&quot;Gypsy&quot; may also refer to Irish Travellers (Pavees), and possibly even to other insular nomadic cultures, not just Roma.  I wouldn&#x27;t be surprised if a travelling carnival worker had ever been called a gypsy.<p>The term itself is derived from E<i>gyp</i>tian, which just goes to show how little people care about actual facts when labeling outsider groups.<p>And if you really want to be politically neutral as well as culturally neutral, &quot;unofficial&quot;, &quot;non-medallioned&quot;, &quot;hackney&quot;, or &quot;jitney&quot; would be better than &quot;unlicensed&quot; or &quot;illegal&quot;.