faye_gillan

Just wondered are us Scottish folk also classed as Poms!?

Simone

Umm, there was a discussion about this a while ago (but the search button is now useless....)
I THINK you will be in Oz, cos often they(as I) don't know the difference...
But 'officially' I think it's only the english.

I did find this thread:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...&highlight=pom

I think the outcome of the more recent thread about this was that it's pretty sure it comes from pomegranate, and therefore referring to the colour.

dotty

Yup.

Grayling

Poms or POHMs (prisoners of his majesty). Referred to a whole group of petty thieves and Political dissidents from all over Britain and Ireland who were first deported in the reign of King George the third in an attempt to rid the realm of the 'Criminal Classes.
Try reading 'The Fatal Shore' by Robert Hughes.

Yes you will Qualify.

G

jayr

Please don't get this Prisoners of Her majesty started again - it is derived from pomegranate - immigrant

Kentish Man

You wish.............................................. .....

wengerboy

sweaties you are called down ere

ADELE & NIGE

Whilst on holiday in Adelaide 2 years ago i read somewhere
POM = PEOPLE OF MEANS i.e aperson who is well off

Grayling

I bet there are a lot who wish it did.



G

Ceri

Nope.

"Poms" here with me are usually English people - the only time you may get called a pom is if someone mistakes your accent for being English (if you've got a strong Scottish accent , you'll probably find you never get called a pom .. just Jock). Been here in Aus almost 7 years - and in that time I've been called a pom maybe twice - I've a weird accent, neither here, nor there , obviously it isn't English too most peoples ears - I get called a lot of things lol, but never pom/English)

It's not that derogatory, I tend to use the word myself in speaking when referring to an English person.

Depends on the way it is used. If on the odd occasion that you may get called a pom - just put them right .. calling them a kiwi usually does the trick

Maybe a Scottish person in Aus can answer you (but being a non English person in Aus.. Welsh - I can answer you with my own personal experience , no I do not get called a pom, and yes I call English people around me Poms, but never have I or any Australian I know calls an Irish, Scottish or Welsh person a pom (only by mistaken identity ) not unless I want a thump that is,lol


Anyway I have personally found that the word pom, whether it's right or wrong , usually gets referred to English people... like I said I've only been called a pom about twice in 7 years.


cheers

dracupg

Been here a year, and have never, to our faces at any rate, been referred to as poms. Actually been mistaken for German more than English, bizarrely enough. Most people we have met seem to be able to differentiate the Scottish accent, or indeed Irish or Welsh.

Stormz

Grayling is right, sorry.

There were originally settlers in Aus before it started to be used as a place for convicts to be sent.... Prisoners of His Majesty... so it was a derogatory term for the prisoners... especially when they were freed, and for their kids.

Other people since, didn`t know this and just related it to Pomegranets, cos it started with Pom, and sounded like Pommie.

So essentially both are right.... the original meaning (when no-one would ever have heard of a North-Indian Himalayan fruit like a pomegranate in colonial Australia... and if they had would never have seen one), and the simplified pomegranate meaning, due to the colour some British ppl may go when in the Oz sun... similar to what the Afrikaaners in the Transvaal called the English soldiers (and then all British ppl) ... "Rooinekke" (Rednecks).

************

"Why are the English called Poms or Pommies?

"Pommy" (or "pom" or "pommie") is a primarily Australian (and largely derisive) slang term used to indicate a recent immigrant from Great Britain, or a Brit in general. However the origination of this word is a little unclear. "Pommy" might have been based on the word "pomegranate" -- either because the redness of the fruit supposedly matched the typically florid British complexion, or because it was used as rhyming slang for "immigrant." Also a possibility is since Australia was originally a hold for convicts from England, the letters P.O.H.M. (Property of her majesty) were printed on their clothing and then began to apply to all immigrants from England. Interestingly enough, the Oxford English definition of POM stands for Prisoner of Mother England."

***********

here`s a funny page:

http://www.australianbeers.com/culture/poms.htm

Just as an offshoot, it may surprise most to know that America was the first place that Britain sent convicts to.... Australia was only used once the American colonists had their little war of independance.

http://www.genealogy-quest.com/colle...lconvicts.html

http://www.aussieinamerica.com/geography/convicts.htm

Ceri

I've always know it to be prisoners of his majesty, but I didn't want to argue with Jayr... his thingamajig avatar is boxing ..(what is that by the way Jayr?)

In "today's world" - ie the world around me here .. The word pom is used for English people, Myself and most scot.Irish and Welsh people do not get called poms. I've only ever been called a pom about twice in almost 7 years... and you try calling a scots, Irish or Welsh "man" a pom - good luck!

cheers

evorobin

To the average ozzie yes but the scot bloke I work with says not.

renth

This point keeps coming up time and time again.

pommy
noun (Derogatory) 1. an English person. --adjective 2. English. Also, Pommy, Pom, pom. [probably from pomegranate, rhyming slang for `immigrant'. Definitely not from the purported acronym POME, supposedly standing for Prisoner Of Mother England]

From the Macquarie Dictionary book of slang

http://www.macquariedictionary.com.a...t/slang-p.html

So it's not POME or POHM or anything like that but just rhyming slang.

My source, the Macquarie Dictionary, what is your source for
POHM - australian beers.com?