Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Vector]

... Oh, there's Roma people in the US, or at the very least Travelers (I didn't ask the people whose camp we passed which ethnicity they were).

So yes, this linguistic discussion is highly relevant.

[G-Flex]

... Oh, there's Roma people in the US, or at the very least Travelers (I didn't ask the people whose camp we passed which ethnicity they were).

And, perhaps more relevantly, any Roma anywhere in the world (that speaks English, at least) will interpret "Gypsy" as referring, at least in part, to their people. Yes, Even Australia.

[ChairmanPoo]

In exchange for the "rescue", Greece will appoint an EU elected group that will have veto power over executive budget decisions, and also make sure that the first priority for those funds is to pay the interests of the Greek debt.

So remind me again: who are the European countries behind this rescuing exactly? Greece? Or Germany?

[RedKing]

I should probably let this die, but here's a question though: for the most part, their lifestyle DOES involve constant travelling. So to that extent, using the word "gypsy" as a shorthand for "person who is constantly travelling and is not settled down"....

It's like using "Amish" as a synonym for "Luddite". I mean, if there's any ethnic group in the US that gets parodied and poked fun at for their culture, it's the Amish. It's usually a good-natured sort of ribbing, but it is pervasive. But it's because for the most part, the stereotypes are true (at least among the old-school Amish who still reject modern technology and communications).

[G-Flex]

I should probably let this die, but here's a question though: for the most part, their lifestyle DOES involve constant travelling. So to that extent, using the word "gypsy" as a shorthand for "person who is constantly travelling and is not settled down"....

• Even if it's a necessary part of their culture, I'd say it's wrong to use a term for a people (in this case, "gypsy") to refer to one specific part of their culture (in this case, traveling).
• Not all Romani people travel, especially not these days.

[Max White]

Ok it has been like an hour and I still can't fall asleep, but hey, had a little time to think.
You know what the problem is? Not the way we perceive the word gypsy, that is sort of irrelevant really. Be it a traveller or dirty baby snatcher, that is beside the point.

The problem is relating gypsies to a specific race. That is racism. When I say gypsy, if you think I am talking about a race of people, that is racist. That is like saying that all gypsies are this race of people. So If every time I type gypsy you read it as Roma, or any other race of people, you have a problem, because not all Roma's are gypsies, so why would you relate them like that? And not all gypsies are Romas, so once again, why are you making this connection?

I never said anything about the Romas, I was talking about gypsies. I can draw you a Venn diagram showing where the two groups over lap and where they don't.
This means that even if their is a perception of gypsies as fortune telling robbers, if you introduced a Roma person to me, I wouldn't think of them as a fortune telling thief, because there is no assurance that as a Roma person, he is a gypsy.

[ChairmanPoo]

You'd still be a bigot, though.

[Max White]

On what basis?

[GlyphGryph]

I wasn't talking 'bout black people, I was just talking about niggers. If you think "niggers" means all black people or even just black people, that's your problem, not mine!

Seriously - Max, are you just being stubborn at this point, or what?

[Max White]

But nigger has a some what clear definition as a black slave, and we can all agree that "slave" is not a very positive term.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy
Gypsy, however, refers to at least 9 groups of people, and has multiple definitions, including

4. A person who moves from place to place as required for employment, especially:
a. A part-time or temporary member of a college faculty.
b. A member of the chorus line in a theater production

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Gypsy

[RedKing]

I wasn't talking 'bout black people, I was just talking about niggers. If you think "niggers" means all black people or even just black people, that's your problem, not mine!

That's actually a line of argument you'll hear surprisingly often in the US. And while I understand what that line of argument is trying to say....yeah, I see what you mean.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I wasn't talking 'bout black people, I was just talking about niggers. If you think "niggers" means all black people or even just black people, that's your problem, not mine!

That's actually a line of argument you'll hear surprisingly often in the US. And while I understand what that line of argument is trying to say....yeah, I see what you mean.

Said line of argument, as far as I can tell, was created by the Chris Rock routine "Niggas vs. Black People" (It even has it's own wikipedia article.) Chris Rock himself does not perform this routine anymore, as he believes it makes racist people believe they can use the word freely.

[Max White]

Seriously - Max, are you just being stubborn at this point, or what?

I have this nasty habit of debating until I honestly feel I have been corrected.
While I understand that there is a context where one might take offence to its use, I do not yet feel the word is taboo and without context where it is acceptable.

[Virex]

But nigger has a some what clear definition as a black slave, and we can all agree that "slave" is not a very positive term.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy
Gypsy, however, refers to at least 9 groups of people, and has multiple definitions, including

4. A person who moves from place to place as required for employment, especially:
a. A part-time or temporary member of a college faculty.
b. A member of the chorus line in a theater production

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Gypsy

Do you really feel like you have to defend your right to use a word that's commonly used as a bigoted slur? Even if you technically have the right to use it, what does exercising that right say about you? (Note, I'm not telling you you were wrong in using it before, after all you didn't know it was wrong)

[Max White]

Fuck can be used as a slur, yet given the right settings, I won't hesitate to use it. Just because something can be used as a slur, doesn't mean it always it.