The things I end up Googling…
grin·go
ˈɡriNGɡō/
nouninformal
(in Spanish-speaking countries and contexts, chiefly in the Americas) a person, especially an American, who is not Hispanic or Latino.
Definition.
Now from what I read, it originated in Spain in the 1800’s to describe people who spoke Spanish poorly, mostly Irish immigrants.
Then there is this:
One theory has it that there was no mention of the word “gringo”, in any publication in New Spain, or what would later be Mexico, until 1847, following the US occupation of northern Mexico during the Mexican–American War.[citation needed] Marching songs reportedly sung by US soldiers, such as “(Green Grows the Grass in) My Old Kentucky Home” and “Green Grow the Lilacs”, became popular in Mexico.[26] This theory also has it that native Spanish speakers have difficulty pronouncing a second “r” in “green grows”, which was elided as “green-gos”. Shortly afterwards Mexico City newspapers like El Universal and Excelsior began to use the word “gringos” for Americans.[citation needed] The English-born Frances Calderon, who published an account of her husband’s terms as the first ambassador to Mexico from Spain (from 1842) never mentioned the word, even though she was fluent in Spanish, and familiar with Mexican vernacular.[citation needed] The word was never used in reference to the English-speakers who had settled in Texas when it was part of Mexico, although the settlers were known by names such as filibusteros, presbeterianos, vikeños, judios, hereticos, protestantes, and barbarianos.[citation needed]
Then specifically regarding Brazil, which has even less of an attachment of race:
In Brazil, the word gringo means simply foreigner, and has no connection to any physical characteristics or specific countries. Unlike most Hispanic American countries, in which gringo is never used to refer to other Latin Americans, in Brazil there is no such distinction in the use of the term. Most foreign footballers in the Brazilian Championship that came from other Latin American countries and are nevertheless referred as “gringos” by the sport media [30][31] and by sport fans.[32] Tourists are called gringos, and there is no differentiation in the use of the term for Latin Americans or people from other regions, like Europe. [33]
As the word has no connection to physical appearance in Brazil, black African foreigners are also called gringos,[34] unlike some other countries in which the term implies fair skin. Popularly-used terms for fair-skinned and blond people are generally based in specific nationalities, like “alemão” (i.e., German), “russo” (Russian) or, in some regions, “galego” (Galician)[35] which are used for both Brazilians[36][37] and foreigners [38] with such characteristics, regardless of their real ethnic origins.
Again though, if you want something to be a bad thing, you can think it is. There is a lot of information out there about it, and the only place I see anything referencing it as a bad thing is the Urban Dictionary, where you could probably find cow defined as a cat.
