"Roma" sounds like "scrap carts" in Estonian

In Estonian media the word "Roma" is increasingly used instead of the Estonian word "mustlane" (Gypsies) for reasons of political correctness. Not a particularly wise choice, the daily Postimees concludes: "The word simply doesn't sound good in Estonian, particularly in spoken language and with the appropriate declension endings. It brings to mind 'romu' [scrap carts], 'roomamine' [creepers] or 'rohmakus' [recklessness]. ... It's true that we sometimes hear that the members of this minority who live in Estonia prefer to be called 'Roma', and after all this is the official synonym. But it should not be forgotten that in Estonian the word 'Gypsy' has no negative connotations and this has been confirmed by the linguists at the Estonian Language Institute."

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