Guido (slang)
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A Guido is a stereotypical young working class Italian-American young male from the urban Northeastern United States, most commonly New York and the surrouding area. The Guido stereotype is often portrayed as humorously and incorrigibly uncultured, with a thuggish and overtly macho attitude and an unyielding pride in his Italian ancestry. Often they are portrayed as woefully dim-witted and extremely materialistic, as evidenced by their clothing and lifestyle choices.
The term is likely derived from the Italian proper name Guido, and is used and recognized particularly around New York City, Northern New Jersey, Long Island, Philadelphia, Connecticut, Buffalo, Boston, and Providence, due to the large Italian-American populations within these regions. Guidos are often compared with the Chav subculture in Great Britain, although many differences between the two groups exist.
The stereotype is usually considered derogatory or an ethnic slur; however, it is, in rare cases, used as a term of criminal in a mafia style in areas where a Guido culture is common.
Guido Characteristics
The stereotyping of a Guido or Italian-American involves dressing in big gold chains, sweat or track suits, unbuttoned dress shirts with hairy chests, tank tops or guinea T's, and flashy suits or leather jackets. One of the most common characteristics of a Guido is the "blowout", or "tapeup", hairstyle, consisting of an use of hair gel or pomade to attain a spiked appearance on a long hair. Slicked-backed long-hair is also a common Guido stereotype.
American popular culture has shown Guidos in such films as Goodfellas, Summer of Sam,Snatch and My Cousin Vinny. The best example of modern-day Guidos is A&E's Growing Up Gotti, whose characters are the role models of many teenage Guidos. The film Kiss Me, Guido uses the slang term in its title (the "Guido" referred to actually being named Frankie). The "Joey" character of Friends sets an example of an uncultured character with a big italian family and missing certain intelligence. In Canada, particularly in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver communities, the term "Gino" (or the female equivalent, "Gina") is in many ways the equivalent term to a "Guido"(although there are some aesthetic differences). In Australia, the same stereotype is known and possibly more common(particularly in Melbourne and Sydney) and is generally referred to as "wog", in the late 90's however the term "Mario" was popular in Melbourne and also applied to those of Greek, African, Lebanese, Maltese and Turkish. Normally the term Guido and similars are associated to inmigrants,gypsies and marginal workers of the lowest classes of the society. Sometimes reffers to third world irregular workers with no studies with a background of Italy, South America or Africa.