In the Romany language of the Gypsies, Cushti Bok means “Good Luck” What can I say about Cushti Bok? This boy, or should I say “old man”, was quite the character. He loved it when Dennis hosted the farm tours, because he knew he would get lots of cookies and attention from the participants of the tour.
“chavo” for boy, “chavi” for girl and “chave” meaning children.
Pikey remained, as of 1989, common prison slang for Romani people or those who have a similar lifestyle of itinerant unemployment and travel. More recently, pikey was applied to Irish Travellers (other slurs include tinkers and knackers) and non-Romanichal travellers.
(Káko), uncle. ((kalikó), Spanish Gypsy calicaste, on the morrow), on the morrow, in the morning (B.'s “early” is a mistake). (Curava, I strike), to strike, to hammer.
Gypsy and Traveller languages
Romani (or Romany) is actually several languages spoken by the Romani people. There are many varieties that are different enough to be considered languages in their own right. These include Vlax Romani and Sinte Romani. Romani words: Yog – Fire.
Devla basically means "God". It cannot be confused with the English word Devil, because the word for "Devil" in Romani is Beng.
Rom: Gypsies of East European origin who arrived after 1880. Mostly urban, they are scattered across the entire country. One of the larger groups in the US, possibly in the 55-60,000 range. Romnichels: English Gypsies who arrived beginning in 1850.
Gavver is another word to describe police officers, and it comes from the Romany Gypsy word 'garav' which means hide. We use the word 'gibberish' to describe someone talking complete and utter nonsense, and it originated from the Romany word 'jib' which has the dual meaning of both tongue and language.
A gorger is a Romani word for a non-Romani person.
Rom means husband in the Romani language.
“Roma” is the word (ethnonym) that the Roma use to describe themselves: it is the term for the members of that specific people and it is Romani for “man”. “Gypsy” is a derogatory, disparaging term – for many an insult — used by the majority population to define the Roma people.
The Romani people, also referred to as Roma, Sinti or Kale, depending on the sub-group, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group which primarily lives in Europe.
Aside from representing the Romany gypsy way of life and the freedom of travelling, these tattoos also symbolize luck, independence, good fortune, desire and living life. The female face or head has been the centre point of traditional renderings in the tattoo scene since the Jerry days.
Guy Ritchie's film Snatch portrays “pikeys,” a pejorative term for the Irish Traveller community. Irish Travellers can speak English, but their primary language is Shelta, which is based on Irish Gaelic but also incorporates British English.
The Roma do not follow a single faith, but are Catholic Manouche, Mercheros, and Sinti; Muslim Ashkali and Romanlar; Pentecostal Kalderash and Lovari; Protestant Travellers; Anglican Gypsies; and Baptist Roma.
nounplural -coys or -kais. (in Britain) one of a group of caravan-dwelling roadside people who live like Gypsies but are not true Romanies.
Formally, Islam is the religion that these communities align themselves with, and the people are recognized for their staunch preservation of the Romani language and identity. Most Eastern European Roma are Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Muslim.
Chav, mush, cushti and wonga - all words that have embedded themselves into the English vocabulary. But few people would guess their origins belong to a 16th century Romany Gypsy dialect still spoken by some travellers today.
A rom baro is elected for life and the position is not inheritable. The rom baro are the head of their patriarchal groups known as familias but, their authority extends far beyond their own familias, encompassing their respective tribes or companies (Romani: kumpania).
Tommy Shelby and his kin are Irish-Romani (sometimes spelled Romany) Gypsies, a unique cultural and ethnic group present in Britain since the 1500s. The award-winning Peaky Blinders is directed by Steven Knight and has run for 6 seasons, the most recent hitting U.S. Netflix in June 2022.
Angloromani or Anglo-Romani (literally "English Romani"; also known as Angloromany, Rummaness, or Pogadi Chib) is a mixed language of Indo-European origin involving the presence of Romani vocabulary and syntax in the English used by descendants of Romanichal Travellers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New ...
Common Gypsy names
You may have Romani, Traveller or Gypsy ancestry if your family tree includes common Romani or Gypsy surnames such as Boss, Boswell, Buckland, Chilcott, Codona, Cooper, Doe, Lee, Gray (or Grey), Harrison, Hearn, Heron, Hodgkins, Holland, Lee, Lovell, Loveridge, Scamp, Smith, Wood and Young.
In general, Romani people carry approximately 65–80% West Eurasian (European, Middle Eastern and Caucasian) ancestry, estimated to have been acquired by extensive gene flow between the 13th and 16th centuries [4,7].