OK, we all know that NZ is New Zealand. This makes sense to me. But how did OZ come to mean Austrailia? Is it short for Old Zealand?

Oh, Angel, this is my kind of topic - anything which drags Aus and NZ into a topic together has got to be fun... C'mon stales, doc, MaxQ, CK ... bring out yer versions of the story.

While the K1W1s would love you to believe that they are the new and improved version of Aus, this is not to be believed.

I'm hazarding a guess at the official origins of it, but I suspect that despite being pronounced 'Oss-TRAY-li-a' in most places in the world, in Strine (English with Australian accent - read drawl - and attitude) it is more likely to be pronounced "Oz-trayl-ya".

Australia is abbreviated to Aus, which has evolved into Oz. The other correlation is from "Wizard of Oz" ... I'm sure. We may not have a wizard here, but there has to be some explanation for how John Howard manages to stay our Prime Minister!

Hereby handing over the banner to stales, doc_comfort? Any better explanations?

Hev