Guido

rich7   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 08:41 GMT
I can't seem to find the meaning in dictionaries, I saw this word in a new york accent topic here on the forum, someone was speaking of joey, the character in friends most recently in joey, the show. he said joey spoke with that clasical new york accent with the guido mannerism.

Any ideas?
Tiffany   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 16:56 GMT
It is a slang for an Italian. Guido = Italian. Guido mannerism = Italian mannerism.
Ben   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 20:57 GMT
It tends to more specifically refer to a specific kind of Italian tough guy--it's especially used commonly in New York City.
Tiffany   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 21:17 GMT
That may be true, but it's also used in Toronto just to refer to an Italian man. Sorry, I thought it was obvious that the -o ending would only refer to a man, but that's because I'm used to Romance languages like Spanish and Italian.

It may have originally meant something akin to "I am in charge" though. Guido in Italian is a verb that means "I drive". Though I was taught that it was usually used in conjunction with a car, it also means implies things like "to guide, to command, to force". Guido is first person conjugation from the verb "guidare".
Deborah   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 22:22 GMT
And it it is considered by some (many?) to be a derogatory term.
Tiffany   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 22:29 GMT
Yes, that's true Deborah. Just like the words "jap", "gook", "nip" etc are considered by so many asians to be derogatory. We won't even go into the n-word. I think Guido is less offensive though. I'm not sure why I have that sense. Anyone Italian here who has lived in the Americas and can clear up whether or not this is a very offensive term?
Deborah   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 22:38 GMT
But Guido is also just a man's given name. In the neighborhood I grew up in in San Francisco, in the '50s, the man who owned one of our corner grocery stores was named Guido. I don't know the meaning or origin of the name, but as a name, I doubt it has anything to do with the verg.
Tiffany   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 23:04 GMT
What's a verg?
Tiffany   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 23:05 GMT
Oh, wait, you meant verb. Sorry. Hmm, you're right, it is a name. I actually just looked it up. Never knew it was before this.
Deborah   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 23:27 GMT
You don't know the word "verg"? What sort of native English speaker are you?!

I knew about Guido being a name because in the San Francisco neighborhood I grew up in, one of the local grocery stores was "Guido's." Guido was a nice guy who occasionally gave the kids free samples from the deli counter.

I think calling someone a Guido, or addressing someone you don't know as Guido just because he's Italian, is insulting, since it reduces that person to a stereotype.
Deborah   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 23:29 GMT
Sorry, I didn't realize I'd already told my Guido story.
Tiffany   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 23:41 GMT
I would agree if I knew the stereotype behind the name Guido was solid. As Ben said earlier, he thinks Guido refers to a Italian tough guy, but I had never used it in that sense before. I've only used it in Canada and it refered to an Italian-Canadian (male). They use it themselves. I wasn't aware of the stereotype till now, but I guess I could see how it might be associated with the word if you thought about the mafia while you said it.
Deborah   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 23:52 GMT
In my neighborhood, which in my childhood evolved from working-class and largely Italian to upscale (Union Street/Cow Hollow, if you know San Francisco), some Anglo kids would call the Italian boys "Guido," and it was meant as an insult. One newly-immigrated boy asked me why these boys still said "Hey, Guido!" to him after he'd told him that wasn't his name, and wanted to know what it meant when they stuck up their middle finger at him when they said it.
Tiffany   Wednesday, February 16, 2005, 00:07 GMT
What a horrible story. Since I live in the bay area, I'll be sure not to use it here.
rich7   Wednesday, February 16, 2005, 14:57 GMT
Thanks to you all for the enrichment lesson I appreciate it.