Stand back everyone, I'll take this one.
Please excuse my ignorance. I am a naturalized American born a Canadian,
a French-Canadian at that (b. Montreal, Canada. I had to learn English
two years ago so I could post on this list. Please excuse the accent.) I
am familiar with Canucks (Canadians), Kiwis (New Zealanders), Aussies
(Australians), Brits (Englishmen) and all manners of other terms, some of
them perhaps even derogatory, referring to someone's national heritage. I
never professed to encyclopedic knowledge and I am forever reminded that I
am not incorrect in that conviction. Once again, today with your posting,
this conviction is reinforced.
What is a Pommie? A vue de nez (an old French term), it is someone who
owns a small dog (Pomeranian), or someone who likes apples (Pommes in
French), or perhaps pomegranates. It could also be someone who likes
poetry, or someone who cannot remember the words to a song (as in "Oh say,
can you see, pom po-pom, pom, pom, pom"). It could be someone with a
fondness for cheerleaders, but I digress.
So I went looking through the magic of the Internet. Alta Vista returned
78 hits immediately. Interestingly enough, most of the mentions had another
word associated with Pommie. Sometimes the two words together were
preceded by yet another word. Since this is a family list, I shall
refrain from elaborating on these words any further. ;-)
But finally I hit on the definition, a Pommie is an Englishman in
Australian slang. What we would call a Brit, or long-distance.
And there you are.
Kind regards,
Denys. . .
Denys Beauchemin
Hicomp America, Inc.
[log in to unmask] www.hicomp.com
(800) 323-8863 (281) 288-7438 fax: (281) 355-6879
-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Knowles [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 1997 3:49 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Re[2]: Off Topic: History of Hong Kong
Very funny, Denys, but actually I am a Pommie import!!!
Tony Knowles [log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
----------
> From: Denys Beauchemin <[log in to unmask]>
> To: 'Tony Knowles' <[log in to unmask]>; [log in to unmask]
> Subject: RE: Re[2]: Off Topic: History of Hong Kong
> Date: Wednesday, 2 July 1997 02:02
>
> Macau, that sounds like a New Zealander describing his one head of
cattle. ;-)
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Denys. . .
>
> Denys Beauchemin
> Hicomp America, Inc.
> [log in to unmask] www.hicomp.com
> (800) 323-8863 (281) 288-7438 fax: (281) 355-6879
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tony Knowles [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, June 30, 1997 10:43 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Re[2]: Off Topic: History of Hong Kong
>
> And don't forget Macau (Portuguese) which I believe is being handed back
> next year sometime.
>
> Tony Knowles [log in to unmask]
> [log in to unmask]
>
> ----------
> > From: [log in to unmask]
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re[2]: Off Topic: History of Hong Kong
> > Date: Tuesday, 1 July 1997 05:35
> >
> > Eric is correct-
> >
> > I'd like to add that around the same time that the British leased the
New
> > Territories other western powers also 'took' lands from China, this
> included
> > the Germans and the French the Italians also tried but were denied (I
do
> not
> > know when/how the above powers ended their presence in China).
> > The New Territories comprise about 90% of the area of Hong Kong and
> > although the British, based on the treaties of the Opium Wars, could
have
> > 'held on' to the portions acquired at the conclusion of those wars,
they
> > deemed that it would have been too 'messy' to try and separate the
> regions
> > and thus opted to return the region as a whole.
> >
> > Paul
> >
> > ______________________________ Reply Separator
> _________________________________
> > Subject: Re: Off Topic: History of Hong Kong
> > Author: Eric Bender <[log in to unmask]> at CCGATE
> > Date: 06/30/97 01:25 PM
> >
> >
> > At 12:49 PM 6/30/97 -0700, Lee Gunter wrote:
> > >As I recall, the British Empire was ceded Hong Kong as a condition of
> > >China's surrender following the Opium Wars at the end of the 19th
> > >Century. This concession was somehow turned into a 99-year lease -
> > >possibly with the treaty that was signed in 1984 which agreed to the
> > >eventual return of Hong Kong to the PRC in 1997. I'm sorry, but I
> > >don't know more of the details.
> > >
> > >Actually, the (former) Crown Colony of Hong Kong was acquired by the
> > British in 3 stages:
> > 1) Island of Hong Kong - seized in 1841, during the first Opium War,
> > 2) Kowloon - ceded in 1860, after the second Opium War, and
> > 3) New Territories, a mainland area leased in 1898 for 99 years.
> >
> > It was the negotiations concerning the termination of the New
Territories
> > lease which led to the 1984 agreement cited above to return the entire
> > colony to China.
> >
> > (Incidentally, lost in all the hype over the July 1st and Hong Kong is
> that
> > July 1st is also Canada Day, in this case the 130th anniversary of our
> > Confederation in 1867. So to all my fellow HP3K Canucks - Happy Canada
> Day ,
> > eh?)
> >
> >
> > ***********************************************************************
> > Eric Bender, Coordinator, Computer Services, John Abbott College
> > P.O. Box 2000, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada H9X 3L9
> >
> > Voice: (514) 457-6610, Ext. 208 Fax: (514) 457-3027
> >
> > E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
> >
> > Visit our Website: http://www.JohnAbbott.Qc.Ca
> > ***********************************************************************
>
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