Pikey is a pejorative slang term used in the United Kingdom. The term originally referred to a gypsy as a contraction of the word " turnpike", but in recent years the definition has become looser and it is sometimes used to refer to a wide section of the (generally urban) underclass of the country, particularly those on whom the lower middle classes look down. However, when used to refer to gypsies it clearly has racist connotations.Related terms for urban or suburban miscreants include knacker , townie, spide ( Northern Irish), kappa slapper , (a combination of a brand of sportswear and a pejorative colloquialism for a promiscuous girl or woman), Ned (Scottish), Scally ( Liverpudlian), Scuffer ( West Oxfordshire), Scrote and the recently popular term chav. The popularity of these terms has grown since the 1980sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Events and trends, and their usage reflects serious and light-hearted issues arising from changes in British urban life rather than an increased need to characterize the lifestyle of travellers.
It is usually considered that pikeys (refering to the urban underclass) look down on Grungers, GothThis article is about the contemporary goth subculture. For the Germanic peoples, see the Goths. Goth is a modern subculture that gained visibility during the early 1980s within the gothic rock scene, a sub-genre of post punk, and continues to this day. and other members of alternative communities and vice versa which recently has been the cause of much tension.
Pikey has quite a different meaning from crustie - a word which became popular during the 1990sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s Years: Events and trends Computers, technology Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other techn and refers to a kind of hippieHippies (singular hippie or sometimes hippy were members of the 1960s counterculture movement who adopted a communal or nomadic lifestyle, renounced corporate nationalism and the Vietnam War, embraced aspects of Buddhism, Hinduism, and/or Native American traveller who rejects many aspects of modern society and identifies with the underground festival and protestProtest expressed relatively overt reaction to events or situations: sometimes in favour, more often opposed. Protesters may organize a protest as a way of publicly and forcefully making their opinions heard in an attempt to influence public opinion or go culture.
The Oxford Slang Dictionary indicates that the original usage dates back to 1847Events January 4 Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government. January 13 The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California. January 16 John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory..
Negative British attitudes towards "pikeys" (in this case meaning gypsies) were a running joke in the 2000 Guy Ritchie film Snatch.
The American terms " trailer trash" and " white trash" are similar in the condescension and disdain with which they used, though the stereotypes differ in some particulars.
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