"You Mustn't Gypsy in Such Situations" kingary.net
"matching tracksuits and everything"
Language and Prejudice   June 2004  ][ Back ]

The title of this rant is a direct translation from Polish. It makes no sense in English because we don't use the word "Gypsy" as a verb, rather as a noun — and a rather politically incorrect one at that, I believe. Used as a Polish verb, cyganić, it's even less politically correct. "Cyganić" (pronounced "tsy-gan-eech") is Polish slang for "lie," as in "to tell an untruth."

And so "You musn't Gypsy in such situations," would be better translated, "You musn't lie in such situations."

 

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