Glossary
Some terms you may encounter
- baxtalo: (Ruska Romanes) lucky people or welcome — Bahktale’s name is derived from this word
- barxotka: (Russian Mat) velvet collar, or the younger partner and/or more submissive partner in a gay relationship.
- Bratva: (Russian) translated as Brotherhood. An organized Russian criminal gang, usually a part of the thief-in-law subculture.
- Calo: (Ruska Romanes) Spanish Roma
- Kalo Rat: Black (Romanes) Blood
- gadje: (Various Romanes Dialects) A non-Rromani person (In actual North Russian Romani, the word is gadzhe, but for the sake of distinguishing its meaning, it is spelled differently here.)
- gadzhe: (Various Romanes Dialects) A Rromani person who with light hair or pale skin.
- King (of the Gypsies): In some Rroma tribes, a decoy leader assigned to his position to prevent hostile gadje from finding the true kumpania leader. Usually this is an expendable and often self-appointed member of the kumpania.
- kris: (Various Romanes Dialects) Rromani court
- krisnitorya: (Various Romanes Dialects) the judges at a kris
- pośeľenijo/kumpania: (Various Romanes Dialects) settlement
- marime/necisto: (Various Romanes Dialects) impure
- minge/mindze: vagina
- petukh: (Russian Mat) Literally rooster or cock. Used to denote a low-ranking criminal who had been ceremonially raped in jail.
- Rromani/Rroma/Roma: A semi-nomadic people that originated from India
- rakli: (Various Romanes Dialects) Non-Rromani woman
- (r)romni: (Various Romanes Dialects) wife or woman
- (r)rom: (Various Romanes Dialects) husband or man
- cjaj/shey: (Various Romanes Dialects) unmarried girl
- cjavo/shav/chaval: (Various Romanes Dialects) unmarried boy
- Sinti: A Roma-like ethnic group
- Vor: (Russian) A thief-in-law. A criminal who obeys the code of the old school Russian Criminal underworld
- Xaladitka: (Ruska Romanes) The Soldier-Slaves. North Russian Roma
- Zeta Reticulians: A common type of space alien. Also known as the Grays.
If there are any other terms that you want defined, leave them in the comments.
