Dictionary dispute over terms of abuse

"'Tigan' [Gypsy] and 'jidan' [kike] will be revised in the new DEX," the dictionary of reference for the Romanian language, leads Romanian daily Jurnalul National. The Bucharest paper hails a decision aimed at ending a long "linguistic quarrel". In February, an association of Roma asked for the removal of the definition of Gypsy: "epithet given to a person with low habits". They asked that a description of Romanian Roma be added instead. In August, the Centre for the Monitoring and the Fight against Anti-Semitism (MCA) also asked the Romanian Academy, which publishes the DEX, for the pejorative nature of 'jidan' be clearly stated. "The Academy has made several proposals to the MCA, which has until September 27 to comment," the paper explains.