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British People - Do You Find The Term 'Pom' or 'Pommy' Offensive?
I don't;- I find it endearing.
The Australian government has even been considering banning the terms 'pom,' 'pommy' and 'pommies' (incase it offends British people.)
But I like being called a Pom!
As for its origins;- some say it's an acronym of P.O.M.E (Prisoner Of Mother England) when thousands of convicts from Great Britain and Ireland were put on large ships and sent away to live in Australia and forced to do hard labour in the baking sun there as their punishment.
Others say it stems from the soft pink flesh of the pomegranate fruit and pale British and Irish people turning pink in the sun.
Either way, it doesn't offend me as the Brits (like the Aussies) have a GSOH.
But it depends on the context of how it's used.
The Englishman sums-up exactly how I feel about the term 'Pom' in the 1 minute video below;- it's not offensive and is often endearing, depending on the context of how it's used.
Americans used to call the British as 'limey's' because British sailors would carry loads of lime fruit on their ships when they were at sea for many months, to avoid getting scurvy from a lack of vitamin C.
I don't find being called a fruit offensive... but it all depends on the context and whether the person saying it is intending to be rude or not. For example, whenever Fractal keeps referring to British people as 'Limeys', he intends to insult... and although the word itself doesn't bother me (it's just a fruit,) it's his malicious intentions behind using the word that I dislike. I know that he doesn't mean it as humorous banter.
A 'Ten Pound Pom' were British people during the 1960's who could pay just Ł10 to travel on a luxurious British cruiseliner to live in Australia... on the condition that they live and work there for at least 2 years. Australia was underpopulated at the time, and their government stated that they wanted at least 10 migrants from Great Britain for every European migrant to Australia.
Large adverts were placed in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland encouraging people to live in Australia, and the people who migrated during the 60's era were known as 'Ten Pound Poms'.
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Originally Posted by Loki
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