Hi - I've just joined this list, and I, too, was vaguely amused by Peter Ustinov's dropping of the definitive article when referring to the North Island and the South Island. It's common enough, even among people who have lived here for a long time. An ex-pat Dutchman I work with still does it. When I asked him about why he left out the "the", he replied that it a habit he formed when he first came here and had never managed to shake it off.

And, while I agree that the Maori names are mellifluous, the Maori name for the North Island - Te Ika e Maui - is a little unwieldy for everyday use, perhaps?


The idiot also known as Capfka ...