Why is a liver punch also referred to as a "Gaucho"?

Question

I've heard a long left hook to the liver referred to as a 'gaucho', does that mean something in spanish? Why is called that.

Answer 1

Guacho has many meanings, but only one really fits here.

Since a  liver punch is a pretty cruel shot, the slang connotation of Guacho (meaning a person of mixed race, spanish and indian) is likely the correct term.

Answer 2

Gaucho

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For other uses, see Gaucho (disambiguation).

Land Based Gauchos taming horses in Corrientes Province, Argentina.

Land Based Gauchos taming horses in Corrientes Province, Argentina.

Gaucho (gaúcho in Portuguese) is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile and Rio Grande do Sul state in southern Brazil. In Brazil it is used to call people born in the Rio Grande do Sul state.

The word gaucho could be described as a loose equivalent to the North American "Cowboy". Like the North American word cowboy, Venezuelan or Colombian llanero, or Chilean huaso, or the Mexican vaquero, the term often connotes the 19th century more than the present day; then gauchos made up the majority of the rural population, herding cows and practicing hunting as their main economic activities.

There are several conflicting hypotheses concerning the origin of the term. It may derive from the Quechua huachu (Indian, from the Indies) . The first recorded uses of the term date from around the time of Argentine independence in 1816.

Contents

[hide]

    * 1 History

    * 2 Modern influences

    * 3 In Popular Culture

    * 4 See also

    * 5 References

[edit] History

Dramatization of a fight between gauchos.

Dramatization of a fight between gauchos.

Falkland gauchos having mate at Hope Place - Saladero, East Falkland. Watercolour by Dale, manager of Hope Place in the 1850s.

Falkland gauchos having mate at Hope Place - Saladero, East Falkland. Watercolour by Dale, manager of Hope Place in the 1850s.

Gauchos were generally nomadic and lived on the pampas, the plain that extends north from Patagonia, bounded on the west by the Andes and extending as far north as the Brazilian state of Paraná. Residing outside of the growing urban centres and farming settlements, these skilled riders lived off the land often willingly sharing their food with other travelers. Most gauchos were either criollo (South Americans of Spanish ancestry) or mestizo (of mixed Spanish and Native American blood), but the term applies equally to people of other European, African, or mixed ancestry.

Some gauchos were recorded as being in the Falkland Islands [1], and have left a few Spanish words in the local dialect e.g. camp from campo.

The gaucho plays an important symbolic role in the nationalist feelings of this region, especially that of Argentina and Uruguay. The epic poem Martín Fierro by José Hernández used the gaucho as a symbol against corruption and of Argentine national tradition, pit against Europeanising tendencies. Martín Fierro, the hero of the poem, is drafted into the Argentine military for a border war, deserts, and becomes an outlaw and fugitive. The image of the free gaucho is often contrasted to the slaves who worked the northern Brazilian lands. Further literary descriptions are found in Ricardo Güiraldes' Don Segundo Sombra.

Huaso dancing Cueca in Pichilemu's casino.

Huaso dancing Cueca in Pichilemu's casino.

Like the North American cowboys, gauchos are generally reputed to be strong, honest, silent types, but proud and capable of violence when provoked. There is, perhaps, more of an air of melancholy about the classic gaucho than the classic cowboy.

Also like the cowboy, the gauchos were great horseriders. Typically, a gaucho's Horse constituted most of what he owned in the world. During the wars of the 19th century in the Southern Cone, the cavalries on all sides were composed almost entirely of gauchos. In Argentina, gaucho armies such as that of Martín Miguel de Güemes, slowed Spanish advances. Furthermore, many caudillos relied on gaucho armies to control the Argentine provinces.

The gaucho diet was composed almost entirely of beef while on the range, supplemented by yerba mate, an herbal tea-like drink rich in caffeine and nutrients. Argentine cooking draws influence from the simple but delicious recipes used in gaucho meals.

Gauchos dressed quite distinctly from North American cowboys, and used boleadoras (three leather bound rocks tied together with approximately three feet long leather straps) in addition to the familiar "North American" lariat or riata. The typical gaucho outfit would include a poncho (which doubled as saddle blanket and also as sleeping gear), a facón (large knife), a rebenque (leather whip), and loose-fitting trousers called bombachas, belted with a tirador, or a chiripá, a piece of cloth used in the fashion--but not the function--of a diaper. Several of these items were British imports into the area; for example, bombachas were originally made in Turkey. In the wintertime, gauchos wore heavy wool ponchos to protect against cold.

[edit] Modern influences

Falklanders on horseback in 1936, mounted in typical Falklands style with the usual gaucho horse gear

Falklanders on horseback in 1936, mounted in typical Falklands style with the usual gaucho horse gear

Gaucho is also the common denomination of the current inhabitants of the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul. An example is the Brazilian football player Ronaldinho, known by Brazilian people as Ronaldinho Gaúcho, as he was born in that State. The term is also used to identify some groups of people who live in other states of the southern half of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. For those people evoking this denomination usually has the purpose of expressing the pride one has for its origins as immigrants to untouched lands and for the hard-working nature it represents. Gauchito (a boy in the Argentine colors and a gaucho hat) was the mascot for the 1978 FIFA World Cup.

[edit] In Popular Culture

    * DC Comics owns two characters named El Gaucho. One was a Wonder Woman villain equipped with a flying robot horse and an electric lasso (from Wonder Woman #263) and the other one is an Argentinian masked hero (see Batmen of All Nations).

    * The mascot of the University of California, Santa Barbara is the Gaucho.

A photograph of a Gaucho and his horse.

A photograph of a Gaucho and his horse.

[edit] See also

    * Hacienda system

    * Literatura Gauchesca

    * Rebenque, the gaucho riding whip

    * The Taba Game

    * Estancias

    * Pato

    * Florencio Molina Campos

    * Gauchito Gil

    * Vaquero

    * Cowboy (U.S.A)

    * Morochuco (Peruvian Andean cowboy)

    * Piajeno (north coast mule rider of Peru: Piura and Lambayeque)

    * Charro (Mexican cowboy, nomad and bandolero)

    * Guajiro (Cuban cowboy)

    * Huaso (Chilean cowboy)

[edit] References

    * Confederacion Gaucha Argentina

    * Folklore del Norte Argentino (in Spanish)

    * Movimento Tradicionalista Gaúcho (in Portuguese)

    * Página do Gaúcho (in Portuguese)

    * Aldo Sessas - Gauchos

    * Richard W. Slatta - Gauchos and the Vanishing Frontier

    * The Gauchos- Horsemen of the Pampas

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaucho"

Categories: Agricultural occupations (animal) | American cattlemen | Argentine culture | Chilean culture | Culture in Rio Grande do Sul | Pastoralists | Quechua loanwords | Rio Grande do Sul | Uruguayan culture

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Answer 3

yes, but you miss spelled it

it is called GANCHO AL HIGADO

hook to the liver!!

again gancho means hook