I agree, but the problem is more serious than “it’s just too close to gypsy”.  If we’re not going to use “gypsy” because it’s an ethnic slur, then we have to avoid obvious code words for the ethnic slur.  There’s a long history of slightly altering socially unacceptable race and ethnic slurs, and pretending that this makes it all right. It doesn’t make it all right, period.  

The fact that we really don’t have any ill intent is irrelevant; we didn’t have any ill intent when we were using the word gypsy either.  

On Mar 13, 2018, at 2:32 PM, Yoyo Zhou via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

On Tue, Mar 13, 2018 at 1:07 PM, Martha Wild via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I don’t think right shoulder round is going to make the grade. It’s descriptive, certainly, but it is long and unwieldy and can’t be easily shortened to anything recognizable as you eliminate calls in the dance. So, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to be using it.

Personally, I use "right shoulder turn" in teaching, and when prompting, I shorten it to "right shoulder". This is already shorter than "right allemande", which I don't think can get any shorter.

Also personally, I would find it hard not to cringe when I hear "kipsie" (and, not being from New York, I would have never made the Poughkeepsie connection without the help of this list). I feel similarly about "jets" as a dance role replacement term. It's just a little too close and reminds you too much of what you're trying to avoid.

How dancers respond to new terms is shaped by their attitudes, which can range from "I don't want this to change" to "I think this needed changing but the new thing is awkward" to "I like the new thing" to "I don't care either way" to "I'm new, what is this?" So different things may work for different crowds, though you'll hear a lot of feedback from a few vocal dancers, whereas most dancers I think are closest to feeling "I don't care either way". But the whole reason we're on this topic is that enough dancers want it to change.

Yoyo Zhou

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