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I work in a school district and we are seeing the words La Guerrita on folders. The students say that it means..."little white girl" or "light skinned girl" but the only translations we can find are meaning "little war" or gang related things. Any truths to what they are saying?
Well it depends on how it is spelled...güerita means what your students are saying and guerrita means little war. Hope it helps!
I'm a native Spanish speaker and I have to say that I've never heard La guerrita meaning girl, or anything similar.
Maybe in another Spanish country? I'm from Argentina.
You'll also see it written "huerita". I don't recall hearing or seeing this word used by non-Mexicans. The "-ita" ending suggests affection, something like the "-y" in English (compare John with Johnny, Bill with Billy, etc.). The word doesn't necessarily refer to an Anglo. It's a common nickname.
Misspelled words are common regardless of the language. Spanish is certainly no exception. One of my favorites is "serbesa". A friend will little formal education found a way to make three mistakes in one word: cerveza (beer). Don't overreact. If you find the word written "guerrita", it's almost certainly a misspelling of "güerita". The common way to say "little war", by the way, is "guerrilla". That's right; the word used in English came from Spanish.