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Is "gypsy" a slur?

Josie

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I didn't realize that some people consider it a slur. Even when you use it to describe yourself, people have said that it's awful to even say the word "gypsy". I thought when someone describe themselves that way it just meant they were very carefree, kind of a hippie, bohemian, etc.

What do you all think?
 
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Gypsy has often been used as a slur against Romani, it was the term the Germans used during the Holocaust to justify genocide against them.
 

You should probably ask someone who belongs to that ethnic group or someone who knows people who do as to whether or not that particular word is offensive to them or considered a slur. I generally do not like it when people decide to take vicarious offense on behalf of others when such protection was never asked for, and I am given to distrust such presumptuousness. But I am not going to give some kind of validation and tell you "Hey, there's nothing offensive using that word! Go nuts!" because that would be equally presumptuous of me.
 
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Gypsy has often been used as a slur against Romani, it was the term the Germans used during the Holocaust to justify genocide against them.

I do understand that.

I'm just confused by people being offended by using the word in the way I described it in the OP -- hippie, Bohemian, etc. Like this:

 
I do understand that.

I'm just confused by people being offended by using the word in the way I described it in the OP -- hippie, Bohemian, etc. Like this:

View attachment 67232058

Because your use doesn't alter the negative connotations the word has. It'd be like describing yourself as a nigger because you're good at basketball.
 

Yes it is
Did you do any research on this?
 
I think today most anything can be considered a slur.
 
Because your use doesn't alter the negative connotations the word has. It'd be like describing yourself as a nigger because you're good at basketball.

I see what you mean.
 

Bottom line, some people will be pissed off no matter what you say, how you say it or how you meant it. These days, with the internet and all, they will also have a whole cadre of "friends" to help them explain to you just how horrible you are for having used such a slur.
 

It's not an individual decision. It's a social thing. From the slur we get "gyped", or cheated, a pejorative based on the slur for Romani.
 

It is a slur. Plain and simple, nothing but a slur.
No different than another slur, he Jewed me. A slur.
 
It is a slur. Plain and simple, nothing but a slur.
No different than another slur, he Jewed me. A slur.

So now "Jew" is a slur too?

Like I said, it seems a lot of people have a lot of free time on their hands. It's a shame they choose to use it sorting out all the reasons they can be pissed off at someone else.
 
Best just to act like deaf mute in today's world, and I am probably calling some group into question with this comment.........
 
So now "Jew" is a slur too?

Like I said, it seems a lot of people have a lot of free time on their hands. It's a shame they choose to use it sorting out all the reasons they can be pissed off at someone else.

Not what I posted now is it. That change you made is disgraceful
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/jewed
 
So now "Jew" is a slur too?

Like I said, it seems a lot of people have a lot of free time on their hands. It's a shame they choose to use it sorting out all the reasons they can be pissed off at someone else.

Greetings, Lutherf. :2wave:

:agree: AND you said it better than I could have! :thumbs:
 
I thought the term Gypsies originated because some thought they originally came from Egypt.
 
Gypsy in the US is not a slur, it has changed meaning, like the word thug.
 

According to the Romani's I know, yes, it is a slur.
 
So now "Jew" is a slur too?

Like I said, it seems a lot of people have a lot of free time on their hands. It's a shame they choose to use it sorting out all the reasons they can be pissed off at someone else.

It depends on how it's used. When you say 'jewed'. yes it is.
 
It is a slur

Greetings, Janfu. :2wave:

When did it become a slur? I tended to agree with Josie in that it meant "free-spirited" or "bohemian" to describe an outlook on life, and they're fun to be around! :thumbs: What happened that changed our way of describing something that so many are now frowning constantly because they're "offended?"
 
What he said made perfect sense. gypped/gypsy -- jewed/Jew. Gypsy a slur, but Jew isn't?

Jewish people self refer to themselves as Jews. Do German people self refer themselves as kikes?
 
I first heard it described as a slur a few years ago. It was a surprise to me.
 
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