Strangely neither “gadgie” nor “gaucho” are listed in the OED, but wikipedia says of gaucho:
There are several conflicting hypotheses concerning the origin of the term. It may derive from the Mapuche cauchu ("vagabond")[1] or from the Quechua huachu ("orphan"), which gives also a different word in American Spanish, guacho and Brazilian Portuguese gaúcho. The first recorded uses of the term date from around the time of Argentine independence in 1816.
Wikipedia again on gadgo/gadgie (the latter more commonly heard):
The exact origin of the word {gadgo} is not known. One theory considers that the word comes from the proto-Romani word for “peasant” and has the same root as the Romani word “gav” (a village). Romani ancestors were nomadic musicians and craftspeople; they did not live in villages[citation needed]. In the Latin world, the derived gachó and gachí, after passing through Caló, have come to mean “man, lover” and “woman, girl”.
Could gaucho be related to Romany gadgie (variously spelled gadgi, gadjo, godgy, a man, gorgio (garger), a white man, not a gipsy), a name given by Romany gypsies to non-Romanies? Can anyone enlighten me about the origin of gaucho and gadgie? “Gadgie”, btw, is alive and well and living in northern England.
