Why is "Chino" such a popular nickname in Latin America?

[MadSquabbles500]

Why is "Chino" such a popular nickname in Latin America?

You have guys like Marcos Maidana, and even spaniard David Villa nicknamed Chino. Charles Bronson starred in a filmed named Chino. A California Prison is nicknamed Chino. I live in a predominantly meso-murican neighborhood, and everyone knows or calls someone "Chino". Even that guy from the Deftones is named Chino.

I know Peru apparently has a lot of Chinese, and Venezuela has a large grouping too. Is everyone with the Chino moniker from Peru or Venezuela?

 

[NelmarksGhost]

I always thought it just meant chinese. Some people have "asian" eyes, so maybe they call them Chino just for that.

 

[Jkaylor]

I literally means Chinese... And Mexicans refer to anyone remotely Asian as Chinese. Oh and the prison isn't nicknamed Chino, that's the name of our city.

 

[DrVanNostrand]

I thought it meant pants

 

[lts5025]

I literally means Chinese... And Mexicans refer to anyone remotely Asian as Chinese. Oh and the prison isn't nicknamed Chino, that's the name of our city.

It also refers to curly hair.

 

[Jkaylor]

U wot? I've never heard of that ^^^

 

[These Two Hands]

I thought it meant pants

Yeah I always figured it was named after the trousers that were popular among the Latino populace in the mid 90s.

 

[MadSquabbles500]

I thought it meant pants

So even pants are nicknamed Chino too?

 

[Kneepocalypse]

Isn't "Chico" also a popular name and also the name of a city and also the name of a college?

 

[MadSquabbles500]

It also refers to curly hair.

So even Curly hair is nicknamed Chino? The chinese have straight hair though.

 

[MadSquabbles500]

Isn't "Chico" also a popular name and also the name of a city and also the name of a college?

Chico means dude doesnt it, and Chica means babe right?

And there is a chinese construction company named Chico

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHICO_(construction_company)

 

[These Two Hands]

So even pants are nicknamed Chino too?

Only since the mid-19th century or so, so I can see why you wouldn't have heard of it.

 

[lts5025]

Isn't "Chico" also a popular name and also the name of a city and also the name of a college?

To be fair, the college is named after the city.

 

[lts5025]

So even Curly hair is nicknamed Chino? The chinese have straight hair though.

Apparently, among the Spanish colonists in Latin America it came to mean "servant" or "someone of a lower class or race". Probably started with the indigenous natives who might have appeared to be Asian and then spread the biggest pool of servants, African slaves. It probably morphed into "curly hair" because Africans/blacks have curly hair.

 

[Zer]

Chico means dude doesnt it, and Chica means babe right?

This helped me understand Latin terminology bro

 

[gigantalor]

Yeah I always figured it was named after the trousers that were popular among the Latino populace in the mid 90s.

I thought it went all the way back to the 1950s.

 

[RetiredSlave]

Oh just noticed I havent seen El Chapo around here for a while.

 

[These Two Hands]

I thought it went all the way back to the 1950s.

Yeah it probably did, now that you mention it. It was quite popular in the 90s though, as I recall.

 

[Zazen]

Isn't that the name of the lead singer of Deftones?

 

[lts5025]

Isn't that the name of the lead singer of Deftones?

Yes, and in his case it's apt because he's half Mexican and half Chinese.