Pom=Englishman: What is the origin of this term?
What does cassowary (sp?) mean?
A cassowary is a large, flightless bird. You can see a picture and find some basic information here.
They even have a homepage
here.
Isn’t the correct usage pommie bastard?
The correct spelling is Pome, which stands for Prisoner Of Mother England and was first brought into use when the English were transporting large numbers of prisoners to Australia.
Over time the phrase has been reversed to gain it’s modern meaning of an Englishman - the irony should be self evident :rolleyes:
This is what I remember reading a long time ago, so I can’t say with absolute certainty that this is true - maybe someone else can confirm it, but I seem to recall that it was a reliable source.
Pom is a shortening of Pommy, which is itself a contraction if Pomegranite. There are two theories about how this word is derived this site suggests it is a corruption of jimmy grant, rhyiming slang for immigrant. The other explanation is that it has the same derivation as Limey, a slighly older slang term for a Pom. Btitish sailors apparently used to carry fruit juice on board ship, and for this reason were refered to as lime juicers or pomegranite juicers, from which we get Limeys and Pommys. Which is correct I don’t know.
Oh, and China Guy the correct usage is “Bloody, useless, whingeing pommy bastard” 
I think you will find Goldeneldons explaination is the correct one, although I have also been told that it was short for POHM (prisoner of her/his majesty).
The Word Detective agrees with Gaspode’s source, though he mentions the acronym theory as a possibility. He (TWD) also points out in a number of columns that acronyms were not very common until WWII, so most word origin explanations using them (“Port Outward, Starbord Home”, “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge”, “To Insure Promptness”, etc.) are probably inaccurate.
–sublight.
I thought is was a reference to the English being pompous. hmmm.
The Macquarie Dictionary agrees with Gaspode.
Sorry, but that is debunked by Snopes, who prefers the pomegramanate theory.
The OED supports the pomegranate explanation:
The subsequent quotes suggest that it is of military origin, from around 1915.
Does anybody have access to the Ramson book?
[hostage to fortune]Let’s wait until after the Ashes, shall we, to see who’s “useless” and “whingeing”?[/hostage to fortune]
I was correct, even the OED backs me up…
Yep, China Guy, but you really should close with:
Thank your mother for the rabbits, yous can all rack off now.
Are you trying to say I’m a few 'roos short in the upper paddock?
Strewth, youse flamin’ galahs. The correct term is “whinging pommy bastard”.
No…
What he was actually saying is:
“Yibbidy yibbida, that’s all folks. Please go home now.”