American John was doing his PhD at SSEES (School of Slavonic and East European Studies), University of London, when he started going out with Brazilian Celia who was doing Japanese at SOAS.
She'd call him gringo*, he said, never John.
One night, he was woken up by her shaking him, "John! John! Wake up, John!"
He said, "I knew I was in trouble when she started calling me John."
Sure enough, she'd just had a dream in which he was kissing another woman, and was very angry with him.
(London, 1980s)
*gringo | ˈɡrɪŋɡəʊ | noun (plural gringos) informal (in Spanish-speaking countries and contexts, chiefly in the Americas) a person, especially an American, who is not Hispanic or Latino. ORIGIN Spanish, literally ‘foreign, foreigner, or gibberish’.
She'd call him gringo*, he said, never John.
One night, he was woken up by her shaking him, "John! John! Wake up, John!"
He said, "I knew I was in trouble when she started calling me John."
Sure enough, she'd just had a dream in which he was kissing another woman, and was very angry with him.
(London, 1980s)
*gringo | ˈɡrɪŋɡəʊ | noun (plural gringos) informal (in Spanish-speaking countries and contexts, chiefly in the Americas) a person, especially an American, who is not Hispanic or Latino. ORIGIN Spanish, literally ‘foreign, foreigner, or gibberish’.
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