Romani culture The Romani people are a distinct ethnic and cultural group of peoples living all across the globe, who share a family of languages and sometimes a traditional nomadic mode of life. Though their exact origins are unclear, central India is a no ...

, a ''gadjo'' (masculine) or ''gadji'' (feminine) is a person who has no

Romanipen The Romani people are a distinct ethnic and cultural group of peoples living all across the globe, who share a family of languages and sometimes a traditional nomadic mode of life. Though their exact origins are unclear, central India is a not ...

. This usually corresponds to not being an ethnic Romani, but it can also be an ethnic Romani who does not live within

. It is often used by Romanies to address or denote outsider neighbors living within or very near their community. ''Gorja'', often spelled ''Gorger'', is the

Angloromani Angloromani or Anglo-Romani (literally "English Romani"; also known as Angloromany, Rummaness, or Pogadi Chib) is a mixed language of Indo European origin involving the presence of Romani vocabulary and syntax in the English used by descendants of ...

variation of the word ''Gadjo''.

Etymology

The exact origin of the word is not known. One theory considers that the word comes from the proto-Romani word for "peasant" and has the same root as the Romani word ''gav'' (a village).

In Spain

Manifestación contra la intolerancia, Madrid 6 mayo 2019

The word passed from Caló to Spanish slang as ''gachó''gachó
in the

Diccionario de la lengua española The ''Diccionario de la lengua española'' (DLE; ; en, Dictionary of the Spanish language), previously known as ''Diccionario de la Real Academia Española'' (DRAE; en, Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy), is produced, edited, and publish ...

. (masculine) / ''gachí''gachí
in the Diccionario de la lengua española. (feminine) acquiring the generalized meaning "man, guy" / "woman, girl". The Caló word for a non- Gitano is ''payo''/''paya''.payo
at the Diccionario de la lengua española.

In Portuguese

The

European Portuguese European Portuguese ( pt, português europeu, ), also known as Portuguese of Portugal (Portuguese: português de Portugal), Iberian Portuguese (Portuguese: português ibérico), and Peninsular Portuguese (Portuguese: português peninsular), refer ...

words ''gajo'' (masculine) and ''gaja'' (feminine) originated in the Romani/Caló and are used in everyday language to refer informally to a man or a woman, in a usage similar to "guy" in English. The word ''gazim'' has been attested as a rare use in

Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese (' ), also Portuguese of Brazil (', ) or South American Portuguese (') is the set of varieties of the Portuguese language native to Brazil and the most influential form of Portuguese worldwide. It is spoken by almost all of ...

with the meaning of strange (i.e. foreign) woman, probably with roots in the Romani ''gadji''.

In Scotland and Northern England

The word is encountered as ''gadgie'' (or sometimes ''gadge''), a term in Scots, formerly only used by the Roma/Traveller community, but since the 20th century in general use by the Scots-speaking population.gadgie
on the Scots Language Centre. In most areas it is heard, notably

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, the

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

and

Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...

,gadgie
in the Dictionary of the Scots Language. gadgie has a generalised meaning of a man that the speaker doesn't know well. In

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

it is a more pejorative term, referring to a poorly educated person who engages in hooliganism or petty criminality. In the village of

Aberchirder Aberchirder ( sco, Fogieloan, Gaelic: ''Obar Chiardair'') known locally as Foggieloan or Foggie, is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated on the A97 road six miles west of Turriff. Etymology The name Aberchirder, recorded in c.1204 a ...

it refers to a born-and-bred local.GADGIE
on foggieloan.co.uk. The term is also heard in the

North East of England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authority ...

, often referring particularly to old men.

Notes

References

* Lev Tcherenkov, Stephan Laederich "The Rroma" * Raymond Buckland "Gypsy Witchcraft & Magic"

External links

* Excerpts from Roma by WR Rishi: ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD "GAJO" https://web.archive.org/web/20080514005741/http://www.romani.org/rishi/retygajo.html Ethno-cultural designations Exonyms Romani-related controversies Romani society Romani words and phrases {{Romani-stub