My friend sent me an sms: 'Just seen a magazine called Whingeing Pom!' I don't know why on earth he thought that might be of interest to me... But out of general interest in others who might possibly be considered to be both whingers and Poms, I had a look.
Turns out I'm not a Pom at all, I'm a Possie - well, a low-grade one, since apparently a true Possie has dual nationality; us mere permanent residents are beneath them. Pfft, sounds like these dual nationality folk have already sold out, not like us proper fence-dwellers.
But it got me thinking - what will that make our children? I got a fright the other day when I discovered that The Boy, aged 2, doesn't know what a squirrel is. Back in London, The Girl and I used to go to the same park nearly every day, where the squirrels would dance about autumnally and eat the leftovers from the park café. She knows what a squirrel is; she has lots of European-based memories, and coupled with my special instructions ("It's yoghurt with a short o, not yo-ghurt with a long o! Repeat after me!") is bound to retain some Pominess (glossing over the fact that she wants to spend her life playing Aussie Rules, "fudie" as she calls it, and eat "pardy pies"). The Boy, on the other hand, pointed to the squirrel (picture of) and said: "A possum!" I let it slide, just that one time, but if he starts pointing to pictures of Bambi and shouting "Kangaroo!", or badgers ("Wombat!") I shall have to take serious steps. Maybe I will buy him a subscription to Whingeing Pom for his 3rd birthday.
7 comments:
They're so going to get Aussie accents you know....
Your post made me giggle.
I live in Cornwall but was not born here & despite Cornwall being officially part of England - it is very much a country rather than a county. My husband and I will always be referred to as Emits (the local term for outsiders). Our children 5 & 7 were both born here. They have definite Cornish twangs in their speech - elongating certain vowels and altering say the 'or' sound to 'er'. I don't mind though because although I wasn't born in Cornwall I'm completely in love with it.
Of course - we do have squirrels. So there are no wildlife differences. LOL.
Kat :-)
I wouldn't be too concerned about the boy. Don't forget - our mutual friend grew up in Australia and moved back as an adult and he's now so English it hurts...
:) This is Tom from the Whingeing Pom Magazine.
send me an email on his 3rd birthday and i will send him a subscription for free....
Caroline, haven't I told you about our nightly elocution lessons? I don't let them eat until they have said How Now Brown Cow posher than 'Er Majesty.
Kat, I love Cornwall, too - have you picked up any accent? Sometimes I catch myself saying No Worries and give myself a scare.
Ross, wasn't he called Tom The Pom at school? Not sure that's ideal either...though it beats what someone accidentally called him the other day (rhymes with Jonah...)
Tom from Whingeing Pom! Hello! I've told him about your birthday gift and he seems pretty - what's the word? - stoked.
LOL Emily. I should take immediate steps. Actually, I feel the need to intervene. I'll email a picture forthwhwith. A squirrel with relevant phonic sounds attached.
Thanks, Fi, it really is getting serious...he knows koala, kangaroo, platypus and wombat - but I tried him again on squirrel today and he said "ummm, mouse?"
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