Dictionary

pom en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /pɑm/ (US)
• /pɒm/ (UK)
• /pɔm/ (Australia)

Etymology

A clipping of pomegranate. In reference to the British, first attested in Australia in 1912 as rhyming slang for immigrant with additional reference to the likelihood of sunburn turning their skin pomegranate red. As a cocktail, originally American.

Meanings

1. (Australia, New-Zealand, South-Africa, derogatory, mildly, slang) An Englishman; a Briton; a person of British descent.
   • The prize for being Australia′s original pom goes to the enterprising pirate William Dampier, who made the first investigations ashore about 40 years after Tasman and nearly 100 years before Cook. 1989, Tony Wheeler, Australia: A Travel Survival Kit, Lonely Planet, page 10:
   • I could see more than mere humour in car stickers that read ‘Grow your own Dope: Plant a Pom’ ... ‘Keep Australia Beautiful: Shoot a Pom’. 1987, Linda Christmas, The Ribbon and the Ragged Square: An Australian Journey, page 27:
   • At one stage a group called British People Against Racial Discrimination complained to the Advertising Standards Board in Australia about an advert for Tooheys beer that claimed it was ‘cold enough to scare a Pom’. 2008, Lawrence Booth, Cricket, Lovely Cricket?, page 214:
2. (qualifier:cocktail) A cocktail containing pomegranate juice and vodka.

Forms

Deriveds

Pomland · pommie · pommy · ten pound pom

Relateds

pom-pom-pull-away · pompom · Yank · pom-pom · tiddly-om-pom-pom · kiwi

Synonyms

Briton and Englishman (An Englishman or Briton)