# Britishisms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2004, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462 "2004-12-24T09:51:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/241 "2005-01-05T19:07:02Z")
> [@Martha](#): > > ‘Way too’ and ‘far too’. Both are used in the US, but ‘way too’ is never used in the UK. We probably thieved off you lot at some point, but I do say ‘way too’ way too often. ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/242 "2005-01-05T20:06:51Z")
> [@garius](#): > > And don’t forget “Wotcha” or “Hows Tricks?” “How’s ya father” on the otherhand… ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/243 "2005-01-05T21:22:10Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Where English equals British, as it also does in American English… No. English = English. You would never call a Scotsman, Welshman, or Irishman a _Pom_. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/244 "2005-01-06T01:48:54Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > No. English = English. You would never call a Scotsman, Welshman, or Irishman a _Pom_. To the Aussies I know, the British and Irish Lions are Poms, Colin Montgomerie and Ian Woosnam are Poms, etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/245 "2005-01-06T02:36:15Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I think this might have been answered in an earlier post, but \*Pom \* is a term used by Australians (New Zealanders too I think) to refer to the English. As for the origin, the best theory is that _pom_ is short for “pomegranate”. To long-time Aussies, Englishmen who had just arrived in Australia were easy to spot, as the newcomers from London and Birmingham took on the color of a pomegranate when exposed to the comparatively bright sun of Sydney or Melbourne. As [this page](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pom1.htm) explains, the fact that “pomegranate” sort of rhymes with “immigrant” may have helped _pommy_, and then _pom_, take hold. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/246 "2005-01-06T02:45:51Z")
Nver heard the ‘pomegranate’ explanation, but it’s probably the one. I remember once being told that it derived from ‘ **P** risoners **O** f **M** other England’. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/247 "2005-01-10T12:36:49Z")
I was always told that it was from Prisoner of His Majesty - POHM - POM. The sheep -steelers have never been great at spelling. Their greatest intellectual is currently on Big Brother in the UK! ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/248 "2005-01-10T19:15:46Z")
[Some doubt cast on the POM/POHM/POME explanation](http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/pommy.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/249 "2005-01-10T19:18:01Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > The sheep -steelers have never been great at spelling. Not helping yourself there fella! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462.md?page=12)