GITANOS IN SPANISH
Gypsies have been around for a long time although they are still living off the grid, refusing to join the "Spanish payo" ( entre los gitanos, el que no es de su raza ) society. Despite that secludedness, they have impacted customs, mores, music, and dance, especially in Spain. The centuries-long attitude of society towards them has also seeped into the language. We may still buy from a pastry shop a "brazo de gitano", "rollo de bizcocho relleno de nata, crema o trufa." But let me cite a few entries from my bilingual Spanish-English phraseological dictionary which might be taboo nowadays, but you judge: Ir (estar) hecho un gitano Look like a tramp, unkempt, shabby, out at the elbows No salgas a la calle así, vas hecho un gitano Don’t go out like that, you look like a tramp — “Anda, lávate. Vienes hecho un gitano.” José Asenjo Sedano, Eran los días largos , 1982. Esp. || “Pero lávate antes, que estás hecho un gitano.” Juan Antonio de Zunzunegui, El...