Everyone knows we love to poke fun at the Poms now and again, and from time to time we’ve had people say we shouldn’t use that very word.

We thought we would see where other Pom-bashers Australia and New Zealand stand on the matter, and it turns out there’s two pretty landmark rulings on the matter.

We’re going to start with Wikipedia but don’t stress, we’ll dig a little deeper:

The terms Pommy, Pommie and Pom, in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand usually denotes an English person (or, less commonly, people from other parts of the UK).

The Oxford Dictionary defines their use as “often derogatory” but after complaints to the Australian Advertising Standards Board (ASB) regarding five advertisements poking fun at “Poms”, the board ruled in 2006 that these words are inoffensive, in part because they are “largely used in playful or affectionate terms”. The New Zealand Broadcasting Standards Authority made a similar ruling in 2010.

Despite these rulings, the terms are considered offensive and derogatory by many British, regardless of context.

Lekker, but let’s talk more about that 2006 ruling taken by the Ozzie ASB:

The community organisation, British People Against Racial Discrimination, was among several complainants who had objected to the use of the word ‘Pom’ as a ‘derogatory’, ‘offensive’ and ‘racist’ slur.

The Advertising Standards Board gave careful consideration to whether the ads breached the section of the Advertiser Code of Ethics dealing with discrimination and vilification.

In deliberating on the complaints, the Board considered that the use of the word ‘Pom’ is part of the Australian vernacular, which is largely used in playful and often affectionate terms.

The Board also found that ‘Pom’ is not used in a way to vilify, or incite racial hostility towards, people of British extraction, particularly when considered in the context of the cricketing tradition and affectionate rivalry between the two countries.

The Board unanimously dismissed the complaints against the five ads.

See, no need to cringe when you hear a local call out a British tourist ahead of the impending summer influx.

While you’re around, let’s all enjoy one more laugh at the Pom’s expense about that Euro exit to Iceland (HERE).

[sources:wiki&googledocs]