After well over a decade living and traveling in Latin America, Asia, and
Africa, these are all names I've been called.  Well, to be fair, names my
friends -- and probably some of you -- have been called as well.  It
seems most cultures have a word that they use to refer to foreigners, and
though it isn't necessary it is often offensive.  Ted Simon  was right: the one
characteristic  all cultures share is xenophobia.

Latin America

Gringo     Spanish (Latin America)

	Nobody knows the origin of this word, and the tentative explanations are almost
	too far-fetched to be true ("Griego (Greek)", "Green go" (color of the dollar
	bills).  The word can be affectionate or offensive depending on how it's said,
	and by whom.

Chele     Spanish (Nicaragua)

	Simply refers to light colored skin, and Nicaraguan use it regularly among
	themselves.  I was once offended by someone saying "chele" only to discover he
	wasn't even talking to me.



Africa

Anasara             Hausa (Northern Niger)

Baturi (men), Baturia (women)               Djerma (Southern Niger)
	
Toubabou    Djoula (Cote d'Ivoire)

Blofue     Baoule (Cote d'Ivoire)
  

Baturé     Bariba (Northern Benin)

Fote      Guinea (Conakry)
	

Lekoa    Botswana
	Possibly "from the sea" or "the crazy people"

Ferenje
Ethiopia/Eritrea

	I'm told the "ferenje" is also used as a menace with little children: if you
	don't eat your vegetables, the "ferenje" will come.  Probably a pretty
	effective threat, except that I'm not sure the White Man eats many more
	vegetables than many others!


Mundele     Lingala (Democratic Republic of Congo -- former Zaire)

	Not necessarily offensive, it simply means "foreigner" and can even be used for
	Asians or Arabs.


Ntangan     Beti (Southern Cameroon)
Not a flattering word.

Obruni     Ewe (Ghana)

Nansala     Twi (Ashanti, Central Ghana)

Moutangani     Gabon

Branco/Branca
São Tomé, Cape Verde

	"White" in Portuguese, of course.  In S.T., at least, it's best uttered at the
	top of your voice and repeatedly for best effect.

Nasara     Fulfulde (Peulh) (Northern Cameroon)

	Potentially from the word "Nazareth", as early contact with foreigners was
	often with Christian missionaries preaching Jesus of Nazareth.

Nasara     Burkina Faso
Still Peulh country!

Onye ocha     Yoruba (Nigeria)

	Simply "white person" and not meant to be offensive, though thin-skinned whites
	manage to get offended anyway, since it's possible to hear it somewhat
	incessantly.


Yovo     Fon/Mina (Benin, Togo)

	Simply the Fon word for "white"  You'll know it by heart: children everywhere
	sing "yovo yovo bonsoir, ça va? merci" whenever they see a yovo,
	apparently because the French used to reward them with a coin whenever they did
	so (merci beaucoup, les Français!)

Toubab     Wolof (Senegal and Gambia)

	Totally inoffensive, "toubab" simply means "guest" and is used very
	matter-of-factly.  A similar word, "Touba" refers to a holy city, the center of
	the Mourid Muslim faith.

Mzungu     Swahili (Kenya, Tanzania)

	Not overly offensive, but you will hear it an awful lot from the street kids in
	Dar and/or Nairobi.

Gowri (s), Gwer (p)     Morocco

	Potentially an old Berber word?  Also in use are "Romi" (from "the Romans" and
	"nasrani" from the Arabic.

Howwaga    Egypt

Asia and the Pacific

Bule    Bahasa Indonesia

	Comes from the word "Belanda" ("Dutch").  This word ranks with Gringo in
	offensiveness but is slightly less friendly.  It's not necessarily disparaging,
	but you'll hear it enough to eventually find it annoying.

Londo     Javanese (Indonesia)

This, too, comes from "Belanda" ("Dutch")

Farang Thai

From "French"

Barang   Khmer (Cambodia)

From "French"

Ong Tay Vietnam

	Simply means "Person from the West"; when they want to introduce a note of
	derision they simply add "balom", which means "with a backpack"

Falang     Laos

Ang Mo     Hokkien/Mandarin (Singapore)

Angrezi     India and Pakistan

From "English")

Joe     Tagalog (Philippines)

	A relic from the long US military presence in the Philippines, and lots of
	soldiers named "Joe"

Palangi
Polynesia

Popa'a     Tahiti
Popa'a Marite: "American", Popa'a Farani: "French", Popa'a Tinito: "Asian", 

Condotle     Papua New Guinea






1) Ted Simon, Jupiter's Travels --Four Years Around the World on a
Triumph, Simon and Schuster 1978, Jupitalia Productions 2005.

Thanks to Sarah, Bak, Iffy, Zach, Jamie, Kitty, Phyllis, Fabio, and everyone
else who contributed to this fun list.