OMG! — Fisher to Churchill, 1917
[ by Charles Cameron — for your general amusement ]
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Is OMG something to write after your name on your official correspondence — one of the orders of British knighthood, perhaps?
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Hat-tip: Smithsonian, via Jeff Gates.
Michael Robinson:
November 29th, 2012 at 10:18 pm
O.M.G. — Order of Michael and George — awarded for distinguished non-military service abroad, usually to senior members of the Foreign Service. It used to be the joke that C.M.G, (Companion of Michael and George) stood for Call Me God; K.C.M.G (Knight Commander) for Kindly Call Me God, and G.C.M.G. (Knight Grand Cross) for ‘God Calls Me God.’
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The ‘new’ order of Knighthood ‘on the tapis’ would be the Order of the British Empire, founded in 1917, “in recognition of the large numbers of people in the British Isles and other parts of the Empire who were helping the war effort both as combatants and as civilians on the home front” Fisher’s allusion is, I assume, ironic since he is saying that the Navy is incapable of operations outside home waters.
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Fisher, in retirement, writing to Churchill about German landings in the Baltic is rubbing salt into a wound; Fisher had bitter arguments with Churchill against the disastrous Galipoli campaign, pushed through at Churchill’s insistence, and had, instead, been a strong proponent of using the navy for Baltic landings to attack Berlin.
Charles Cameron:
November 29th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
Hi Michael:
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Thanks for that excellent addition and summary of the “real” OMG — I still find it hilarious that “OMG” was already being used in 1917 in the sense in which netizens use it today, but good to know that it was a play on an actual award. In fact, I should have recognized the “MG” myself, since Trevor Huddleston was KCMG.
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Thanks again for pointing it out!