Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

My Italian-American grandmother, of blessed memory, had a funny term to
describe her scruffy grandchildren.
 
She would say "you look like <guaguache>."   This is pronounced something like
"gwa gwash," accent on the second syllable She died in 2006, and I never could get a spelling out of
her for the term.   When I asked her for an explanation of the term, she said
that <guaguache> was a name of a character, like a clown, in Italian theater.  
Part of the character's schtick was that he was dressed like a slob.
 
I used to tease my grandmother that I would put the term on a business card, but
I couldn't spell it.

My grandmother's parents were Italian immigrants; they came to the US from the
town of Laurenzana and the city of Potenza in Basilicata, in the late 1880's or
early 1890's.
 
I have looked through the names of the Commedia dell'Arte characters, but none
of those names fit the sound of the name <guaguache.>   It occurs to me that the
name I heard might be a dialect version of one of the classic characters' names.

I have heard stories of other Italian grandmothers using the same name in this
way.   (Hey, grandkids, clean up a bit!)
 
In addition, my husband, who is Greek-American, described his Greek-born Yiayia
telling her scruffy grandchildren that they looked like *gypsies.*   When my mother-in-law
visited Greece for the first time, she was actually accosted on the
street by a woman who - correctly - identified her ancestry as from the
island of Kythera.   When my husband   visited Greece, he jokingly told his Yiayia that
a band of Roma had approached him to say, "you must a Gypsy, you look just like
us."

Has anyone else heard this term, or has anyone had their Nanna tell them that they looked like <guaguache>?

I would appreciate any ideas or information!

 - Laura Jensen