As a Gibraltarian... do you find the term Llanito (or Yanito) offensive?

This question has arisen, following on from my post three weeks ago, when I reviewed Garrett Gibbons's excellent Gibraltar Documentary Film.

You can ignore my (perhaps long winded) explanation and just scroll down to the end of this post, where you will be able to vote on a Poll I have included here... in the hope of getting your view on this question. If you wish to read my explanation of how the question has arisen... then read on.

I recently heard from Garrett, telling me that he had finally given the film a title. Garrett has chosen to call his documentary film "The People on the Rock".

I will quickly add that the film is still in 'draft form' and in the process of being produced. Garrett further informs us that the next draft of the his film may not be available until late April, as he is busy trying to finish his BA degree at Brigham Young University in the USA... but, he assures me, it remains on his 'high-priority' list! Good... can' wait!

Anyhow, when I heard of the title Garrett had chosen, I'm afraid I was disappointed. I told Garrett that I didn't think "The People on the Rock" was the best... most descriptive title he could have come up with... and I offered him my own suggestion... "The Llanitos of the Rock of Gibraltar". For me, this is a much more descriptive title of what Garrett's documentary is about.

This, of course, is just my opinion. Ultimately of course... and bearing in mind it IS his film... it's entirely up to him what he chooses to call it.... and I very much look forward to the next draft.. and end product.

The discussion over the title however, has thrown up a question... over the term (or word) "Llanito" (or Yanito).

When Garrett read my suggestion, he graciously said he would "consider my advice" (heis a diplomat our Garrett)... but he added:

"I'd like to use "Llanitos" in the title, but I got chastised by several Gibraltarians for calling them Llanitos... a few people got really upset, telling me that it was a derogatory nickname!"

I have to admit, I was VERY surprised to read his comment! In response, I said:

"I've never heard anything of the kind and find it very surprising that ANY Llanito should take umbrage for being called what we call ourselves!

I would think this sort of sentiment very much in the minority! It doesn't trouble me in the least and no one has ever expressed a negative view on being called a Llanito to me... ever!"

That's really my impression. Perhaps I'm wrong. I often am... and at the end of the day, I have been living away from Gibraltar for quite a few years, (though I did live and work in Gibraltar between '96 and 2002) so it's not inconceivable that feelings may have changed in this regard.... but I doubt that there has been THIS fundamental a change.

Now, if we were talking about the word or term 'Gibo'... then yes... that I would understand if a few (quite a few even) take umbrage with that term. I make my views clear on this subject here: Defining the word or term 'Gibo'.

To reinforce his argument, Garrett asked me to re-look at a portion of his documentary, where a Gibraltarian comments on how he prefers to be referred to... and to my surprise, he feels that 'Llanito'... "es una palabra fea"!

You can see what Garrett is getting at in this excerpt from his documentary film, in the first few seconds of this video, listen to the response by this Gibraltarian, when asked "what does Llanito mean?":



Garrett wonders if this chap's reply is because Garrett is "an outsider"?

"These guys didn't like me throwing around a local term that they use to describe themselves?"

Well... quite possibly but I have to say I am nevertheless surprised to hear this chap... with all due respect to him, saying that "Llanito es una palabra fea". I really am.

For me, it's never been a disparaging term, far from it. The term 'Llanito' reinforces my Gibraltarian identity. I would go further, it's a term that I am proud to be referred to as! In my experience, I think this chap's view is NOT shared widely by Gibraltarians... and it's not I don't think, a generation thing. At 55, I'm more his age myself.

But... this discussion got me thinking... and wondering if it's just me. I wonder if others feel like this fellow does. So I thought it would be an interesting exercise, to set up a Poll, asking the question:

Do you find the term Llanito (or Yanito) offensive?
	Yes
	No
	Don't Know
	Sometimes (if so when Your comment would be appreciated)
pollcode.com free polls

If you choose the fourth option, 'Sometimes', I would appreciate it if you would explain by commenting here, using our comment facility at the end of this post, as it will be interestng to read your views on this further.

I'm sure many Gibraltarians will find this an interesting exercise... and I very much hope you will contribute to the poll. Please also share this with your family, friends, work colleagues... as the widest possible vote will give us the best impression of whether a Gibraltarian finds the term Llanito (or Yanito) offensive.

Thanks in advance for your input! :)

Update - 3rd May 2009

Well... now that the Poll has been running for just over a month, I thought I would post an update.

The results to-date, whilst a little disappointing on the numbers who have voted, is nevertheless fairly emphatic and confirms what I had thought. 25 people have voted so far... and this is the result:

Yes 8% 2
No 76% 19
Don't Know 4% 1
Sometimes 12% 3

Naturally I would have hoped for more votes but for reasons that escape me, many people have chosen not to vote. The page has been viewed 116 times since it was posted. Many of these are visitors from Gibraltar. Many of these page views were probably people who do not qualify (by that I mean not Gibraltarian). A few were also probably returning to check how the poll was going, myself included three or four times. However, I am sorry to say it's still very disappointing that only 25 people bothered to express themselves.

A special thanks to all of you who did bother to vote... and thanks also for your comments, which were very enlightening.

So... I think Garrett will agree, that there really isn't any reason or cause for concern, in choosing to include 'llanito' in the documentary's title.... which is how this question first arose, as this poll indicates (albeit with a very small sample) that the vast majority of Gibraltarians will not be offended.

I won't close the poll... so please feel free to continue to vote as I am still hoping over time, to obtain a wider sample of how Gibraltarians feel about being referred to as Llanito!

Thank you all again!!

Feedback... would be welcome!

Earlier this month, I revamped this old blog, that had lain dormant for about four years... and re-directed it to a more personal blog.

Calling it 'A Gibo's Tale', I describe it, somewhat 'tongue in cheek', as the "Observations, comments, thoughts and at times maybe irreverent musings of a Gibraltarian abroad... some might even say... from a grumpy old Gibo"!

I've now published 30 items to date this month. You can see the posts listed (linked) on the right sidebar. I'm not sure I shall keep this rate of verbiage up... but one never knows! lol

However, at the risk of sounding a touch churlish, (it wouldn't be the first time for this grumpy git), I'm a little disappointed at the very little feedback I've received to date, either on Facebook (one or two of you have and I'm grateful for those... ), or here on the blog itself, where there are two opportunities to leave feedback.

Perhaps you think the blog is all crap... (in which case... fair enough). On the other hand, maybe it's because you are not aware of the ways one CAN leave feedback... or even, that much of the point of blogging (as with social networking on Facebook or elsewhere), is to have some fun interreacting with each other.... maybe even debating issues raised.

So... to leave Feedback here, you can do so in two ways. Firstly, you can simply 'tick' on the 'Reactions' found at the bottom of each posting... categorising the post as 'funny', 'interesting' or even... 'cool'!

You can also leave a comment, on the posts I've published, via the easy and practical 'Comment' tool provided at the bottom of all posts. You can do this either as a Blogger user, or simply by name (with the option to also leave a URL to your website)... or even as 'anonimous', though I must admit, I'm not too keen on anonimous comments... but they are there if you prefer to comment this way.

Vote on my poll.. and let me know what you think:

Do you enjoy what you read on my blog?
	Yes... very interesting!
	The posts are funny or amusing
	Room for improvement
	The blog is shite!
	You'd like to kill me
	Some of the above... positive
	Some of the above... negative
pollcode.com free polls

Anyhow... I think I've made my point. Some feedback... especially comments on the blog and/or a vote on the poll would be great... and much appreciated... thanks in advance!

Saludos! )

Llanito or Yanito discussed on Gibraltar Discussion Forums

My post yesterday, about the fact that Gibberish may derive from Llanito, prompted Garrett Gibbons to offer us a link to an article he wrote entitled Did 'gibberish' originally describe the speech in Gibraltar (Yanito)? > An Alternative Etymology for Gibberish.

I am much obliged to Garrett for providing us with the link to this very interesting and well argued etymological article on the origins of 'gibberish'. I am also grateful for his interest in Gibraltar generally. Garrett is currently blogging about a Gibraltar Documentary Film project he is in the process of putting together. I very much look forward to viewing it, when it's finished!

Anyhow, this all led me to think some of you may be interested in the following links to discussions on Gibraltar Forums, where our rather unusual, maybe even odd and quirky (for some) Gibraltarian language, Llanito or Yanito, is discussed.

Here are three topics from Gibraltar News Online Discussion Board

Are we 'Llanitos' or 'Yanitos'??

Language/accent

Gibraltarian Bilingualism explained

Panorama Forum

This one may be a bit of a non story. There used to be a very good discussion on the Panorama Forum, on a topic entitled Giannito/Llanito, Dialect, Patois, Gibberish?. Sadly, this link was not working at the time of writing this post.

According to GoDaddy.com, the net domain registrars, the domain xsorbit3.com, which hosted the Panorama Gibraltar Discussion Forum, has not been renewed and is currenly offline!

A note on Panorama's, (one of Gibraltar's daily newspapers with an online presence), discussion page says:

To all users of our Discussion forum

The server which hosts the Discussion forum for Panorama www.xsorbit3.com has gone down.

To date no explanation has been received by us from Xsorbit despite attempts to contact them.

We are sorry for the inconvenience caused but this situation is outside of our control, and we are attempting to find a solution as soon as possible.

This is very sad news, as there were many very interesting topics about Gibraltar on this discussion board. Not least the one I'm referring to here, which had, if I remember rightly... something approaching 20 pages on the subject of Llanito, with many llanito words offered and discussed... and much amusing comment! I really hope this topic (or databse) has not been lost forever! It would be a real shame.

I have found a couple of pages on Google Cache, which are snapshots of how these appeared on 19 Jan 2009 19:44:24 GMT

Google Cache > Giannito/Llanito, Dialect, Patois, Gibberish? > Page 1

Google Cache > Giannito/Llanito, Dialect, Patois, Gibberish? > Page 3

I'm not sure how long Google keeps their cached pages... but they are there for now. Let's hope that Panorama can get those pages back up or somehow, in the hope it's not lost forever, recover that database of some great topics concerning Gibraltar!

In the meantime, I hope anyone interested in the subject of Llanito... can enjoy some of it, as discussed on these links.

For those of you who have no idea what Llanito is... Llanito (pronounced [jɑˈnito] or Yanito is an Andalusian Spanish based vernacular spoken in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Gibraltarians call ourselves Llanitos.

Llanito consists of an eclectic mix of Andalusian Spanish and British English, marked by a great deal of code switching and loan-words from many other Mediterranean languages. You can read more about Llanito and the Gibraltarian culture on Wikipedia

Animated 'Gibo' on a tug in Gibraltar harbour

In a recent post, Defining the word or term 'Gibo', a term often used in reference to Gibraltarians, I wrote that being called a 'Gibo' can sometimes be perceived as offensive, by some, but that in my experience, the word is more often used in a friendly manner.

Trawling around YouTube today, I came across this amusing video which offers an example of what I meant by 'using the term in a friendly' manner.

As you can see, the video's uploader, I'm sure meant no offence, when he named this video 'Tug footage funny gibo'!





This young fella... is certainly excitable and quite amusing and seems a very typical jovial 'Gibo'... or Gibraltarian... or as we say, buena gente este llanito!

I have to admit though, I can hardly understand much of what he is saying. Not entirely his fault, even if his English is.... well a bit llanito, heh heh, but as you can hear (or not in this case), the quality of the audio is not very good and there is a lot of background noise... which I always find a little troublesome.

Anyhow... I thought it would be fun to share it with you here.

Oh... and if any of the participants, of the video happen to visit this page and would like to identify themselves here... I would of course be delighted! Just leave a comment using the 'Comment' feature below... thanks! :)

Defining the word or term 'Gibo'

As you've probably realised... I call my Blog A Gibo's Tale. The reason why I call it so is probably obvious to any Gibraltarian... that is someone born and bred in the famous Rock of Gibraltar. I am a Gibraltarian and we are often referred to as 'Gibos'.

Being called a 'Gibo' can sometimes be offensive and I am aware some Gibraltarians feel offended by the term. However, in my experience, the word is more often used in a friendly manner (even at times affectionately), purely as a shortcut, an abbreviation for Gibraltarian, which one must admit, is a bit of a mouthful.

Since this blog contains a growing series of articles... stories about my thoughs and observations... musings if you like, I thought it apt to call it... A Gibo's Tale!

Now... just out of curiosity... and I've never done this before but I was sitting there watching the Six Nations rugby union games on telly this afternoon when the thought entered my mind... don't ask me why... but it did. I suddenly wondered whether any dictionary has ever defined the word 'Gibo'.

So, tonight, I looked it up on a couple or two well known online Dictionaries. What I found surprised me... and mostly I have to admit, disappointed me.

Disappointingly, the most well known dictionaries online, Dictionary.com, Cambridge University Press's Cambridge Dictionaries Online, the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia and Merriam-Webster Online, all found NO definition for the word 'gibo'!

But... I did in the end find a little gem. It's quite amusing so I thought I would share it with you here.

Ever come across the Urban Dictionary? The Urban Dictionary defines itself as 'the slang dictionary you wrote'. It challenges us to 'define our world'... and boy they do! Here's a direct quote:

"Urban Dictionary edumacates even the hippest of cats!"

Fascinating huh? Here's a few examples I picked up off their front page:

hello list

The list of people you have to or want to say "hello" to on a daily basis. Especially relevant for students in university buildings, or coworkers in a workplace. Some people might decide to put you on their hello lists, even if they aren't on yours! Typically, reciprocity is expected.

Dropping someone from your hello list to just a nod when you pass him or her might be considered a snub by the other person.

retro-cringe

When you remember, the morning after, something you said, wrote, did, didn't say, etc., the day before..

'I texted undying love to that chick at the party when I got home.. This morning, I'm having retro-cringe, bigtime..'

carcolepsy

a condition affecting buddies on a trip who fall asleep as soon as the car starts moving, providing no company or driving help

Joe slept the whole way here, I think he suffers from carcolepsy.

Twitterrhea

Too many twitters per hour.

Guy Kawasaki had twitterrhea when he posted 18 Tweets in one hour on a Friday afternoon.

canniversary

A year from the date on which you were fired from a job.

"Next week is my canniversary from Enron!"

coin wanking

The act of jangling change held in a suit trouser pocket, usually performed by male office workers whilst stood chatting to colleagues

to stand near someone, chatting to them, but simultaneously coin wanking by caressing and fondling the change in your pocket

Fun huh? Yes... I thought so too!

By this time I'm thinking... if anyone has defined the word 'gibo', it's got to be these guys... right? Well, this time, I was not to be disappointed!

Urban Dictionary: Definition for 'gibo':

1.	gibo	3 thumbs up
	when a boy thinks hes all that and trys to think he's better than everyone else. He constantly compliments himself and says how great he is all the time. A.K.A pretty boy Yo, shawn is a straight up gibo. by Wing_Whoe Nov 25, 2004
2.	gibo	11 thumbs up
	an arrogent prick who thinks nothing of breaking ppls hearts infact he quite enjoys it shes had her heart broken by a gibo by jack and jill Mar 17, 2004
3.	gibo	5 thumbs up
	I big headed fool, who things he's gods gift ur as big headed as gibo by vera Feb 13, 2004

4.	gibo	1 up, 1 down
	Doing a Gibo : Saying you'll be going somewhere when you have no intention of going whatsoever. "Are you out tonight?" "Yes" 1 hour later............ "Gibo, where are you?" "I'm on my way" 1/2 hour later.......... "Gibo. The taxi's here. Where are you?" "Can't be arsed. I'm staying in getting stoned" by boooooth Oct 30, 2003

Personally, I like number 1. It's the one that gets closest to the Gibraltarian male psyche. Having said that... it could easily be just as applicable to some of our females too! heh heh

Since the Urban Dictionary is 'written by us'.... I thought I would add my little contribution... expanding man's knowledge no end!

A 'gibo' or 'gibbo' is a slang term which refers to a Gibraltarian. A person born and bred in Gibraltar... on the famous Rock of Gibraltar!

The term can sometimes be offensive but often it is simply used in a friendly or even affectionate manner.

The gibos in Gibraltar are warm, hospitable people!

Those bloody gibos are so laid back, you can never get anything done around here!

I expect... not ALL will agree!