Apparently, the competing origins of the word "pom" (a primarily
Australian slang term for a British person, usually used in a derogatory
fashion) are:

1) When England shipped convicts to Australia the letters "POHM" (or
something similar) were printed on their backs ("Prisoners of His
Majesty")

2) From the word "pomegranate" -- either because the color of the ripe
fruit resembles the (white) British complexion (especially when subjected
to long periods of relatively intense solar radiation), OR, because it was
rhyming slang for "immigrant."

According to urban legend enthusiasts, the second is more likely. See e.g.

http://www.snopes2.com/language/acronyms/pommy.htm


-Mark

On Wed, 29 May 2002, Jonathan Julius Dobkin wrote:

> As someone who regularly wins bottles of wine at my local pub's weekly
> trivia night, I've actually heard the term "pom," and know it's oz-speak
> for "prisoners of" something; of what not even I can remember.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Bill Bartlett <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 7:04 pm
> Subject: [CHOMSKY] Bully for Australia, when it stands up for itself
>
> > http://www.theage.com.a
> >
> > Bully for Australia, when it
> > stands up for itself
> >
> > By Terry Lane
> > May 26 2002
> >
> > The first casualty of war is precision. I offer an example from
> > this newspaper last Sunday. This comes from the story about a
> > bunch of Australian soldiers who had to be rescued by the Poms
>