It seems a little queer to me why it is that the British, sub-continental and, to a degree, the Australian press is doing somersaults over the use of nicknames by the princes of our House of Windsor.

Being a farmer I am always referred to by nicknames such as Cocky, Bushie, Hick, Country, Honky-Tonk and Hillbilly. For me they are just friendly terms that are totally part of our culture.

Being a white Queenslander I also get referred to as a Skip or Skippy, Waspy and less frequently nowadays Banana-Bender.

As a same-sex attracted person the list of what I am called is endless.....

All of these nicknames can have totally different meaning depending on how they are said...  which is why they are slang nicknames and are rarely ever written down. Of course to do so without the inference of speech would confuse the reader as to their supposed meaning.

I have no issue being called a Skip, as I am always referred to by my mates in Melbourne of Mediterranean descent, or being called a fag by my girlfriends in Albury, or cocky by the folks at farmers markets on the Gold Coast.

But the matter does change when I am being called a skippy fag when I am having my face smashed in and kicked to the ground by a gang of thugs.

Part of our culture (that is, the one spawned from the British Isles) is to use terms of endearment. My father called my mother Sweetheart, that's totally acceptable, however if a rapist used the term on his child victim it would mean a very different thing, just as nicknames are always to be seen in the context they are used.

 So get over it.

Or can someone explain why people are so damn precious about nicknames and terms of endearment when used by friends amongst themselves?

For me all it shows is how racist, sexist and damn bigoted the actual complainant is.