It depends on the language you speak. In English, the term gypsy was short for Egypt. In Italian, gypsy is zingara, a corruption of Ungheria, for the country of Hungary. In French, they are Hongrie. Gypsies like these were the immigrants of their day. They were the underclass and they drifted where the work was. Today, in Europe, the term implies scammers, panhandlers, thieves and cons. But in America it has taken on another meaning. It means a freelancer, as in a gypsy truck driver who is available for hire any time for any destination.