I get it, the word "gypsy" is now offensive. But please don't equate it with the "n word".

[Anonymous]

I grew up knowing about the Roma people and knowing that they are sometimes reffered to as "gypsy". I also thought that "gypsy" had come to mean "nomad" or "traveler". I mean obviously calling someone a "dirty gypsy" or thinking that because they are Roma they are thieves or a discriminating based on their ethnicity is wrong, but it is news to me that "gypsy spirit" (usually used lightly to describe a free spirit or nomadic person) is now a slur on par with N*****.

[Anonymous]

Who told you that it was? Gypsy comes from a mistake about the origins of the Roma/Sinti/travelers and it offensive to many, but I've never seen anyone claim it is *exactly* like the n-word. Both are slurs. One has a more robust history of terror in the United States.

[Anonymous]

Maybe not in North America. But in Europe it is definitely on the same level as the N word is here. And frankly, who are you to decide what's more offensive to respective minority?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who told you that it was? Gypsy comes from a mistake about the origins of the Roma/Sinti/travelers and it offensive to many, but I've never seen anyone claim it is *exactly* like the n-word. Both are slurs. One has a more robust history of terror in the United States.

Word.

Just look at murder stats by race/ ethnicity of accused.

I do not see many Roma there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who told you that it was? Gypsy comes from a mistake about the origins of the Roma/Sinti/travelers and it offensive to many, but I've never seen anyone claim it is *exactly* like the n-word. Both are slurs. One has a more robust history of terror in the United States.

Word.

Just look at murder stats by race/ ethnicity of accused.

I do not see many Roma there.

We don't really have a population on Roma here either.

[Anonymous]

I didn't know that the g-word in any usage was offensive, on par with the n-word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who told you that it was? Gypsy comes from a mistake about the origins of the Roma/Sinti/travelers and it offensive to many, but I've never seen anyone claim it is *exactly* like the n-word. Both are slurs. One has a more robust history of terror in the United States.

Word.

Just look at murder stats by race/ ethnicity of accused.

I do not see many Roma there.

We don't really have a population on Roma here either.

DC has a nice Roma population. They own some businesses in Adams Morgan and, I'm sorry to say, they beg in the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

My neighbor is a gypsy. From Romania.

[Anonymous]

If it's a costume at party city, then it's not a commonly accepted racial slur.

The word gypsy isn't used exclusively to refer to the Roma. It has many commonly accepted uses in the English language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who told you that it was? Gypsy comes from a mistake about the origins of the Roma/Sinti/travelers and it offensive to many, but I've never seen anyone claim it is *exactly* like the n-word. Both are slurs. One has a more robust history of terror in the United States.

Word.

Just look at murder stats by race/ ethnicity of accused.

I do not see many Roma there.

We don't really have a population on Roma here either.

DC has a nice Roma population. They own some businesses in Adams Morgan and, I'm sorry to say, they beg in the suburbs.

In most European countries they beg all over the place. Imagine outside EVERY Safeway (even the most remote ones you don't even understand how they got there), every CVS etc. Here, I am yet to see one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who told you that it was? Gypsy comes from a mistake about the origins of the Roma/Sinti/travelers and it offensive to many, but I've never seen anyone claim it is *exactly* like the n-word. Both are slurs. One has a more robust history of terror in the United States.

Word.

Just look at murder stats by race/ ethnicity of accused.

I do not see many Roma there.

We don't really have a population on Roma here either.

DC has a nice Roma population. They own some businesses in Adams Morgan and, I'm sorry to say, they beg in the suburbs.

In most European countries they beg all over the place. Imagine outside EVERY Safeway (even the most remote ones you don't even understand how they got there), every CVS etc. Here, I am yet to see one.

They are always near the entrance and exit of 495 at Connecticut Ave. I knew some Roma in Adams Morgan. They were very nice people. Good to their kids. Normal people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe not in North America. But in Europe it is definitely on the same level as the N word is here. And frankly, who are you to decide what's more offensive to respective minority?

Look, I'm tremendously sympathetic to the Roma, but where exactly in Europe is the local word derived from "gypsy" as socially unacceptable as the n-word is here? Europe is big, so I assume you might be right about somewhere, but speaking only to Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Poland, the word is not as offensive as the n-word is in the United States. It's offensive, but still in common usage, which makes it different than the n-word here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The word gypsy isn't used exclusively to refer to the Roma. It has many commonly accepted uses in the English language.

+1

Not everyone thinks it is offensive, even among the Roma. Kinda more like Redskins than the N word, when you get right down to it.

[Anonymous]

I don't take it seriously if there are TV shows like "gypsy sisters"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The word gypsy isn't used exclusively to refer to the Roma. It has many commonly accepted uses in the English language.

+1

Not everyone thinks it is offensive, even among the Roma. Kinda more like Redskins than the N word, when you get right down to it.[/quote

My cousin married a Roma. This. She even calls herself gypsy from time to time.