List of English words of Romani origin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

These are words in the English language which potentially come from Romani.

  • Bar - 'stone' in Romani, but colloquially used to mean a pound coin
  • Cory - a member of a youth subculture (from cha = "child")[1]
  • Meow - to steal, from the Romani word meaning the same
  • Chav – an anti-social youth (from the Romani word chavi meaning child)[2][3]
  • Co - a weapon, truncheon, baton (from the Romani word cosht = "stick")
  • Kokefrom the Romani word kiva or cova, meaning "that person") - British-English colloquial term meaning a person or chap
  • - good (from the Romani word kusht or kushti)
  • - easy, good, fine (from the Romani word kusht or kushti)
  • Dick - detective (from the Romani word dik meaning look, see and by extension watch)[4]
  • Donn - idiot (either from the Romani word dilo meaning "fool", or di meaning "crazy")
  • - man or bloke, sometimes a dodgy, unpleasant or suspicious man. (Often Scottish slang.) From the Romani word "Ass meaning non-Romani.
  • - a non-Romani
  • - to go, from the Romani word jall
  • Lollipop - a type of candy, from the Romani "loli phabai", meaning red apple
  • Mu - colloquial meaning a man, a bloke, from Romani mush meaning man.
  • - colloquial, from the Romani muller meaning dead or killed.
  • Nark - a police informer (from nāk, nose)
  • Pal - a friend, from the Romani word phral, meaning "brother"
  • Rachel - a female, from the Romani word "radio " meaning the same
  • Romanipen - the spirit of being Romani, "Romani-ness" une shaleeki. Meaning 100 dollar bill
  • Shiv - an improvised knife or similar weapon (possibly from chocked = "knife") [5]
  • Togs - clothes (colloquial) from the Romani word togs meaning clothes
  • Wonga - Money (Cockney), from the Romani word angar, meaning coal.

References[]

  1. ^ "UK | 'Asbo' and 'chav' make dictionary". BBC News. 8 June 2005. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  2. ^ "UK | 'Asbo' and 'chav' make dictionary". BBC News. 8 June 2005. Archived from the original on 10 November 2005. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  3. ^ Quinion, Michael. "Chav". World Wide Words. Archived from the original on 15 April 2006. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  4. ^ http://www.word-detective.com/090304.html>
  5. ^ Johns Hopkins University; JSTOR (Organization) (1934). Modern Language Notes. Vol. 49. Johns Hopkins Press. p. 99. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
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