I'm definitely familiar with the Gypsy stereotype, and the first time I really thought about the word "gyp," the derogatory nature of it was immediately apparent to me. Heck, the very first thing I was told when I started working at a local clothes store several years ago was to watch out for Irish Travelers, although I never did encounter one in the 9 months I worked there.

I'm not sure what distinction you're making here w/r/t "crazy" and "retarded." It's okay to use "crazy" as slang because it's never had a medical-textbook clinical usage, but it's not okay to use "retarded" as slang because it did have medical-textbook clinical usage? (I'm not challenging you here; I'm just not clear on what you're saying.)

Pretty much. The word "retarded" in the context of "mentally retarded" originated as a diagnosis (and in fact is still used as one), so taking that diagnosis and using it as a general slur seems obviously disrespectful. The word means "slowed" and came to mean "stupid" solely because kids are mean to students classified as needing specialized education. Heck, "special ed" itself has become a slur, and that, too, strikes me as obviously wrong. "Crazy", on the other hand, is a word that would never be used by a medical professional; it's not a diagnosis, it's just a slur. So using it as a slur seems correct.

That doesn't mean it's a good thing to use slurs at all. Obviously it's not. But if I say "George W. Bush is stupid" I'm being mean, but I'm not being politically incorrect. If I say "George W. Bush is such a retard," I'm being both. If I say "George W. Bush is crazy", I think I'm being mean. If I say "George W. Bush is a psycho" perhaps I'm being both. And if I call somebody struggling with manic depression crazy then I'm using it as a slur, and it might hurt them more than it would somebody else, but I think the thing to call me on is using a slur at ALL, not the particular one I used.

Why is every click a double post today?

I know language is a changing thing ("literally" notwithstanding, god damn it), but I also want to not give offense if it's avoidable.

Well, sure. Neither do I, which is why I've tried to stop using "gypped", but I do also understand that there is a large majority of the population that mighn't know why the word could be considered offensive because of its common usage.

Obviously that test doesn't work for all words. The n-word will always be offensive. But that word has such a clear history of being used as derogatory that it almost seems like an anomaly.

How is using the first syllable of "Gypsy" *not* related to Gypsies/Romani/Travellers?

I cited upthread that it first entered the language as slang from Cambridge students for their servants. They got it from the Greek word for "vulture" with the implication that their servants would steal them blind. (Classist!)

I wonder if spelling it "jipped" moves it further away from a Gypsy connotation. Not trying to salvage the word for those who find it offensive, but just curious about the linguistic/historical process by which words which were once offensive lose their potency.

brenda, "wussy" is derived from contracting "wimp" and "pussy" so that doesn't help.

How is using the first syllable of "Gypsy" *not* related to Gypsies/Romani/Travellers?

I cited upthread that it first entered the language as slang from Cambridge students for their servants. They got it from the Greek word for "vulture" with the implication that their servants would steal them blind. (Classist!)

I read that. And yet I'm reasonably sure that people don't associate it with servants at Cambridge university.

And yet I'm reasonably sure that people don't associate it with servants at Cambridge university.

Well, I didn't associate it with gypsies either.

Well, I didn't associate it with gypsies either.

You individually didn't know that. I'm comfortable making the assumption that there are more people currently in existence who know that "gyp" is likely derived from "Gypsy" than there are people who know that it came from servants at Cambridge university.

If the derivation of the word does not originally come from a slur on gypsies then it's a different issue. Its an inadvertent association, sort of like the homonym issue you get with "niggardly."

The first time I ever heard "gypped" was in the context of "this is a word you shouldn't use, because it's insulting to Gypsies." I'd never noticed "gypped" being used in any way before that, but after that, I started noticing it in old books. I had no idea it was still in modern usage at all until I started hearing it more often in the past few years.

There was an episode of House where his patient was a teenage Roma boy, and House made a point of using "gypped" in his presence a few times just to get him annoyed.