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Syd
Syd
2 years ago

Gem’s what now? Welcome to Cringefest 2023, presented by Jill Penrod definitely not in association with any Roma

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PhilO
PhilO
2 years ago
Reply to  Syd

My guess is that she’s from the US. Over here, most people still think “gypsies” is another kind of elfen tribe. A sort of traveling faerie with an eastern European accent and haunting violin melodies. They don’t equate them with a real race of people who are (and have been for centuries) discriminated against and often hated across Europe. And for whom “Gypsy” or “Tinker” is considered an epithet.

2
Johno McMoose
Johno McMoose
2 years ago
Reply to  PhilO

Speaking of US fiction, Stephen King once wrote a book about a Gypsy curse, in which purported Romani language actually consisted of random phrases in Swedish (at least his Roma travelled in cars, rather than horse-drawn wagons).

1
Hitch
Hitch
2 years ago
Reply to  PhilO

Yes, but Gypsies–as in Roma folks–and Tinkers–as in Irish and to some extent, UK folks–aren’t the same peoples at all. Yes, they have similar lifestyles and all that, but AFAIK, the Irish-UK Rovers or Tinkers are not Roma by blood or marriage. ?

0
Johno McMoose
Johno McMoose
2 years ago
Reply to  Hitch

I’ve read somewhere that the Roma refer to the Travellers as “half-brothers”, recognizing a similar lifestyle but a different origin.

1
Syd
Syd
2 years ago
Reply to  Syd

love y’all recognizing the word is a racist slur and using it anyway. Cool, cool.

0
Nathan
Author
Nathan
2 years ago
Reply to  Syd

From Wikipedia:

In the English language, the Romani are widely known by the exonym Gypsies (or Gipsies),[81] which is considered a pejorative by some Romani due to its connotations of illegality and irregularity as well as its historical use as a racial slur.[82][83][84] In the United Kingdom, the term Gypsies is preferred by some of the English and Welsh Romanies, and is used to refer to them in official documentation.[85][86] For versions of the word (some of which are cognates) in many other languages, this perception is very small or non-existent. Examples include Greek: Γύφτος or Τσιγγάνος; French: Tzigane or gitan; Spanish: gitano; Italian: zingaro; Portuguese: cigano; Romanian: țigan; and German: Zigeuner.[87][88] The attendees of the first World Romani Congress in 1971 unanimously voted to reject the use of all exonyms for the Romani, including Gypsy, because of the aforementioned pejorative and stereotypical connotations associated with them.[83]

…

In Britain, many Romani proudly identify as “Gypsies”,[188] and, as part of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller grouping, this is the name used to describe all para-Romani groups in official contexts.[86] 

I mean, if you want to be offended on behalf of the Romani, go for it. Just don’t expect them to uniformly back you up.

2
Hitch
Hitch
2 years ago
Reply to  Nathan

And I know factually, from my own time in Ireland, amongst the so-called Tinkers, that they call themselves Tinkers, Travellers, (most often, IME) and Gypsies, take your pick. Call themselves.

There’s an entire breed or type of horse (for which one may pay a small fortune) called the “Gypsy Vanner” horse. https://vanners.org/ Which, yes, started among the traveller folk, in Ireland and UK, as the story goes.

Just sayin’.

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Johno McMoose
Johno McMoose
2 years ago

In my native tongue, “balia” means “washtub”. Now, that cart looks a bit like one…

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