What is it Australians call English people?

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peneloperigby

According to British Naval records the term "Pommie" came about from the red "pom-pon" on the top of the hats of British sailors who were involved in the transfer of prisoners to the Colonies.[citation needed] It was used as a derogatory term, but has since become a generalised term for English people. The term pommy or pom is commonly used by speakers of Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English and Afrikaans.
Some Australians have been known to call (to their ears 'well spoken' or British sounding) people from New Zealand - South Sea Poms[citation needed], or even to call fellow citizens that lack a perceptibly broad or general Australian English accent (typically cultivated Australian English) - Poms.[citation needed]
It is often shortened to pom. The origin of this term is not confirmed and there are several persistent false etymologies. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) strongly supports the theory that pommy originated as a contraction of "pomegranate".[3] The OED also suggests that the reason for this is that pomegranate is extinct Australian rhyming slang for immigrant; it cites an article from 14 November 1912, in a once-prominent Australian weekly magazine The Bulletin: "The other day a Pummy Grant (assisted immigrant) was handed a bridle and told to catch a horse." A popular alternative explanation for the theory that pommy is a contraction of "pomegranate", relates to the purported frequency of sunburn among British people in Australia, turning their fair skin the colour of pomegranates.[4] However, there is no hard evidence for the theory regarding sunburn.
A false etymology (or "backronym") common in both Australia and New Zealand is that 'Pom' originated as an acronym for "prisoner of (his/her) majesty" or "prisoner of mother England". Although many of the first British settlers in Australia were convicts sentenced to transportation to Australia, there is no evidence for this. Some proponents of this theory claim that upon arrival in the country they would be given a uniform with "POHM" or "POME" emblazoned on the back, which apparently stood for Prisoners Of Her Majesty but there are no images or examples of these uniforms.In another variant, it is used to mean 'Product of Mother England'.
Other etymologies which are unsupported by evidence include:
"prisoner of Millbank", after the area of London where prisoners were held prior to transportation;
it is rhyming slang for tommy, international slang for a British soldier;
an acronym for "Port of Melbourne". However, the term "pommy" was coined long before POM was used as acronym for the port.
comes from "pomme", French for apple. The joke was that the 'fresh off the boat' newly arrived, or 'new apples.' Under the Australian sun the white British turned bright red in the Australian sun, like an apple thus the name "pommy" from "pomme."
In 2006, an Auckland, New Zealand, Planet FM's English community radio program 'The Anglofiles' received feedback that many English people living in New Zealand considered the word Pom to be highly offensive. Rather than anything offensive in the word itself they were offended by its use as a term of abuse, especially in a racist manner. They felt it to be akin to racist terms such as 'wog', 'wop' and '****'. The New Zealand Human Rights Commission describes racial abuse as language or actions which, in the recipient's view, induce negative feelings towards his or her race. The inference is, therefore, that racial abuse cannot be adequately defined by the originator, or anyone else who is not negatively affected by it. It was on this basis that, in 2006, 'The Anglofiles' achieved a written undertaking from the major New Zealand television companies to avoid usage of the term Pom or Pommy in all their local content. This was subsequently overruled by the high court of New Zealand as the judgement was made that the term could not be construed as a reference to a distinct racial group, but rather to a country.
In Australia, the terms pommy bastard and whingeing pom were frequently used in the postwar period to express hostility to Britons, particular when British immigration to Australia was peaking in the 1960s following the introduction of the assisted migration scheme, whose recipients were also denigrated as "ten pound poms".[5][6] Over time however, the terms "pom" and "pommie" have lost much of their hostile edge. In December 2006, the Advertising Standards Board of Australia unanimously ruled that the word "pom" was a part of the Australian vernacular, and was largely used in a "playful or affectionate" sense. As a consequence, the board ruled that the word did not constitute a racial slur, and could be freely used in advertising. The Board was responding to a complaint filed by a group called the British People Against Racial Discrimination.[7] Nonetheless, the word is sometimes used today in a hostile context. On July 2, 2008, an article in the Sydney Morning Herald was enti

Power Flower

POM... it's an acronym for "Prisoner of Her Majesty". It's not derogatory... just a word that's always been used.

As for the Irish.... there's a LOT of Irish here! Just in my family there's my partner and sister-in-law. You'll be far from your family... but not from your countrymen!

Edit: Wow... what's all the slagging going on? Australia isn't really into all the tribal (in our opinion) mudslinging and finger pointing. We like to think that people who come here from anywhere leave their narrow-mindedness on the plane!!!!

Steven J

poms. prisoner of mother england. but i dont understand how that works considering the reasons why they were forced there. just on a side not people call english limeys in fact its wrong all together we never had or used limes it was lemons. so if anything we should be called lemonys

scarbouro

you go girl!! im irish and proud to! xxx

mandyj67

We call them Poms or Pommies, often with the prefix whinging, as in whinging Pommy. Nobody really knows for sure where the term originated, but the answers above cover most of myths associated with the word. It's like the word wog, which is supposed to mean westernised oriental gentleman, but is usually associated with Italians and Greeks, so that explanation makes no sense. The words started out as derogatory terms, but over the decades have become just another slang word with no offense intended when they're used. As for you not being a fan of the English, join the club honey, I'm from Scotland,so not a big fan myself, but that's in my blood!! . You know the old saying? Q- What's the best thing to ever come out of England?A- The road to Scotland.

step

I'm English. I never killed anyone, and neither did anyone I know. Had I known or even been alive I would have spoken up against it.

Grow up, and stop letting over-emotional movies shape your opinions. Thats what Americans do, and look at their view of the world...

Serendipity

You're not too far from England right now though.

Stirring?

C.M. C

Irish and Proud, hi it's Chris again, let's not spoil it, we shall keep the politics out of it. I am not a great fan myself, but there is good and bad in all even Irish.

Chris

Jhs

prisoners of motherland . short pom . poor poms in their grey motherland
aussies have got all the sunshine and a very relaxed way of living
not a spiteful term but just realism and truth .yeah ,any pom not having been to aussie and indulged in a bit of true freedom is a looser[pom] not sure if it includes welsh or scot.
ps i love the irish . true hearts and pure voices not like that english ,well, pommie loosers

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