It is on Wikipedia’s “List of Ethnic Slurs” and I remember it suddenly being kind of a big deal out of nowhere in the mid 2010’s (not it being on the list, just in general on the corners of the internet I inhabited at the time). Like, my wife watched a lot of Kathleen Lights videos on YouTube at the time, and she had a sign in her background that said something like “gypsy soul” and she got backlash from her viewers.

I don’t know that anybody in my daily life even now, here in Metro Detroit, considers it one or uses it as one. I know I don’t use it anymore, really besides this comment chain. There are tons of immigrants from all over around here, I definitely don’t want to offend anyone. I will hear it from time to time, in a general way to refer to people who are or want to be kind of nomads. Like, a positive thing. Idk, I still don’t say it anymore.

All labels are slurs now, except for the word “label”. I think that’s still okay (and do look at Wikipedia’s list of ethnic slurs, you say racist stuff every day without knowing!

"this word is Algongquin for ‘friend’

SLUR HOW DARE YOU

I won’t repeat the “Algongquin word for ‘friend’” because… you know. Because everything is stupid now