Pommies
The word 'Pom' is not likely to offend or intimidate people of English origin.
Key words
- Whinge: to complain, especially about something that does not seem important:
She's always whingeing about something.
- Perception: a belief or opinion, often held by many people and based on how things seem
These photographs will affect people's perceptions of war.
- Breach: an act of breaking a law, promise, agreement, or relationship
He was sued for breach of contract.
- Colloquial: (of words and expressions) informal and more suitable for use in speech than in writing
One letter was written in an informal colloquial style; the other, in a formal, almost businesslike style.
- So-called: used to show that you think a word that is used to describe someone or something is not suitable or not correct
It was one of his so-called friends who supplied him with the drugs that killed him.
Read to find the answers
- What did the survey by the British High Commission in Australia find?
- What did the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission rule?
- What is the most popular breakfast cereal in Australia?
- Who makes it?
Prisoner of Mother England
The term "Pom" is often used by Australians to refer to the English. It is similar to using Kiwi for a New Zealander, or Yank for an American. There are several theories about the origin of the term, one being that it is short for "Prisoner of Mother England". A survey by the British High Commission in Australia found that "losers at sport" and "whingeing poms" were among the most common Australian perceptions of the English.
An Englishman once whinged to the Australian Human Rights Commission that the use of the word 'Pom' breached the country's Racial Hate Act. The President of the Commission dismissed the complaint, ruling that the Act allowed for the use of colloquial language and that 'Pom' was not likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate people of English origin.