G'day Callie, Charlie, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all,

There has been some behind the scenes organising going on for a quite session in the inner suburbs ... not too many details as the residents of the target are on the other side of the world. I will e-mail Charlie off 'Cat and see how much stretch there is.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX More Thoughts on Oz (carries on from 5 or so posts up)

Out of the interest of it, I checked the historical usages cited in The Australian National Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Australia, 1988:

In 1908 we find The Bulletin (popular journal ... "The Bushman's Bible") using "South Oss" for South Australia.

In 1944 we find, in Barging About: Organ of the 43rd Australian Landing Craft Company: "All the Tribes of Oz did gather together."

The subsequent citations all come from the '70s onwards ... ~ contemporary with Richard Neville's magazine. I see the spelling as a statement of post-colonial ... even post-modern ... sentiment:. rejecting or reshaping 'given' names so that (for instance) New Guinea becomes Nuigini and Gilbert (Islands) becomes Kiribati (pronounced kir-a-bas!).

Regards,

Bob Bolton