Paki shop
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paki shop is a British informal and usually offensive term for a newsagent, convenience store, or similar shop owned by, or run by a person or people of South Asian birth or descent. It is a collocation of the words Paki and shop.
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[edit] Origin
The term Paki was originally a shortening of Pakistani, but has spread to mean a person of any south Asian nation including India and Bangladesh - and to a lesser extent the term can sometimes include a person from a Middle Eastern nation. Thus "Paki Shop" can refer to a shop owned by someone of any south Asian or even Middle Eastern nation, by birth or decent, not just of Pakistan.
There is a stereotype that south Asian people in Britain own or run many small independent or franchise shops in urban and suburban areas. The term "Paki Shop" would usually refer to a local shop that is primarily a newsagent or convenience store, such a shop is also frequently a confectionery/sweet shop, tobacconists, stationer, and general store/corner shop, and sometimes an off license or a small post office, as well as a newsagent.
Sometimes the term is used to describe any newsagent/confectionery shop regardless of the shopkeepers ethnicity, even if they are white British.
[edit] Stereotypical Usage and Depiction
Some associate stereotypical negative traits with the shops and their owners such as being greedy with money, charging higher than normal prices, selling out of date products, not wanting to throw them away and lose money, as well as short changing customers.
Other stereotypes include; having a strong work ethic and working long hours possibly associated with being greedy with money. The shop being a small family business and the family owning the building and living in a flat above the shop; it is common to see a couple, both husband and wife, working in the store and occasionally their children, be them adults or actual children, and other family working there too.
There are other stereotypes based directly on race such as: The owner having a name recognizably south Asian, such as the first name Yogi, or the common surname "Patel". A stereotypical full name is "Peter Patel" or "Pete Patel", leading some people calling a male shopkeeper "Paki Pete" and the shop "Paki Pete's" often regardless of his real name. A strong south Asian accent may also be associated, and supposedly often saying "Thank you, come again." and any price ending in: "...Ninety-nine".
[edit] Cultural References
The term "Paki Shop" is mainly a British term, but the stereotype of convenient stores being run by Asian people also appears to be present in the US; such as Apu running the Kwik-E-Mart in The Simpsons. He has many of the stereotypical traits including; selling out of date products, a recognizably south Asian name, a strong Indian accent, often saying "Come again", often being a victim of crime both children shoplifting and attempting to buy alcohol, and armed robbery, and having a strong work ethic.
[edit] Criticism of the Term's Racism
Some people do not consider the term to be offensive or racist and use it as they would any informal term, even in an endearing manner, like chippy referring to a fish and chips shop. Some however may use the term intending on causing offense. Whilst others consider the term itself to be racist regardless of the intent of the person using it. Similar to the term "Chinky" referring to a Chinese takeaway or restaurant, if not meant to be deliberately racist it may still be considered indirectly racist.
[edit] Spelling
As it is an informal and offensive term there is no official correct spelling however "Paki shop" appears the most frequent spelling, as being originally an abbreviation of "Pakistani". The Oxford English Dictionary has an entry for "Paki" but not "Paki shop". The term is found with either a capital or lowercase "P", and is usually two words but sometimes one - "Pakishop". "Pakki shop" is also found but not as often. An internet search shows other spellings used include "packi shop" - "packy shop" - "paky shop" and "pakky shop", albeit not very frequently.
