sassenach

the difference is there are actually people called jock,taffy and paddy .i have yet to meet an english person who actually refers to them selves as pom .You obviously advocate use of racist derogatory remarks ,SHAME ON YOU .I work witha fella called jock ,he uses it of his own free will as he prefers it to john [his real name ].
The rason i have such a hatred for people like you who advocate using the word pom ,is because my son at the age of 7 years old was told to to shut up in class with the words ''shut up you little pom'' ,this was by the teacher and i could not believe it had happened untill i refered it to the headmaster and got a face to face apology ,but the side affect is my son for a moment felt different and isolated from his australian classmates .I personally dont see anything positive in the term and english are accepting it just so they fit in easier into australian society ,well i tell em to go f**k em selves .

Wendy

I've yet to meet an english person here (and believe me there are lots where I am) that doesn't call themsleves a pom. People should lighten up a little. It's only like us calling Autralians Ozzies, can't see the harm in it myself.

I agree that your son got bad treatment from his teacher though and for that I am sorry.

sassenach

they may well call themselves a pom but they dont choose it as a first name .And inregards to lightening up a little ,the fact is an educated person [ie a teacher ]saw it as an acceptable term ,but infact the term pom can be interpreted which ever way you like,because depends in what context it is said in.
After all an american black will call himself and his black mates ''nigger'' ,but if you as a white person called him a ''nigger''you will get whats coming and the reason for this is because its a put down word .The black american has took ownership of the word thus taking the power away from the redneck whites ,i have heard heaps of english call them selves poms and to me its not offensive because a usually it hasnt got other expletives put in front of it ie bloody,f**king .
IF you really want to find out what aussies think of the word pom ,just remind them they are the true poms and we are the immigrants ,they then show the true colours and they dont like it .

duffers

Having a go at each other during a days sport comes with the entrance fee.I personally love taking the piss out of my brit/poms mates any chance i get,then again i would,im irish!!!!!

Australia_bound?

About as long as such other names used to offend black/Italian/Lebanese/French etc people have been around!

But really all depends on context, if someone can aggressively shouting Pommie bastard I'd take it as a racist attack, if in a conversation it's dropped in that I'm a Pom then so what.
But I can understand that some people don't want to be referred to as a Pom!
Not sure why there's such a debate going on if they don't like it then simply tell the person who's saying you're a pom that you find it offensive, if they continue then it probably is racist....

BadgeIsBack

Think they might have had, actually.

sassenach

agreed

sassenach

ofcourse ,i do it too with scottish and irish and welsh and its good banter ,but us from the british isles and the island of ireland share to a certain degree the same sense of sarcastic humour and we somehow have inherited a way of knowing when it goes from good banter to serious stuff ,this is something in my experience the aussies havent inherited beacause the humour here is very american like .

Brian Clough down under

I am a Primary school teacher here in Sydney,

Let's just say Aussies maybe, ahem...cough, view racism in a different way.

Mod has removed terms used as they may cause offence.

Gibbo

Where on Earth do you teach? I have taught here for a long time and never heard students, far less teachers, speak in this manner. Any such remark is rightly frown upon.

Hutch

You did know that the Australians were likely to refer to you as a pom before you emigrated here - or did you just spin a globe, stick a pin in, land on Australia, say "that's the place for me" and hop on the next plane? I mean, even 30 seconds of research would probably have been enough to turn up that nugget of information. I really can't believe that after 15 years in the country this winds you up so much that you suggest you hate me, an anonymous user of these forums that you don't know ... go score some blow mate or get laid - you need to chill out.

Since you think 'paddy' and 'taffy' are fine - would it be okay, by way of example, for a teacher to say "Shut up you litte paddy" to an Irish kid? How do you think that would go down? What do you think about a headline like this? What about the name of this DJ (second one down)? Does it sound like the heir to the throne is bothered?

In closing I would just like to say ...

























I'M A POM

sassenach

more shite .

ozzieeagle

I think a teacher singleing out a kid in front of his peers, with the words "shut up you little... anything" is cause for the teacher to be reviewed and disciplined.


I dont think the word pom comes into it myself.


Cockney has to be offensive as well in that case eh ?


Signed off... Yet another pom

BadgeIsBack

eh? Scarcasm is crap. Give me deadpan, dry irony anyday, which Aussies do as well as Brits.

If Aussies had a Yank humour, I would not be living here.

sassenach

you are ofcourse entitled to your opinion.