype is multi-faceted. More recently, it has come to refer to working-class urban Italian-Americans who conduct themselves in an overtly macho manner or belong to a particular working-class urban Italian-American subculture.[1] The time period in which it obtained the later meaning is not clear, but some sources date it to the 1970s or 1980s. The term is not used in Italy.[2][3][4]

## Etymology

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The word "guido" is derived from the Italian given name "Guido", originally the Italian version of the French given name Guy. Fishermen of Italian descent were often called "Guidos" in medieval times.[5]

## Contentious use

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Self-proclaimed guido Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino from Jersey Shore, wearing typical clothing associated with the subculture: gold chain, black leather jacket, and quiff.

The term is used in states and metropolitan areas associated with large Italian-American populations, such as New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, and Providence.[6] In other areas, terms such as "Cugine" (Brooklyn, especially in Bensonhurst), "Mario" (Chicago) and "Gino" (Toronto) have a meaning similar to guido.[4] Although some Italians self-identify as "guidos", the term is often considered derogatory or an ethnic slur.[4][7] Similar to the term Wog, used in Britain and Australia.

MTV caused controversy in 2009 when they used the term in promotions for the reality television show Jersey Shore.[4] This spurred objections from Italian-American organizations such as Unico National, NIAF, the Order Sons of Italy in America,[8][9] and the Internet watchdog organization ItalianAware.[10][11] Although MTV removed the term from some promotions, it remains closely associated with the show, and some of the cast members use it regularly to describe themselves while the females sometimes refer to themselves as a "guidette",[4] despite the pronunciation of the feminized ‘ette’ suffix being of French origin and not Italian.

According to author and professor Pellegrino D'Acierno, "guido" is a derogatory term for stereotypical working class or lower class Italian-American males and "a pejorative term applied to lower-class, [Italian-American], macho, gold-amulet-wearing, self-displaying neighborhood boys [...] [with a] penchant for cruising in hot cars [...] Guidette is their gum-chewing, big-haired, air-headed female counterpart".[12] In regards to the "guido" stereotype and the depiction of working class Italian-American communities in American film, Peter Bondanella contends that: "Although some films view the working class as a potentially noble and dignified group, others see the working-class Italian American as a Guido or Guidette - part of a tasteless, uneducated […] group of characters with vulgar gold chains, big hair, and abrasive manners."[13]

## Style

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Clothing often associated with the "Guido" stereotype includes gold chains[1] and bracelets (often herringbone chains, figaro chains, cornicellos, or saints' medallions), pinky rings, oversized gold or silver crucifixes; rosaries worn as necklaces, working class clothing such as plain white T-shirts, muscle shirts, sleeveless undershirts[14] or "guinea Ts"; leather jackets; sweat or tracksuits; coppola caps or scally caps; unbuttoned or open dress shirts, especially paired with sleeveless undershirts; Italian knit shirts, designer brand T-shirts such as Armani,[15] and often typical Southern Italian "tamarro" or "truzzo" club dress.[16] Slicked-back hair and pompadours,[3] blowouts, tapers, quiffs, fades and heavily pomaded hair[2] are also common stereotypes.

## See also

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* Ars (slang)
* Greaser (subculture)
* Guappo
* Jersey Shore (TV series)
* Kiss Me, Guido
* List of ethnic slurs
* List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity
* Related slurs:
* Dago
* Goombah
* Guinea
* Wop

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Edward Guthmann (July 18, 1997). "'Guido' Light On Swagger". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
2. ^ a b Libby Copeland (July 6, 2003). "Strutting Season". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
3. ^ a b Maria Miro Johnson (August 28, 1988). "High school: Where the wrong sneakers can turn a Skate Rat into an outcast". Providence Journal-Bulletin. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
4. ^ a b c d e Caryn Brooks (December 12, 2009). "Italian Americans and the G Word: Embrace or Reject?". Time. Archived from the original on December 15, 2009. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
5. ^ Bondanella, Peter E. Hollywood : Dagos, Palookas, Romeos, Wise Guys, and Sopranos(2005) (ISBN 978-0826417572)
6. ^ Tricario, Donald (Spring 1991). "Guido: Fashioning An Italian-American Youth Style" (PDF). Journal of Ethnic Studies. 19 (1): 44–66\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-19.
7. ^ Wayne Parry (July 19, 2008). "NJ beach town mayor sez 'Fuhgeddaboudit!' to blog". USA Today. Retrieved December 17, 2009.("he referred to as 'guidos', employing a term widely considered an ethnic slur...")
8. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2010-11-30.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. ^ "Italian-American Groups Ask MTV to Cancel 'Jersey Shore'". Fox News. November 25, 2009.
10. ^ "osiarelease". Italianaware.com. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
11. ^ "Italian groups target MTV". pressofAtlanticCity.com. 2009-12-04. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
12. ^ D'Acierno, Pellegrino (1999). Cinema Paradiso: The Italian American Presence in American Cinema. Taylor & Francis. p. 628.
13. ^ Bondanella, Peter (2004). Hollywood Italians: Dagos, Palookas, Romeos, Wise Guys, and Sopranos. A&C Black. p. 90\. ISBN 978-0-8264-1544-8.
14. ^ Betsy Israel (1993-05-09). "Rave at Close of Day? You Betcha". The New York Times. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
15. ^ Guido DiErio; Rick Marinara (2010). Fist Pump: An In-Your-Face Guide to Going Guido. Running Press. p. 131.
16. ^ Cynthia Drescher (2010-03-02). "Banned: Jersey Shore Brands Ed Hardy, Affliction, Christian Audigier". Racked.com. Retrieved 2019-11-29.

## External links

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* The dictionary definition of guido at Wiktionary
* The dictionary definition of Guido at Wiktionary

* v
* t
* e

Ethnic slurs

by ethnicity

Africans|

* Abeed
* Black Diamond
* Boerehaat
* Choc ice
* Cushi
* Golliwog
* Kaffir
* Wog

Europeans|

| General|

* Ang mo
* Bule
* Cracker
* Farang
* Guiri
* Guizi
* Gweilo
* Honky
* Mat Salleh
* Redleg
* Wasi'chu
* Wigger
* Wog

|

Albanians|

* Šiptar
* Turco-Albanian

British|

* Anglo-Saxons
* Limey
* Pom

| Scots|

* Teuchter (Scottish Highlanders)

|

Welsh|

* Crachach (Welsh-speaking elite)
* Dic Siôn Dafydd (Anglophile Welsh)
* Sheep shagger
* Taffy

Dutch|

* Cheesehead

Finns|

* Chukhna
* China Swede
* Finnjävel

French|

* Cheese-eating surrender monkeys
* Frog
* Gabacho

Germans|

* Hun
* Kraut

Greeks|

* Grecomans

Irish|

* Fenian (Republicans)
* Hun (Irish Protestant)
* Knacker (Irish Travellers)
* Pikey (Irish Travellers)
* Shoneen (Anglophile Irish)
* Taig (Irish Catholics)
* West Brit (Anglophile Irish)

Italians|

* Dago
* Goombah
* Greaseball
* Guido
* Guinea
* Polentone (Northern Italians)
* Sardegnolo (Sardinians)
* Sheep shagger (Sardinians)
* Terrone (South Italians)
* Wop
* Wog

Poles|

* Polack
* Pshek

Russians|

* Moskal
* Orc
* Tibla

Serbs|

* Shkije
* Serbomans

Spaniards|

* Dago
* Gachupín
* Polaco (Catalans)
* Quinqui (Mercheros)
* Xarnego

Ukrainians|

* Khokhol
* Ukrop

Others|

* Bulgarophiles (Macedonians and Serbs)
* Hunky (eastern and central europeans)
* Yestonians (Russified Estonians)

Asians|

| East Asians|

| General|

* Banana (westernized East Asians)
* Gook
* Sangokujin
* Toku-A (Chinese and Korean)
* Twinkie (westernized East Asians)

|

Chinese|

* Ah Beng
* Chinaman
* Ching chong
* Chink
* Chinky
* Coolie
* Jook-sing (overseas / westernized Chinese)
* Locust
* Shina

Japanese|

* Jap
* Jjokbari
* Nip
* Xiao Riben

Koreans|

* Ban-jjokbari (Japan-affiliated Korean people)
* Gaoli bangzi
* Sangokujin (also Chinese)

Taiwanese|

* Tai Ke (Benshengren)

South Asians|

| General|

* American-Born Confused Desi (ABCD)
* Coconut (westernized South Asians)
* Coolie
* Wog

|

Bengali Hindus|

* Bong
* Bongal
* Danchi babu
* Dkhar
* Malaun
* Mayang

Indians|

* Chinki (Northeast Indians)
* Coolie
* Keling (Maritime Southeast Asian-origin Indians)

Pakistanis|

* Paki

Southeast Asians|

* Filipinos
* Vietnamese

Eurasians|

| Arabs|

* Rafida (Shi'ites)
* Raghead
* Wog

|

Jews|

* Christ killer
* Jewish-American princess (JAP)
* Kafir
* Khazar (Ashkenazi Jews)
* Kike
* Marrano (Conversos / Crypto-Jews)
* Rootless cosmopolitan
* Wog
* Yekke (German Jews)
* Yid
* Zhyd / Zhydovka
* Żydokomuna

Turks|

* Kebab
* Mongol
* Kanake

Romani, Dom, and Lom|

* Didicoy
* Gypsies (sometimes used against other semi-nomadic groups)
* Nawar
* Zott

Oceanians|

* Anglo-Saxons (English Australians/New Zealanders)
* Blackfella (Indigenous Australians)
* Hori (Māori)
* Kanaka (Pacific Islander)
* Coconut (Pacific Islander)

North and South
Americans|

| Indigenous|

* Eskimo (Inuit / Yupik / Unangan),
* Indian/Injun (Native American / First Nations / American Indian)
* Redskin/Red Indian (Native American / First Nations)
* Squaw (Native American women)

|

Blacks|

* Alligator bait
* Black American princess
* Black Buck
* Cocolo
* Colored
* House Negro
* Jim Crow
* Macaca
* Mammy
* Negro
* Nigger (Nigga)
* Pickaninny
* Rastus
* Queen / Queenie
* Sambo
* Schvartze
* Tar-Baby
* Uncle Tom
* Wog

Whites|

* Anglo-Saxons (Anglo-Americans)
* Becky
* Buckra
* Conch (Bahamians of European descent)
* Coonass (Cajuns)
* Cracker
* Gringo
* Gweilo
* Haole
* Hillbilly / Hilljack
* Honky
* Karen
* Peckerwood
* Redleg
* Redneck
* Swamp Yankee
* Trailer trash
* Wasi'chu
* White trash
* Whitey
* Whitexican

Others|

* Beaner (Mexicans)
* Canuck (Canadians)
* Chirigüillo
* Cholo (Mestizos)
* Coonass (Cajuns)
* Greaser
* Gusano (Cubans)
* Half-breed
* Naco
* Newfie (Newfoundlander)
* Okie (Oklahomans)
* Pindos (Americans)
* Pocho (Mexican Americans)
* Roto (Chileans)
* Spic
* Sudaca (Central and South Americans)
* Wetback
* Yank / Yankee (Americans)

Outsiders|

* Ajam (non-Arabs)
* Barbarian
* Fresh off the boat / F.O.B. (immigrant)
* Gadjo (non-Romani)
* Gaijin (non-Japanese)
* Goy (non-Jew)
* Guizi (non-Chinese)
* Kafir (non-believer) (pl. Kuffar)
* Laowai (non-Chinese)
* Reffo / Balt (Non-Anglo immigrant to Australia)
* Savage (usually Indigenous, regarded as primitive/uncivilized)
* Shegetz (non-Jewish boy or man) (pl. Shkutzim)
* Shiksa (non-Jewish woman)

* v
* t
* e

Jersey Shore

Cast|

* Angelina Pivarnick
* Jennifer Farley (JWoww)
* Michael Sorrentino (The Situation)
* Nicole Polizzi (Snooki)
* Paul DelVecchio (Pauly D)
* Ronnie Ortiz-Magro
* Sammi Giancola
* Vinny Guadagnino
* Deena Nicole Cortese

Related|

* Episodes
* Controversies and criticism
* Jersey Shore Shark Attack
* The Three Stooges

Spin-offs / successors|

* The Pauly D Project
* Snooki & Jwoww
* The Show with Vinny
* Floribama Shore
* Family Vacation
* Double Shot at Love
* Revenge Prank
* Buckhead Shore

International versions|

* Geordie Shore
* Gandía Shore
* Acapulco Shore
* Warsaw Shore
* Super Shore
* Rio Shore
* Germany Shore
* All Star Shore
* Frenchie Shore
* Italia Shore
* Aussie Shore

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