Talk:pom

I've been told by an Australian that the "pejorative" marking on pom is wrong, after mentioning having to wiktionary it when he used it in conversation. Being not from either of the communities, I can't say, but this might need to be confirmed.

<daniels> hmm, wiktionary's wrong on pom; it's not offensive at all
<daniels> unless preceded by, say, 'fucking'
<anholt> not offensive to brits?
<daniels> nope
<daniels> it doesn't carry the same connotations as, say, limey

Anholt 01:38, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Perhaps he should try being on the receiving end of the culture of this word.

I would say there are some people who still find it offensive but many more Australians who are unaware of this. I certainly hear it used playfully by Australians and Brits alike in my job where I work mainly with English tourists in Australia. It is certainly not as widely offensive as abo or wog but people should also certainly think twice before addressing a stranger this way. I would rate them this way: pom has been mostly "reclaimed", wog has been partly reclaimed, and abo has not been reclaimed at all even though there are a few white Australians who might be ignorant of this. The problem is that the perception of the offensiveness of such words is often not the same for the user as for the target. — Hippietrail 16:39, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Why not as offensive as abo or wog? Because it's okay to abuse British people therefore words against them aren't as offensive? Why are some people held up against discrimination and others lambasted? Pom has never been reclaimed either. A lot of people from the UK come to Australia for holiday or a year or two, unaware of the history of the word and 'embrace it' yet those who have lived there, particularly through the hey-day of nasty Anglophobia from 1950s-70s or who've grown up in those countries have to deal with people who've not had those experiences coming over from the motherland to have them rub this insult in their faces. Pom has always been used in offence and people know damned well that when they use it, they're doing it to the detriment of British people and I see no reason why anyone would even seek to justify the continued use of a racist slur unless that person is so utterly empty in life or vindictive that a daily taunt of abuse gives them purpose. Pom, Wog, Abo, Gook, Chink - all of it, if you feel it's your right to use these words, you need to take a good, hard look at yourself.

Because whether a term is perceived as offensive or not is up to the person being addressed. In my experience only very few British people will take offense at this term regardless of the context in which it is used. This is not the case with abo where even if the person using it thinks they are not being offensive, almost 100% of persons being addressed will be offended. I have never heard an aboriginal Australian call another aboriginal Australian an abo. It is not uncommon to hear Australians of Mediterranean background call themselves or each other wogs. It is common in my experience to hear British people both expatriates and tourists refer to themselves or each other as poms. This is very similar to the case, also in my experience, with Americans and westerners generally in Latin America referring to themselves as gringos. I am currently in Asia and I can assure you that I have never ever heard Asian people refer to themselves or each other as gooks or chinks. This is quite a distinction. You have every right to feel the term is always insulting. Others have every right to find it insulting only when they feel it is used maliciously. You do not own the word. Lexicographers analyze the usage of words, they do not make value judgements. The value judgements are made by the users of the words and those addressed with them. Not everybody of British descent feels the way you do.

As a side note, British is not normally regarded as a race. In this instance a better term than racist would be xenophobic. And I can assure you that some editors will definitely take offense if you are insinuating they are either of these. — Hippietrail 03:14, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Pomegranate? What is this crap? it's short for 'pompous'. It's really that simple, people.

Edit - The above is incorrect. The term POM has it's origins in the departure point used by the British Government for all British convicts transported to Australia, Millbank Prison. A Pom is a "Prisoner of Millbank", Australian slang for a British convict transported to Australia.

Pom as a 'racial slur'

Why is this listed as a racial slur? The wikipedia article notes that both Australia's and New Zealand's advertising and broadcasting standards boards have separately decided that isn't in 2006 and 2010 respectively (being described by the Australian court as "largely used in playful or affectionate terms") and that it has even been used by the BBC. As an Australian, the word I would most closely compare it to is "gringo" in regards to how it's used.