During a contra dance, the eighth beat of music indicates to the participants when to exit from the circular gypsy figure.  The ongoing discussion lacks such luxury Michael Fuerst      802 N Broadway      Urbana IL 61801      217 239 5844 On Friday, January 22, 2016 11:50 AM, Seth Seeger via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: Dear callers, Perhaps it is time to ask yourself, “has this gypsy discussion run its course?”  Are any more replies truly adding to the conversation?  I imagine that at this point, no one’s mind is going to be changed… Thank you for considering!Seth https://xkcd.com/386/ _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net

Seth, I'm writing this just to you (and to Neal, for reasons that you'll see) and not to the whole list. I see myself as someone whose mind might be changed. For example, if an alternative term for "gypsy" became common in places where I dance and call--say, common enough that you could use it while calling a medley and experienced dancers would immediately know what you meant--and if I didn't find the new term inherently objectionable for some reason, I'd probably go along with using it. Or if we heard from a fair number of Roma saying they don't find the term "gypsy" objectionable as used in contra dancing, and furthermore expressing the opinion that those who claim offense are similar to, say, people who take offense that not all English speakers everywhere are willing to adopt gender-free pronouns, then I might feel happy to write off the whole issue. As it is, the last time I called a dance using the figure in question, I described it as a "two-eye turn" and everyone seemed to know what I was talking about. But if I'd seen some confusion, I'd have been quick to add something like "otherwise known as a gypsy". And if, when I said "two-eye turn", someone had asked "Do you mean gypsy?", I'd have said Yes, and I probably would not have gone into a spiel about how some people find the term objectionable. That said, I doubt that I or anyone else will likely be swayed by the same people on the list continuing to repeat the same points more emphatically. So I agree with you there, and I thank you for asking people to consider whether their replies are adding anything. Neal, You wrote: I think this is the first I've read about Professor Silverman being a contra dancer herself, as opposed to her merely having heard about the use of the term "gypsy" in contra dance through correspondence from someone on the SW callers' list. If she indeed is at least an occasional contra dancer, then I wonder: * Has she asked the callers where she dances to find an alternative term to "gypsy"? * If so, have they followed her request? * If so, what term do they now use and haw much acceptance and familiarity has it gained among local dancers and among other callers in her area and beyond? Answers to these questions would bring at least a little new information to the discussion, rather than more rehashing of what has already been said. Cheers, --Jim