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Names
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Why are British called Poms in Australia
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Pom/pommie/pommy are not acronyms. Nobody knows for sure what the etymology of �pom/my/mie' is, but neither the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) nor the Australian National Dictionary (AND) even mentions the idea that it might have anything to do with prisoners or acronyms involving prisoners - eg from Prisoner of Mother England.
Here are a few key historical facts...a) 'Pommy' appeared nowhere in print before 1915 and b) �Pom' then appeared four years later. Both meant �a British soldier'. c) If �pommy/pom' had anything whatever to do with prisoners or acronyms, why did theses words not appear on paper anywhere until 130 years after Australia became a penal colony and about three generations after the last convicts were sent to New South Wales?
Both the OED and the AND say the source is obscure, but suggest �pommy' might be associated with 'pomegranate', a concept first outlined in 1923, within a decade of the word's first appearance in print. The OED claims this to be (quote): "the most widely-accepted" etymology, which makes sense for two reasons...a)pomegranate very roughly rhymes with 'immigrant' and hence, "immygran(i)t/pommygranate" was possibly a jokey catcall first used by schoolboys - and b) the pomegranate is a bright red fruit resembling the sunburnt skin of newcomers to Australia.
Unfortunately, neither the OED nor AND is available free online, but if you click http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pom1.htm you will find a reliable web-page on the matter. It was produced by the noted etymologist/lexicographer, Michael Quinion. He, too, dismisses the acronymaniacs' ideas, so it is pretty clear - despite there being no total proof - that �pomegranate' is the way to go...Forget the convicts!
Here are a few key historical facts...a) 'Pommy' appeared nowhere in print before 1915 and b) �Pom' then appeared four years later. Both meant �a British soldier'. c) If �pommy/pom' had anything whatever to do with prisoners or acronyms, why did theses words not appear on paper anywhere until 130 years after Australia became a penal colony and about three generations after the last convicts were sent to New South Wales?
Both the OED and the AND say the source is obscure, but suggest �pommy' might be associated with 'pomegranate', a concept first outlined in 1923, within a decade of the word's first appearance in print. The OED claims this to be (quote): "the most widely-accepted" etymology, which makes sense for two reasons...a)pomegranate very roughly rhymes with 'immigrant' and hence, "immygran(i)t/pommygranate" was possibly a jokey catcall first used by schoolboys - and b) the pomegranate is a bright red fruit resembling the sunburnt skin of newcomers to Australia.
Unfortunately, neither the OED nor AND is available free online, but if you click http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pom1.htm you will find a reliable web-page on the matter. It was produced by the noted etymologist/lexicographer, Michael Quinion. He, too, dismisses the acronymaniacs' ideas, so it is pretty clear - despite there being no total proof - that �pomegranate' is the way to go...Forget the convicts!
The fruit associated with the anti-scurvy diet aboard British sailing-vessels were limes rather than pomegranates. It was because of that that British sailors and, later, Brits generally became known as Limeys among the Americans.
Re Pom, The Oxford English Dictionary - the 'bible' of English etymology - says "origin obscure". So, it is not quite as clear-cut or 'simple' as Waterboatman claims above! However, there is very likely a pomegranate connection, as already outlined in my earlier answer.
Re Pom, The Oxford English Dictionary - the 'bible' of English etymology - says "origin obscure". So, it is not quite as clear-cut or 'simple' as Waterboatman claims above! However, there is very likely a pomegranate connection, as already outlined in my earlier answer.
If it really had anything to do with sailors collecting fruit to combat scurvy, how come the word appeared nowhere until 1915 - and even then it referred to a British soldier, not a sailor - by which time sailing-ships and any need for such fruit-collecting had, effectively, long gone? We're not talking Captain Cook date-wise here!
If generations of linguistic scholars at The Oxford English Dictionary<.i> have described its origin as "obscure", what makes you imagine it is really as simple as you suggest? If there was any shred of evidence for your claim, don't you think they would at least have mentioned it?
But what the hey!
If generations of linguistic scholars at The Oxford English Dictionary<.i> have described its origin as "obscure", what makes you imagine it is really as simple as you suggest? If there was any shred of evidence for your claim, don't you think they would at least have mentioned it?
But what the hey!
The question we have to ask, Tizzi, is this, Is Frank Ifield a trained etymologist as well as a singer? The fact that he's an Australian is an irrelevance...I'm a Scotsman, but I know nothing whatsoever about playing the bagpipes!
As already pointed out in answers here, all etymological authorities dismiss the POME nonsense out of hand.
Do, please, click the red link in my first answer above to read what a real etymologist has to say about your idea, particularly his last sentence in Paragraph 2. This makes it clear that any such notion is no more than "folk etymology"...ie just something made up by someone or other who had no real idea and then just endlessly broadcast to the extent that nearly everyone believes it.
The word posh is another good example. Practically everybody says it is an acronym from 'port out starboard home' and relates to the time when British soldiers and officials were to-ing and fro-ing India by ship. It isn't!
As already pointed out in answers here, all etymological authorities dismiss the POME nonsense out of hand.
Do, please, click the red link in my first answer above to read what a real etymologist has to say about your idea, particularly his last sentence in Paragraph 2. This makes it clear that any such notion is no more than "folk etymology"...ie just something made up by someone or other who had no real idea and then just endlessly broadcast to the extent that nearly everyone believes it.
The word posh is another good example. Practically everybody says it is an acronym from 'port out starboard home' and relates to the time when British soldiers and officials were to-ing and fro-ing India by ship. It isn't!
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