Did the people who lived in Bohemia live the carefree, gypsy lifestyle?

by benevolentonion

Did they live a "bohemian" lifestyle? If not, how did they live?

Jan_van_Bergen

Hi there.

According to the OED, the term "bohemian" to mean something other than a native of the region of Bohemia appears first in French in the late 17th century as a synonym for "gypsy". Both terms are considered slurs and both refer to the Roma people, the French of the early modern period apparently confusing the Roma people's origin.

In English, it comes in a bit later (19th century), but still carries over the disconnected-from-society, almost nomadic undertones from the French epithet, but also including this notion of artistic or literary interest that we have today.

So given that the term is a slur against an entirely different group of people, I'm going to say the tldr of your answer is "no".

Also, because the question reminded me of it, I'm just going to drop this link about another time there was some confusion about the name of the Czech Republic.