paki

n

British

a.

a Pakistani.

The abbreviation, invariably used in a racist context, began to be heard in the later 1960s.

► Paki scum go home.' (Racist graffito, Whitechapel, London, 1980)

b.

a shop, usually a supermarket or general store, operated by a Pakistani or other South Asian

► 'I'm just off down the paki for a can of beans.' (Recorded, housewife, London, 1987)

The simple shortening is used, in the first sense, as an offensive racial epithet and in the second sense as a simple descriptive term for the many independent corner stores owned and run by immigrant fami-lies. In both senses the word is often ap-plied, loosely, to any immigrant from the subcontinent, including those of Bengali, Indian or Sri Lankan origin.