There's a hot new restaurant/gastropub in Los Angeles called the Pikey. Not a whole lot of in the reviews that I have read bringing attention to the place's name, and why it's...uh..."problematic."

It's a British-themed place, and I don't think any of the owners or the chef are British, so I don't know if they have any idea of the meaning of the name, but I would find it impossible that it hasn't been mentioned to them yet. It's doubtful that most of the patrons would have any clue--they might think it's just some British slang that they aren't familiar with.

So, do offensive terms taken out of their home culture get a pass? Are people who use them without knowing what they fully mean innocent in any way? Even after you find out what a term means, is it just as bad to keep using it as it would be for someone who knows the meaning, even if it's not coming from a place of hate and it's been removed from its original context?

One of the best Italian joints in Toronto (Urs can back me up on this) is called Terroni (i.e. "dirt-eaters"). It's run by Sicilians, the people for whom this epithet was coined (by Garibalidi's "liberators", if you please).

This isn't quite the equivalent of a Soul Food joint being called "Nigga's" or some such, but it's close. (It's an act of appropriation, though, which may be different from what you're describing).

I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all answer there. I know a guy called Michael whose nickname is Pikey, which in South Africa means nothing whatsoever. If he opened a restaurant with that name in Johannesburg, I'd see no problem with it. If he did so in Birmingham, then I would say that he should reconsider.

In South Africa, cricket commentators use the term Paki (less now than before) as an almost affectionate nickname for Pakistani players. In SA, it's not a loaded term. If such a commentator used that term in England, there'd probably be a thunderstorm of protest.

I certainly flinch every time I hear the word used even as a friendly nickname. I don't think a restaurant named "Paki" in, say, Durban, would be a good idea.

And I don't think a restaurant named "N*gger" would be a great idea anywhere. On the other hand, if a shebeen in a black township in Cape Town or a favela in Rio used it ironically, would my white sensibilities be best applied by questioning that decision?

Paki is also a Maori surname, not uncommon. So for example, recent UK visitors to NZ might have been taken aback by the language of the Supreme Court and Attorney-General.

Inca's restaurant seems a strange one: that's not just a "poor choice of words" (as they usually say in the pro-forma, post-tweet apology). If you were making that kind of investment, you'd presumably do a little research before getting the menus printed.

The thing to bear in mind here is that, unknown to many even here, 'Pikey' is as racist a term as "Paki" or "Nigger". In some ways, it's worse than "a Soul Food joint being called "Nigga's, not least because the high levels of poverty and prejudice against gipsy/Roma/Travellers are often worse than the latter groups mentioned.

Having said all this, if there is no British ownership, then, of course, they get a pass. In fact, even if there is British ownership, they get the benefit of the doubt as they genuinely may be ignorant of its origin and regard it as equivalent to 'chav' (almost as vile but not regarded as a racist term). However, as is often the case with the thin line between the use of racist language and racism, if they were to continue to defend their use of the term, upon being notified of it, you would have to question their motives.

To be fair, this lot seem to have done this innocently, I am sure that 'pikey' isn't a racist term in the US and, though my knowledge of US travellers is very small, I wonder whether they would even be aware of the term. I hear that you have had your own version of "Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" over there. Did anyone watch it and did the term come up?

Are you going to bring it to their attention, Inca?

A stupid question. How did "paki" become a derogatory term?

A word like nig*er I can understand, since it's from the spanish (or was it dutch?) for black, but paki, I'd guess it's short for Pakistan and while (of course) when it's used to describe anyone from south Asia it's obviously meant as derogatory, but is there more behind that particular choice of term? Is there some other English not so nice word it's close to in spelling or something?

No, it's just a shortened form of Pakistani.

The offensiveness came about solely from the level of racism associated with it's usage (exactly the same reason why 'nigger' became offensive).

When I lived in Boston, "packie" was common slang for "package liquor store", or what people in the UK might call an "offie". Spelled differently, but sounds the same.

Iggy Pop got into trouble by conflating the two usages in a BBC interview while at Glastonbury, FF.

Paki is also Urdu for "clean". Indeed, I did see a documentary where they interviewed young Pakistanis who said that they didn't see problem with the word because it means "clean" which was, on one hand, heartening and, on the other, sets up many internal moral contradictions for oneself.

I think I've mentioned before, there's an awful bar called "Black Coffee" around the corner from where I live. No problem there, but the interior is decorated with pictures of famous black people, so I always mutter passing disgust when I go past with sra. stev9e. She didn't get it at first, but agreed that a "yellow beer" bar, with pictures of famous orientals inside it wouldn't be so cool.

There used to be another bar called "Kaffa Coffee" in the same area, same owners maybe?

When I lived in Boston, "packie" was common slang for "package liquor store", or what people in the UK might call an "offie". Spelled differently, but sounds the same.

Packie is also a fairly common version of patrick.

There is a cafe Mao just off grafton st in dublin. it's possibly the least sensitively named restaurant in the world.

I think this one beats Mao.
In Mumbai, India

There's also this in Thailand

And one in South Korea

I think that the "Terroni" example (and yes, the restaurant is absolutely outstanding) is somewhat different, because they chose that name in the context of a broader movement among Sicilians (both in and out of Italy) to reclaim the term as a badge of honour.

Unless the guy who opened Pikey is a traveler of English or Irish heritage, he can't use that justification, and even if he did, I'm not aware of any such broader reclamation movement, surely not in Santa Monica.

It's not in Santa Monica, it's in Hollywood, and it seems to be appealing to d-bags who have to go to the restaurant of the moment. The owners are some big name people who have a lot of other restaurants and bars, and they hired a chef who used to be at the Spotted Pig in NYC.

I really don't have much interest in going there. I asked Jonathan Gold (LA's best-known food critic, the only food critic to win a Pulitzer Prize) if he had any comment on their name after I read his review. He said he had a few lines in his copy about it, but they were cut when the LA Times printed it. He also seemed to find it pretty dubious.

Here is something one of the owners said in an earlier article:



So it seems they're aware of the derogatory nature of the word, but either don't care, or don't really understand how offensive it is. I've mentioned it on here before, but there's really very little understanding about the Roma here in the US and how persecuted they can be in some parts of the world.

I've never heard Pikey before, but that's as offensive as the Indians' logo.

Gastropubs in America are awful, aren't they?

Three beers on tap in this place, exactly one cask ale on tap in the Spotted Pig in NYC.

People have debated gastropubs in the UK, but pubs serving good food usually have quite a few cask ale options. This is just wanky crap. It's not like those beers are impossible to get either - the little Irish pubs I used to watch soccer/rugby in always had a couple cask ales. Often served chilled, but that wasn't the worst idea when the pub was full and it was hot.

This is just self-indulgent wank.

Femme Folle wrote:

When I were a lad it were what you called the bloke who played in net for the Republic of Ireland.

Which used to confuse fuck out of me.

I'd say a fairly high percentage of the British and Irish population don't see a big problem using the word 'Pikey'. Either because they don't realise it is derogatory or because they aren't convinced being derogatory to 'Roma' is a bad thing, even one's that would never use words like 'Paki'.

I'd never heard the word until that Brad Pitt/Guy Ritchie film.