I have finally gotten to begin my latest Dick Francis (and oh, it is SO nice to read something for the pure enjoyment of it! I've been struggling for a couple of weeks with a book that is a "should" read.). He, being British, has used some terms I'm not familiar with, and I've just come across another one. The sentence is something like, Will the government accept tax payments on the never-never.
Does this mean that no, the gov't. will never never accept partial payments? Or perhaps it refers to Never-never Land, as in, If you really think I'm going to make the rest of these payments you're living in Never-never Land? Or something else?
Bexie? You still around?

Bex is busy...but I know. The never never you may be reading about is a slang term for 'time payment' or 'layby' when you pay in instalments.

But also....The Never Never, is also the Australian out back, the back of beyond, remote land.

The Never-Never Country by Henry Lawson

One of the problems I had with the later Dick Francis books (and I don't recall when this started) was that they were so Americanized. I assume they were edited for American readers, not that he wrote them that way, but I missed the British flavor. There were lots more but: parking lot, flashlight, elevator, and, the most egregious change from the earlier books, head groom. I sorely missed those head lads.

Peter

Great piece. Thanks for it Candy. The Never-never. Certainly
is something that is not J.M.Barrie.

Thanks, Candy. And--what a neat poem!

I like the poem.