Is gypsy a word

Q: In the quilting world, there’s a popular design named “Gypsy Wife.” When a woman recently posted a photo of a nice one she made to a Facebook page, she was lambasted for using the term “Gypsy.” Because of the complaints, she removed the photo. Is “Gypsy” a slur?

A: This is a complicated and sensitive question.

Some people who identify themselves as ethnically Roma (also called Romani or Romany) are offended by “Gypsy,” and most standard dictionaries have reservations about using it to mean Roma. On the other hand, some Roma people don’t mind being called “Gypsies” and others even embrace the term.

What’s more, the uncapitalized “gypsy” has meanings that are ultimately derived from the original sense but no longer have ethnic or racial associations. And those uses are not regarded as pejorative, at least in dictionaries.

Our conclusions are that that “Gypsy” (with a capital “G”) is offensive to some people, and should be used with caution if at all. It should be avoided entirely if any ethnic connection is implied; instead, the words “Roma” or “Romani” should be used. Meanwhile, the non-ethnic uses of “gypsy” (with a lowercase “g”) should not be condemned. Here’s a summary of the word’s history.

The earliest form of the word in English, which the Oxford English Dictionary dates to the 1530s, was “Gipcyan,” an abbreviated version of “Egyptian.” At that time, as John Ayto writes in his Dictionary of Word Origins (2011), “it was widely thought that the Romany people originated in Egypt.”

They didn’t, as we now know. A genome study in Current Biology, December 2012, shows that the founding population of the Roma people originated in northern India 1,500 years ago and rapidly migrated into Europe through the Balkans, with some genetic input along the way from the Near or Middle East. The Romani language is descended from Sanskrit, in which romá is the plural of rom (man or husband).

So the “Gypsies” were mislabeled from the start, since they didn’t come from Egypt. And many early appearances of “Gypsy” in English were highly pejorative because, as OED citations show, these itinerant foreigners were often viewed with contempt and mistrust, suspected of crimes, and driven away. Here are the OED’s earliest examples:

“The Kinges Maiestie aboute a twelfmoneth past gave a pardonne to a company of lewde personnes within this Realme calling themselves Gipcyans for a most Shamfull and detestable murder.” (From a letter written by Thomas Cromwell on Dec. 5, 1537.)

“It is ordayned agaynste people callynge themselves Egypcyans, that no such persons be suffred to come within this realme.” (From The Newe Boke of Justyces of the Peas, 1538, by the judge and legal scholar Anthony Fitzherbert.)

“Hee wandring … in the manner of a Gipson … was taken, and trust vp for a roge [trussed up for a rogue].” (From Martins Months Minde, 1589, an attack by an unknown writer on the pseudonymous pamphleteer known as Martin Marprelate.)

The OED defines this ethnic sense of “Gypsy” as “a member of a wandering race (by themselves called Romany), of Hindu origin, which first appeared in England about the beginning of the 16th cent. and was then believed to have come from Egypt.”

But the word very soon acquired transferred meanings, the OED says. In the 1600s it was used to mean a man who was “a cunning rogue,” the dictionary says, and for a woman who was “cunning, deceitful, fickle, or the like.”

In later use, Oxford adds, “gypsy” (by this time lowercased) was used playfully rather than contemptuously for a woman, “and applied esp. to a brunette.”  All those uses have died out.

But since then “gypsy” (also spelled “gipsy”) has acquired several more meanings, none of them pejorative. Most date from around the mid-20th century, and here we’ll paraphrase the many definitions in standard dictionaries:

(1) Someone who’s free-spirited or doesn’t live in one place for long.

(2) A person with a career or way of life that’s itinerant or unconventional, especially a part-time or temporary college faculty member or a performer in the chorus line of a theatrical production.

(3) An unlicensed, nonunionized, or independent operator, particularly a trucker or cab driver but also including plumber and other trades.

We don’t think any of those three senses of “gypsy” are offensive, though undoubtedly some could be used in a dismissive manner. At any rate, dictionaries attach no such warning labels to them.

[Note: On July 4, 2019, a reader of the blog wrote us to say that she is a Roma and considers every use of “gypsy,” ethnic or otherwise, uppercase or lowercase, “a hurtful racial slur.” But on Dec. 22, 2019, another reader wrote us to say that he is Romani and “No true Roma actually care nor do we find the term offensive.”]

Dictionaries also include without a caution the use of the lowercase term for a member of a traditionally itinerant group that’s unrelated to the Roma. This definition would include people known as “Travelers” in Ireland, Scotland, and the US, who are not descended from the Roma and do not speak Romani.

However, the original, ethnic meaning of “Gypsy” is another matter. Nowhere does the OED, an etymological dictionary based on historical evidence, label “Gypsy” as offensive or contemptuous. But many standard dictionaries do have reservations about the term.

American Heritage labels “Gypsy” as “often offensive” in only one sense, when it means “Romani.” Merriam-Webster labels it “sometimes offensive.” And Webster’s New World says it’s “now often considered offensive, the word Rom (pl., Roma) or Romani being preferred.”

As for the online standard British dictionaries, Oxford and Cambridge have no reservations. Macmillan labels the term “offensive” when it means “a Romany.” Longman says “most” Gypsies and Collins says “some” prefer to be called Romanies.

So the apparent consensus among lexicographers is that as an ethnic term, “Gypsy” should be used with caution if at all.

Even the use of the lowercase “gypsy” to refer to theatrical performers came under attack last year, according to an article in the New York Times on April 20, 2018.

The writer, Michael Paulson, noted that the use of “gypsy” to refer to the performers in a chorus line apparently derives from “the fact that until the early 20th century, many American actors proudly earned a living by traveling from city to city.”

“To many,” he wrote, the word “is pejorative, no matter the context.” He quoted Carol Silverman, a professor of anthropology at the University of Oregon, as saying, “It is an ethnic slur.”

He also quoted Petra Gelbart, a curator at RomArchive, a digital archive: “The fact that the term Gypsy is so often used to denote free-spirited or traveling lifestyles has real-life repercussions for actual Romany people,” reducing them to “ridiculous stereotypes that can make it difficult to find employment or social acceptance.”

On the other side, Paulson cited Laurence Maslon, a professor at New York University and author of the book Broadway to Main Street (2018), as saying that to stage performers, “It was a badge of honor, not a badge of shame, that you were itinerant.”

And Tom Viola, executive director of the nonprofit organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, said, “In our theatrical community, ‘the gypsy’ is beloved.” He said the organization is sticking with “Gypsy of the Year” as the name of its annual fund-raising performance.

As you may know, the issue of Gypsy persecution is much more prominent in Europe than in the US. In a 2012 report, the Roma and Travelers division of the Council of Europe had this to say about terminology:

“The term ‘Roma/Gypsies’ was used for many years by the Council of Europe, before the decision was taken to no longer use it in official texts in 2005.” The move was made principally because of objections by international Roma associations, the Council says, who regarded it as “an alien term, linked with negative, paternalistic stereotypes which still pursue them in Europe.”

But the report added that “in some countries, the term ‘Gypsies’ or its national equivalent has no negative connotations, is accepted by the people concerned and may occasionally be more appropriate.”

One organization that is not fazed by the term “Gypsy” is the 130-year-old Gypsy Lore Society, founded in Britain in the 19th century and now headquartered in the US.

The society publishes books, a newsletter, and the scholarly journal Romani Studies, which features articles on “the cultures of groups traditionally known as Gypsies as well as Travelers and other peripatetic groups.”

“Much of the material published on Gypsies and Travelers on the Internet,” the society cautions on its website, “is misleading due either to stereotyping, antiquated perspectives on ethnicity or culture, poor scholarship, excessive political correctness or other biases and, in some cases, outright fabrication.”

As for the striking quilt pattern called “Gypsy Wife,” there’s no special significance to the name, according to its creator, the Australian quilt designer Jen Kingwell.

In an interview at a quilt show in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 21, 2015, she said, “I have no idea why it’s called that. I find naming quilt patterns about the hardest thing ever.”

Personally, we think it’s an imaginative name and we find no offense in it. The design is certainly free-spirited and unconventional, though not unlicensed (it’s copyrighted).

[Update, April 16, 2021: A reader informs us that the name of Jen Kingwell’s quilt pattern has since been changed to “Wanderer’s Wife.”]

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English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• gipsy, gipsey, gypsey, gypsie (archaic)
• gyptian

Etymology[edit]

See Gypsy. The generic usage that refers to any itinerant person.

Compare bohemian, from Bohemia.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɪp.si/
• Rhymes: -ɪpsi

Noun[edit]

gypsy (plural gypsies)

1. (sometimes offensive) Alternative form of Gypsy: a member of the Romani people.
2. (colloquial) An itinerant person or any person, not necessarily Romani; a tinker, a traveller or a carny.

   • c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]:

     Like a right gypsy, hath, at fast and loose, Beguiled me to the very heart of loss.

3. (sometimes offensive) A move in contra dancing in which two dancers walk in a circle around each other while maintaining eye contact (but not touching as in a swing). (Compare whole gyp, half gyp, and gypsy meltdown, in which this step precedes a swing.)
4. (theater) A member of a Broadway musical chorus line.
5. (dated) A person with a dark complexion.
6. (dated) A sly, roguish woman.
7. (dated, colloquial) A fortune teller

Usage notes[edit]

See notes at Gypsy.

Synonyms[edit]

• (contra dancing): gyre, gyp, gip

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Adjective[edit]

gypsy (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of Gypsy: of or belonging to the Romani people.
2. (offensive) Of or having the qualities of an itinerant person or group with qualities traditionally ascribed to Romani people; making a living from dishonest practices or theft etc.

Usage notes[edit]

See the notes about Gypsy.

Derived terms[edit]

Verb[edit]

gypsy (third-person singular simple present gypsies, present participle gypsying, simple past and past participle gypsied)

1. (intransitive) To roam around the country like a gypsy.

   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, chapter XX, in The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, volume I, The Burton Club, page 199 footnote:

     The rest of the day is spent out of doors «Gypsying«, and families greatly enjoy themselves on these occasions.

2. To perform the gypsy step in contra dancing.
   • 1992 April 7, win…@ssrl01.slac.stanford.edu, contra-gypsies, in rec.folk-dancing, Usenet:

     Look at the person you’re gypsying with, and convey the message that you notice them as a person and that you’re glad that they’re there, […]

   • 1998, September 9, Jonathan Sivier, Contra Corners — followed by gypsy, in rec.folk-dancing, Usenet:

     The only one I know of is The Tease by Tom Hinds which starts with the actives gypsying and then swinging their neighbors and ends with contra […]

See also[edit]

Gypsy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References[edit]

• gypsy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Van Morrison’s song “Into The Mystic” shuffled its way from my playlist into my earbuds during a run one day. While perhaps not a stereotypical workout song, I felt lighter on my feet when the chorus kicked in. And then Morrison sang a lyric I have sung along to many times without thought, “I wanna rock your gypsy soul.”

But this time I knew better. I didn’t sing along. I had recently learned that “gypsy” is a racist and hurtful word to the people who have been oppressed by it for centuries. Then I recognized the word is used everywhere with a casualness that suggests people don’t know the meaning behind it and why it’s offensive.

Before you roll your eyes and tell me and everyone else we are being too sensitive, take a beat. You don’t know what you don’t know, and that’s not entirely your fault — but soon you will know why you need to stop using “gypsy.” Take a deep breath, refrain from telling me and anyone you think needs to hear your voice that people get too offended these days, and learn.

The word “gypsy” was given to Romani people (not Romanian) who migrated from northwest India into the Middle East and into Europe and North America. Europeans assumed the Roma people were from Egypt and were Egyptian because of their dark skin and imposed the word “gypsy” on them. Roma people are the largest ethnic minority in Europe, where they also have a history of being persecuted. Romani were forced into slavery for 500 years, nearly 80 percent of the Romani population in Europe was murdered in the Holocaust, and they are still victims of hate crimes and experience discrimination in school, access to health care and housing.

According to Ian Hancock, the word gypsy is an exonym—a word or phrase given to an ethnic group by outsiders. Hancock is a University of Texas Professor and born to Romani parents. In an interview with NPR, he says that folks don’t realize that the word “gypped” — as in, “The car salesman gypped me into buying a lemon,” meaning to swindle, cheat, or rob — derives from gypsy and is problematic, too. Too many folks don’t know that a negative connotation is perpetually being associated with a group of people who don’t deserve to be seen as cheap, untrustworthy, or thieves. When people tell him that they didn’t know either word was offensive, he says, “That’s okay. You didn’t know but now you do. So stop using it. It may mean nothing to you, but when we hear it, it still hurts.”

There are roughly 1 million Romani people living in the United States, and in addition to overt racism, they have to deal with the harmful stereotypes that feed into the violence against Romani women. In an article called The “G” Word Isn’t for You: How “Gypsy” Erases Romani Women, Naomi P. writes about these stereotypes that portray Romani women as beggars and dirty or as sexual and mystical creatures (see Morrison reference above) who are out to trick “the man.” Remember the scene in the original Robin Hood Disney movie when Robin Hood and Little John dress as gypsy fortune tellers or “female bandits” and steal Prince John’s jewels? That scene was totally racist.

That was in 1973 — and we while we should know better by now, many folks don’t realize that the word gypsy is a slur. And for the folks who have been told it is, too many of them wave it off as though the person who they offended is too sensitive. This is more of a reflection of the person who continues to offend than the person who is choosing vulnerability to try to repair a hurt that has been done to their community for too long. If someone tells you they are bothered or upset, why not listen? Why not admit you were wrong? Why not try to do better?

I will answer for you, because I have seen this played out when I tell people the language they use is homophobic or transphobic and bothers me as a queer, transgender person. People have very big egos that get in the way of their motivation and ability to learn. I get it; it’s hard to admit when we are wrong. But there are so many important conservations that come in making a mistake, correcting it, and moving on than to willfully continue to make the same mistake.

Why not do better? I also have proof that people just don’t give a fuck and are totally fine with using language that excludes, hurts, and endangers someone else. People don’t want to do better until, of course, they are on the receiving end of danger and need everyone else to improve for their benefit.

I keep “gypsy” out of my vocabulary because Naomi, a marginalized person who has had the word used against her, says that the word is dangerous. “It conjures up a romanticized image of poverty and sexualization, which doesn’t acknowledge that there is nothing romantic about being a victim of institutionalized racism. There is nothing romantic about the link between perceived uncontrollable sexuality and forced sterilization. There is nothing romantic about being a victim of domestic violence but afraid to speak out because law enforcement won’t believe you or it will further oppress your community. There is nothing romantic about lacking political power and representation, and being left out of both anti-racist and feminist politics.”

I can’t and won’t argue with that. She’s right.

I kept running along to Morrison, but I felt gross inside because I know how powerful words are and how, even without ill intent, they can be hurtful. I don’t want or need “gypsy” to be part of my everyday language. There are more than enough other words for me to use to portray what I really mean without hurting someone. I don’t view this as censorship; it’s an act of sensitivity and growth.

Language evolves faster than humans, and this is another example of how we can learn, change, and evolve too.

This article was originally published on June 26, 2020

Why is Gypsy a slur?