I posted on this at this time yesterday (JohnO'L was the last on the thread at the time) but somehow it got lost, and Helen has explained wine casks and Leenia has found her typo so the main bits are no longer 'required'. But I have a couple of relevant diversions for you.

Ozspeak is strong on 'taking the piss' and one element is to use pseudoFrench. Target (the chain store) is often pronounced as though it were a French and I once went into a bottleshop (what UK 'catters call an off-licence) and asked the young bloke behind the counter "Do you have any Chateau Cardboard?" "I don't think so," he replied. Going further into the establishment to find a bottle then, I saw the whole back wall was stacked with wine casks. C'est la vie! I confess to reusing the cardboard shells in my library shelves as a way of keeping collections of unbound periodicals and photocopies tidily restrained.

Spending any time at all in a lift with Philip Ruddock is a sure way of sending any sane person 'round the twist! But there's a relevant joke that would make no sense to Americans, who use "elevator" for what we call a "lift".

A bloke from Tibooburra (well beyond the black stump) had to go to Sydney to visit the head office of his insurance company. When he got to the address, like most such imposing buildings, it had a vast wall of glass with a few doors in it, each with a sign "Push"; he pushed on one and it opened so he went through. A few metres inside this was another, similar wall of glass with similar doors; these each had the sign "Pull". He pulled on one and it opened so he went through and entered a large atrium. The wall opposite was similarly large, was faced with beautiful marble and had a series of stainless steel dooors set into it. He was there for hours, struggling with a door signed "Lift".

Cheers, Rowan