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#2942 06/20/00 05:59 AM
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I suppose it couldn't be called "Down Under" in North America. Australia is down but not necessarily under.


#2943 06/20/00 01:54 PM
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Yup, we refer to Australia as "The Land Down Under". It's even in radio ads for The Outback Steakhouse. (I've never
been there, it's always too crowded. I have no idea if there is a genuine connection to Australia, or if the owner just thought it would be a good gimmick.)


#2944 07/05/00 04:55 PM
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Australia isn't exactly down under the UK either. If anyone could call it "Down Under" it would be the Chinese or Indonesians.


#2945 07/07/00 05:04 AM
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I think the down under refers to going through the globe, which from the UK would probably be nearer New Zealand than Australia, rather than further south on a map.

Bingley


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#2946 07/09/00 09:06 PM
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Thanks for the correction.

I think we discussed this a while ago. New Zealand is the antipodes for us in the UK, not Australia. So New Zealand should be "down under" not Australia, then it's such a good term (along with antipodean) - it would be a shame not to use it more widely.


#2947 07/10/00 06:47 AM
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There used to be a billboard at the entrance to Auckland International Airport with a World Map on it. Difference is that the map shows New Zealand at the TOP, with the rest of the world below.

To get the idea, turn a world map (Mercato's projection) upside down. That would make the UK "down under" as far as we are concerned!

Hey - I see I've graduated to "Member"

#2948 07/10/00 12:10 PM
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I also like the Peter's projection which certainly puts us Northern Europeans in our place. One of the other threads talks about the victors re-writing history - they also did quite a good job of defining geography to their own advantage. You might need to get out your magnifying glass to find the UK.
http://www.webcom.com/~bright/petermap.html


#2949 10/09/00 04:01 PM
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shakes, peer


#2950 10/09/00 04:37 PM
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(in reference to Rogaine thread under Wordplay, for the benefit of other newcomers)

And I would have thought bottom-dwellers just about describes us all, hunched over a keyboard... but what does that make our antipodean contingent?


#2951 10/10/00 02:17 AM
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And I would have thought bottom-dwellers just about describes us all, hunched over a keyboard... but what does that make our antipodean contingent?

Ceiling-clingers?




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