Fecund or Not Fecund...That Is The Question!
Finally us Aussies are officially allowed to call England's 'Barmy Army'..."Poms"....correct me if I'm wrong but I thought we were always allowed to call the English "Poms", barmy or not! (definitely not 'balmy'!)!
Sky News have given us this piece of enlightening news -
Quote: "Aussie cricket fans are officially allowed to brand English supporters "Poms' as long as they say it nicely. (How dare they! We always say it 'nicely'!) It comes ahead of what is likely to be a hard-fought Ashes series in Australia this winter (our summer...get it right!) - both on and off the pitch. Organisers have been worried that light-hearted banter between the Australian fans and Englands Barmy Army could get out of hand. But Cricket Australia, the sport's governing body in the country, says the traditional expression is acceptable as long as it is not accompanied by strong adjectives. (No mention of what those adjectives could be).
But Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission said the word 'Pom' would be safe it it was not accompanied by offensive comments.
It is unclear whether traditional expressions such as 'whingeing Poms' will be affected by the ruling.
The editorial said: "Surely our Barmy Army is tough enough to endure whatever emerges from that fecund repository of invective that is the Australian Cricket fan. Let's face it: if we (the Poms, that is!) retain the Ashes this winter, we won't give a XXXX what they call us." End of Quote.
Hey! Don't shoot the messenger! I'm just passing on the story to you! And with a hat tip to a good friend of mine (who is not a Pom) who not only pointed me in the direction of this piece of 'news' but also pointed out they (the Poms) called us 'fecund'. I herewith give you the meaning of 'fecund':-
1. producing or capable of producing offspring, fruit vegetation etc., in abundance; prolific; fruitful; fecund parents; fecund farmland.
2. very productive or creative intellectually; the fecund years of the Italian Renaissance.
So, by calling us Aussies 'fecund' in the hope it was insulting...it kinda backfired! Back to reading the Oxford dictionary for the Poms, I would say!
He he, loved the article! Fecund, eh? Well, we produce great cricketers, don't we?
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it, Robyn. It's not a bad article...I've never needed permission! ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree...we do produce great cricketers...amongst everything else! As a gift to the Poms, I give them Germaine Greer...they can keep her over there! ;)
I told some Pom's about this today. They didn't see the humor in it.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you expect of someone who speaks English with an accent, anyway?
That's because you left 'u' out of 'humour'...now, if you guys up there with the 'stars and stripes' learned how to spell correctly, regardless of accents...well, that's drawing a long bow, I suppose. Ummm....after all, us Aussies don't have accents...and we know how to spell...when we do a spell check we do a spell check...when we write out a cheque, we write out a cheque...am I getting myself in deeper, here? ;)
ReplyDeleteYou proubably dou knouw houw tou spell, but I have been practising my Aussie spelling, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm much bettre at it than I was befoure. It's nout hard, when you get a hang of the rules.
Sou, with a little moure practise, I think I'll be as good a spellre as you, maybe bettre.
Doun...coungratulatiouns...you are getting much bettererererer as spelling! Sooun you will be an honourary Aussie! ;)
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