Been having a nose at the origins of the word and came across this article… news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7446274.stm
This quote stood out.
There is no word more offensive to a traveller, says Cliff Codona, a Roma Gypsy and chairman of the National Travellers Action Group.
Oh well soooooory, you know what I find offensive? Unclean thieving scumbags who leech off of our benefits system without paying a [zb]ing thing into it! [zb]ing pastrylockopeners! 