pikkie, noun

Origin:
Afrikaans, DutchShow more Afrikaans, bantam; little chap, from dialectal Dutch piek ‘chicken’, later also ‘small child’; or perhaps related to piccanin.
colloquial
A small person; a child; pik. Occasionally transferred sense, any small object.
Note:
Used either affectionately or with contempt.
1948 V.M. Fitzroy Cabbages & Cream 192The older boys were paid one-and-sixpence a week, and the pikkies, as they dubbed the little ones, a shilling.
1959 J. Meiring Candle in Wind 38But he’s grown, eh, Kleinhansie? Last time I saw you, you were just a little pikkie, so high!
1970 K. Nicol Informant, Durban, KwaZulu-NatalAg, that little pikkie won’t give you any trouble. (Someone small, or insignificant — usually denotes contempt — corruption of piccanin?).
1972 Radio South Africa 10 Jan.They (sc. adolescents) don’t want to mix with, if, I may use the term, pikkies — I think it’s the right word to use for children of 11 or 12.
1975 Friend 11 Jan. 4For the proud parents..and the six little pikkies it has been a hectic year in which World newspapers carried front page stories of the multiple birth.
1982 D. Biggs in Weekend Argus 18 Dec. 15Pentax’s little Auto 110 camera is a highly pedigreed ‘pikkie’.
1987 P. Schirmer in Personality 26 Aug. 26The pikkies see it happening, see their heroes punching and playing dirty rugby so they think it’s OK for them to do the same. I saw it happen a couple of weeks ago when I went to watch an under-13 match.
1992 [see pik].
A small person; a child; pik. Occasionally transferred sense, any small object.
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19481987