Pakie, Packy or Packie, is a diminutive form of the name Patrick. Patrick, as I’m sure you know, is one of the most popular boys’ names in Ireland, more usually abbreviated to Paddy or Pat. I had two uncles baptised with the name of Patrick. My father’s brother was known as Paddy, and the man who married my mother’s sister was known as Pakie. I wasn’t too sure how to spell it, but it’s written in a dedication to me in a book that I was given for my 5th birthday:

As you can see, it says:

TO / SHAUN ON HIS 5TH BIRTHDAY

               WITH LOVE

FROM / AUNTIE KAY AND UNCLE PAKIE

[When I started primary school, three days before my 5th birthday, my mother changed the spelling to Sean, so that is the only way I have ever spelt it.]

I always take care when telling stories about my uncle Pakie. Here in England his name sounds like one of the most offensive terms for a person of colour. I usually refer to him as “my uncle Pat” if there’s any danger of people half-hearing me and thinking that I’ve just used a term of abuse. It’s a word I never use. I refer to it as “The P Word”, just like former England cricket captain Nasser Hussain has done when discussing racism on TV.

Eventually I might have a whole alphabet of words that I do not say out loud. Currently there are three other letters taking the place of offensive words: “The B Word” (rhymes with ditch), “The C Word” (Rhymes with punt) and “The N Word” (if you don’t know what I’m referring to here, I’m not even going to offer you a rhyme for it). In my experience “the P Word“ is used not only offensively but also inaccurately, as a catch-all term for people from the Indian subcontinent, not just for people from Pakistan.

Anyone who followed football in the 1980s and 90s will be familiar with this alternative form of Patrick: Packie Bonner played in goal for Celtic and won 80 caps for the Republic of Ireland in those years. If you say his name quickly enough (“PackieBonner”) you will probably not be mistaken for someone using racist language but these days I usually refer to him as Pat Bonner, just to be safe.