Jack
I haven't actively followed this thread so I may be repeating others'
contributions ...
Here "down under" in Oz there are a number of variations to the word Pom.=
For example:
"Whinging Pom" is usually applied to somebody fresh off the boat who
continually compares things to the way they were back home. "It's too ho=
t
=2E.." and "Its too cold ..." are common complaints and are applied to th=
e
weather, the beer, etc
"Bleeding Pom" is also used in conjunction with other nouns. For example=
my father-in-law used to call me his "Bleeding Pommie Son-in-Law" which
somedays could be interprested as term of endearment (usually after I'd
bought him a beer) but in the early days was used in the phrase "No
daughter of mine is going to marry a bleeding pom!". (I still haven't
worked out how Julie and her Mum talked him round!)
In the immediate post war (WWII) period the Poms were generally used as t=
he
excuse for everything that was wrong with the place. This was after the
convict trade had stopped and the Aussie government decided that there we=
re
huge tracts of the place that needed populating. They bribed thousands,
myself included, to migrate and as a result the place was full of Whingin=
g
Poms.
Since then the Poms have lost control of the entry gates and the place ha=
s
been over-run with mediterraneans (who are all called Wogs) and hordes fr=
om
the immediate north who we are having great difficulty in teaching how to=
drive!
The place has now become so racially diversified that we have laws about
using derogatory terms when referring to minority groups. There is howev=
er
no recorded instance of these laws being used in defence of us Poms!
On that note I think I'd beter shut up before I get locked up!
All the best
Jeremy Braithwaite
Age & Treachery Racing Australia
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