# "Pikey" in "Snatch" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 22, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pikey-in-snatch/58956 "2001-03-22T04:02:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pikey-in-snatch/58956/1 "2001-03-22T04:02:22Z")
What are the characters in the movie saying when they describe the gypsies, including Brad Pitt’s character? I’ve never heard the word and can’t figure out where it would come from. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pikey-in-snatch/58956/2 "2001-03-22T04:04:42Z")
AAAARRRGGHHH. The internet filter here at work cut off the movie title. I mean the movie (misspelled) “Snach”. Thanks. [note: Gotcha covered. -manhattan] [Edited by manhattan on 03-22-2001 at 02:53 PM] ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pikey-in-snatch/58956/3 "2001-03-22T04:10:25Z")
Well, where I grew up (East London) “Pikey” was a derogatory word for a gypsey. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pikey-in-snatch/58956/4 "2001-03-22T06:34:58Z")
_Pikey_ “Gypsy, vagrant” is a variant of _piker_ apparently from the noun pike (turnpike), denoting their rootlessness. This _piker_ appears to have a different etymology from that of _piker_ meaning “shirker” or “tightwad”. This other _piker_ may come from the regional verb _pike_, “to hold back.” ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pikey-in-snatch/58956/5 "2001-03-22T11:34:01Z")
Covered here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=57952](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=57952) My answer: ‘The derivation is from Turnpike - main roads connecting towns, usually with tolls in the past. Thus a Pikey was one who frequented the roads- a traveler who looked for work or opportunities whilst using the turnpikes.’ When asked I replied with cites: 'Chambers Dictionary: Pike (3) a turnpike… piker- a tramp. I can find no reference in the OED and assume that pikey is a diminutive. It is used in the 1970s film ‘The Black Stuff’ by Alan Bleasdale, and I remember it being used in southern England in the fifties about gypsies in general, not just Irish tinkers. Of course if anyone can find a derivation I’d be happy to be corrected. Just checked Ayto and Simpson’s Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang- Pikey (noun also dialect) A Gypsy or traveller. 1847-1955 P Wilderwood My family’s all Pikeys, but we ain’t on the road no more! (1955) (From pike, noun, turnpike) Additionally he defines piking as derived from picking pockets which may add some crossover to criminality.’ ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pikey-in-snatch/58956/6 "2001-03-22T11:58:25Z")
We used “pikey” as a general insult when i was at junior school 15 years ago (in south-east England). But it was also used more specifially as a derogative term for the gypsies/romanies who camped in our local fields.