(while we're on the subject of words people dont understant)... to find the use of the word...

[swottybetty]

piky completely unacceptable?? the world and her aunt kick of at the mention of so many other ethnically derogatory terms,and yet piky is acceptable. how is that???

AFAIK Gypsies and Travellers are completely different. Gypsy refers to an actual ethnic group (romanies) while travellers are just people who live in caravans etc. Not many pure Gypsies left any more I think. A lot of Europe's Gypsy community was wiped out by Hitler. They too went to the gas chambers.

"I have a whiff of dog blanket" that made me burst out laughing. Another I've heard in Ireland is "a face that has seen one too many campfires".

In an interesting blend of British English and Irish English, I heard 'cream' for Cream Cracker. Rhyming slang for knackers!

Don't shoot the messenger. Just heard these!

"In an interesting blend of British English and Irish English, I heard 'cream' for Cream Cracker. Rhyming slang for knackers!"

no blend there thank you very much.us irish (well us good dubliners) have a rich history of rhyming slang.

although knacker has not been used to refer to travellers in dublin for a solid decade or two. now it's just a byword for a bit of a scumbag. essentially what chav has become to the english language.

Where are your quiz scores people? (above 10:40:01)

I don't use the term pikey.

I think it is very difficult when a group of people, deliberately or not, divides and separates itself from the community in which it lives. There is bound to be resentment and misunderstanding on both sides.

I hate it when the travellers move into the area as they have stolen stuff from the place I work at least four out of the last five years (Obviously there will be law abiding travellers also.) . People who are normally quite pc can be vitriolic in their resentment of travellers.

Apparantly the infant mortality rate among travellers is similar to that in the third world. And yet people argue against providing fresh water stand pipes on dedicated traveller sites as they don't pay rates.

ooh sorry MayorQuimby, I'm a culchie, nevery knew we did rhyming slang too!

I never heard the term "pikey" till I saw "Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels" Itinerant is considered offensive now, Geansai, though I think people started saying "itinerant" to replace the offensive "tinker"!

Well DaidiNaNollag, it's my Mum says 'itinerants' and she also says things like 'you could tell he was an itinerant because he had a bit of a moon face and a pronounced overbite', so I don't think she's going to start saying traveller now! Traveller shmaveller!!!

ps, aren't you too busy to be tinkering about on MN, get back to your workshop!!