pekkie

English

Alternative forms

• pekky, peckie, pecky, perkie

Etymology

Several theories exist.

• From Zulu uḿpheki (“cook”).
• From Afrikaans pik (“pitch (black material)”), from Dutch pik, pek (“pitch (black material)”).
• From piccanin, a form of pickaninny (“black child”).

Noun

pekkie (plural pekkies)

1. (South Africa, ethnic slur, offensive, derogatory) A black person.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:person of color

   • 2000 April 9, Squirrel, “SA Silence on Mugabe's actions”, in soc.culture.south-africa‎^[1] (Usenet):

     The war-talk recently against the media (for being too white or something) orchestrated by some black arsehole ... which lead to a standing ovation by the pecky's at the meeting is cause for concern.

   • 2000 May 22, Squirrel, “Some fairness...”, in soc.culture.south-africa.afrikaans‎^[2] (Usenet):

     Whatever their claim against the land (which is bullshit kaffir logic) ... the whites have owned the land through due process and have every right to retain it. Why should a bunch of brain dead black peckies suddenly steal the whites land because they are too incompetent to develop land for themselves.

   • 2004 February 18, Max, “Re: They forgot a few things...”, in soc.culture.south-africa.afrikaans‎^[3] (Usenet):

     u better decide who you´re going to join, the peckies or the boers, the englishmen will never amount to anything. draadsitter.

Further reading

• pekkie in the Dictionary of South African English, Rhodes University.