In New Zealand, these are called “trundlers,” which I might pick over either of these. In terms of what we have, “shopping cart” has a straightforward, functional dignity, “shopping trolley” is a little more fun and makes more clear that you aren’t just shopping but shopping on wheels.
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Many school subjects are plurals, like physics, economics, and forensics. More to the point: mathematics. So, while it’s gratuitous pluralization, it’s not completely out of left field. To Americans, hearing a Commonwealthian says “maths” sounds cute. The other way around, I think it sounds more directly incorrect, like somebody saying they studying “particle physic” or “home economic”.
At least for the American accent, “maths” is not just a needless plural, but a homonym with “mass”. So if it caught on, it could be included on this game show.
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One of the major news stories since I have been in Brisbane has been the government’s crackdown on motorcycle gangs, which includes measures so audacious in their scope that I suspect American readers wouldn’t believe they could be passed into law all at once in a contemporary democracy.
The major outlaw gangs here are Bandidos and Hell’s Angels, just like in America. Yes! They not only borrow all our movies and television shows, but our biker gangs as well! Only here, they are called “bikies” instead of “bikers.” It shows the flexibility of the -ies/-ees ending here in Oz; where in America it’s used to make something more diminutive or childlike, here it’s the way you make a nickname out of anything. Maybe before I leave there will be a crime story where the police catch a serial killie or break up a ring of paedophillies.
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Outside the long-running reality series, one doesn’t hear the word “bachelor” used to refer to unmarried men that often anymore, and hardly ever has an unmarried woman been referred to as a “bachelorette” (“spinster” skipping straight to “single woman”). Consequently, in the US, the only time in her life a woman might be called a “bachelorette” may be at the party to celebrate how she’s about to get married.
“Bachelorette party” sounds red-faced and boozy, and so captures the contemporary prototype pretty well. Hen’s night brings chickens into it. I get that they are female chickens and that it’s sort of like the counterpart of stag night, only instead of virile deer frolicking about there’s a bunch of clucking. Hen’s night is unequivocally the classier term, and sounds like something for which it’s perfectly fine to bring mum.
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Why did you read this book? We bought it for Beckie to read aloud while I drove us around New Zealand. We had such success on the last car trip with The Basic Eight. I think this came up on Amazon as recommended for people who liked that book. (But, the whole thing with the Basic Eight is that it was often funny. While the protagonist Vera Dietz is witty, the tone of the book is more melancholic throughout.
Has Beckie read it? Yes. Maybe I should be skipping this question for Beckie-Read-Alouds.
42 word review: High-school girl (literally) haunted by guy who was best friend, turned mean, then died. Best parts: protagonist’s voice, relationship with ex-alcoholic-now-workaholic father. Plot sometimes relies on characters’ actions that make little sense; doesn’t quite come together at end.
Overall rating: 3 zippo-lighters (out of 5)
Apparently the kiwi used to be known as the Chinese gooseberry, and it was due to fear of communism and the Vietnam War that folks in the United States and Australia went along with the New Zealand rebranding of calling it “kiwi.” At least this is what we were told last month when we visited the Tropical Fruit Museum.
Kiwi is a great word; among the cutest of all fruit names. And yet, it’s a cuteness borne of jingoistic hysteria and racism. So, we have not just a frivolous comparison of words but a full-fledged moral dilemma. Also, the name “kiwi” only flies because Americans are ignorant of the bird, and it also leads Americans to think New Zealanders are called “kiwis” because of the fruit rather than the bird.
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What an ugly acronym, EFTPOS. I think it stands for Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale. (This is correct: although I dislike the acronym so much that it took me a few moments just now to muster to type it into Google to confirm.)
Or something, I can’t even bring myself to care enough to Google it.
“Credit or debit?” is a cute little close-of-transaction phrase. “Debit” sounds like it should be a diminutive form of “debt,” which is charming although I guess also incorrect since the point is exactly that you are using your own money to make the purchase rather than somebody else’s.
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Why did you read it? It was late. I was bored in a hotel room and we had just finished the first novel. And the first novel included the first chapter of this second book at the end. This chapter was reasonably well-done—remarkably, the novel basically abandons it entirely and goes in a completely different direction, with just a token tie-back at the end.
Has Beckie read it? She has more pride than that. Plus by this point I have recounted the preposterousness of the plot in some detail.
42 word review: Presumably written more quickly than this review, if not dictated. Mostly takes place in completely ludicrous super-prison that knocks off Zimbardo experiment. Anybody who did like first book of trilogy could skip this entirely with minimal continuity loss. Silly, stupid, incoherent.
Overall rating: 1 bad decision (out of 5)
Why did you read this book? We bought it for Beckie to read aloud while I drove us around New Zealand. I think we were led to it from reviews of crime/thriller books on Amazon.
Has Beckie read it? Yes, aloud. Perhaps she will review it!
42 word review: Ex-cop housesitter tries to save starlet hunted by secret assassin organization with fantastic capabilities. Lots of action, and funny for all the traumas apparently unkillable protagonist endures. So many plot holes they detract from puzzling bits that are actually successfully resolved.
Overall rating: 2 throwing-stars (out of 5)
“Esky” is one of those words like band-aid or frisbee or thermos (or heroin) that is technically a brand name but people use it in Australia for coolers regardless of who makes them. The Esky brand is currently owned by the American company that first comes to my own mind when I think of coolers.
Esky apparently claims to have invented the cooler, but I guess the alleged first-mover advantage didn’t expand to the rest of the globe.
The great contradiction of “cooler” is that it doesn’t actually cool anything, but instead just slows the rate of warming. This is compared to actual coolers, like the glass-walled refrigerator that stores drinks in a convenience store, or a “watercooler.” Then again, cooler does have the lovely “oo” in the middle, and “esky” has a friendly, picnicky air about it.
Comes down to this: Imagine a happy couple deciding to go on an impromptu beach outing. Would you rather one says to the other: “Hey, let’s bring a cooler!” or “Hey, let’s bring an esky!”
Jeremy’s winner: Continue reading