Pikey

Pikey is a pejorative slang term used mainly in England, originally referring to travellers, sometimes known as gypsies and Romanies. More recently the definition has become even broader and is widely used to refer to a wide sector of the underclass of the country, or merely any person who “lives on the cheap”. This seems to be the meaning implied by Stephen Fry in the programme QI, grouping together “hoodies, pikeys and chavs”, and implying that these people are of a sort who “go out on the town, beating people up and drinking Bacardi Breezers”.

So it is hardly any surprise that when Martin Brundle, the ex F1 driver, used the term on live television whilst reporting the Canadian Grand Prix he got into trouble. His exact words were ”There are some pikeys out there putting down new tarmac at Turn 10. Are they out of the way yet?” and seven people reported him to Ofcom, the broadcast regulator. The Equality and Human Rights Commission, the racial equality watchdog, condemned the phrasing, saying ”This word has been used on television in the past and is highly derogatory. They have caused much offence in the past.” Last December, a Sussex gardener, Lee Coleman, is believed to have made legal history when he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment for using the word.

Against this background you may be suprised to find out that one of the Colin McRae video games, played by many millions of people, contained the pejorative word Pikey. The license plate of one of the in game cars was P 1 KEY. And nobody reported it to anyone.