[tied] Re: godos

--- In cybalist@..., Max Dashu <maxdashu@...> wrote:

> >> Or perhaps "speaking like a Goth"? In South America the Spanish

are

> >> known as "Godos", so it can obviously be used in a derogatory

sense.

>
> It was laudatory in Spain, representing the pinnacle of limpieza de

sangre,

> but in Latin America, the Indians and mestizos understandably had

negative

> feelings about it, as the whole expropriatory caste system.
>
> >Certainly, 'Goths' (i.e., East-Germanic-speaking people) were part

of

> >(Iberian) Spanish history. Quite a few very snobby Spanish families
> >think of themselves as of Gothic descent.
> >
> >Just speculating: 'Goth' could be a word applied by lower-class
> >Spanish-speakers to snobby upper-class Spanish-speakers, parallel

to

> >of 'WASP' (= White Anglo-Saxon-Protestant) or 'Brahmin' as applied

to

> >the very white, very protestant, very old-family/old-money upper

crust

> >of Boston, Mass.
>
> I think that's right, for South America anyway. The Sephardi can

well be

> imagined having similar feelings.
>
> Max Dashu

Another detail (re "limpieza de sangre"): "blue blood" is from
Spanish "sangre azul" ie. having skin so light that blue veins shone
through.

Torsten