This has been a fascinating and edifying conversation regarding how and
when to use the term. At the risk of getting too deep in the philosophical
questions regarding use of the word "gypsy," I have a sincere and seriously
non-loaded question about what conditions must be met in order to justify
Since "gypsy" as a contra/ECD term almost certainly refers to Romani, it
differs from say, geological terms or whatnot. The swastika is a sad thing,
because the Nazis basically ruined it, even though they use a reverse
direction version.
That said, I'm not endorsing or not endorsing the change to
I've been reading all the historical origins discussion. It's seems to me we
are far from concluding that the term 'gypsy' is associated with Romani people.
We have that Cecil Sharp probably heard Morris Dancers using whole and half
gip, and appropriated the movement and term for broader use
In square dance, Indian Style is rarely used for single file promenade,
although it was prevalent just 25 years ago. It has slowly disappeared
replaced with just the descriptive language of "single file".
I often replace, "Single file Indian Style" with "Single file with a smile".
I also beieve
I imagine there are some Romani organizations. A thought that I had was to
contact them - explaining the background of these dance forms, the use of the
gypsy term, and the current discussion and see what they say. It might be help
decide how important it is to seek new terminology.
Since we are all operating on assumptions here about what might or might not be
offensive to the Roma people, I have sent a question to "Voice of Roma"
(www.voiceofroma.com/) asking for their opinion as to whether our using the
word gypsy for the past century plus as a name for a dance move
Martha, thanks for this investigative work -- I'll be interested to hear
their response! But as Andrea mentions, my question doesn't pertain to
whether it's offensive to the Roma people (I think the original email
suggests that, on the surface, it most definitely is), but rather whether
drawing
I have a suggestion for a new word to replace "gypsy." My word is "bine" and I
derive it from "binary stars" which, especially if they are of similar mass,
circle each other as in our dance move. I consulted with an astrophysicist
friend, who told me that under certain circumstances binary
When I was at university all the college servants were called gyps.
According to my dictionary it may just as well have come from the name of a
short jacket (obsolete English gippo derived from the obsolete French word
jumeau).
We are unlikely to ever know the true derivation of the word gypsy in
To clarify, when I taught the gypsy I said something very close to:
"this is a flirty move." I said nothing about sex, or that the move
was imitating or representative of anyone or anything. I regret using
that short sentence more than you can imagine. That the writer thought
"it became clear
I'm no philologist, but I don't think it's as open and shut as suggested. While
there is no proof the term derived from something other than in reference to
the people, there is equally no proof to the affirmative that it is named after
those people. Although it is indeed probable that it was
Deja vu all over again.
I’ve always taught this move as a “face to face do-so-do”. I might describe it
(once in an evening) by asking the dancers to "imagine the delicate gold chain
joining the rings in your noses”. I don't explicitly suggest it’s flirty or
even to make eye contact — that’s
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