Talk:Down Under

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Untitled[edit]

From the sentence

Despite the term's wide use elsewhere in the English-speaking world, it is rarely used by Australians themselves, many of whom regard it with some derision as a nickname bestowed by inhabitants of other countries.

i've removed the portion i have bolded here. I might have simply replaced it with "and others' use of it is seldom welcome." But

  • as it was it used too many words to say too little;
  • i fear that equivalent alternative omits the real point the previous version was hoping to express, and that its author would feel mentioning unwelcomeness without going on to mention derision was suggesting it is merely unwelcome, and
  • i hope someone better informed can tell us whether Australians find it merely foreign, offensive, an insipid insult, tired, ignorant, or what. I'd like to see replacement language back in the article, telling us more about how and why they deride it.

BTW, it doesn't help that "bestowed" is unencyclopedic, be being either overly florid or ironic, and that "inhabitants of other countries" is four words where "foreigners" would not be misunderstood.
--Jerzy•t 05:10, 24 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Comment on the bold part:
As an Aussie, I can tell you that Aussie's do not find the term "Down Under" derisive in any manner;
in fact, "Down Under" is spoken with pride!
Inhabitants of other countries are not the ones bestowing this term upon Australians, it is we ourselves who did this (with pride).
and it is not true that it is rarely used by Aussies, it just seems that way because it can be interchanged with the term "Oz". ,br.--A proud Aussie

Factual Error[edit]

The term is not seen as derisive at all. Just look up Down Under in yellowpages.com.au! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mike40033 (talk • contribs) 03:59, 9 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

So that's where it comes from?[edit]

I'd always assumed that the use of "Down Under" to mean Australia was more or less restricted to the British Isles, or at least Europe, with Australia being commonly regarded as our antipodes, therefore "under" us from our point of view. In fact, Australia isn't quite on the opposite side of the world to us, but the concept extends. (When seeing someone digging what seems a deep hole, some might jokingly ask, "You digging to Australia?") On this basis, one shouldn't be surprised that Australians rarely use the term, as to them it would mean Europe.

But according to this, it comes from the fact that it's in the southern hemisphere. But then why Australia rather than the southern parts of Africa or South America, or even more appropriately, Antarctica?

Moreover, do Australians still consider north to be at the top of a map and south at the bottom? The Book Can You Believe Your Eyes? (I'm not sure when I last read it) shows an "upside-down" map of the world and notes from what I recall that, when Australian students are asked to draw a map of the world, they will often draw something resembling it. -- Smjg 17:38, 7 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I am a New Zealander, and to you guys, that's probably very similar, so I can probably say that no, that is not the case, maps are drawn the same way here as anywhere, and we know that we are the ones on the bottom of the world, and that you are the ones up there. Interesting thoughts though. :-) --Taitey 06:03, 20 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That whole "Australians draw upside-down maps" thing made me laugh. ;) --Candy-Panda 08:12, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The rule "north is up" is an arbitrary one that we all use to avoid confusion. "South is up" would be equally legitimate. - Redmess (talk) 18:33, 12 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What a load of tripe[edit]

The term down under is used to refer to Australia SOLELY. I have never heard anyone in my long life refer to NZ as "Down Under". The song is about Australia, the broader world-wide community refers to Australia as Down Under, and thus I am removing all references to NZ. 10:30, 26 November 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.45.229.169 (talk)

  • YES the term down under is used to refer to Australia SOLELY. But it is sometimes used wrongly to refer to New Zealand due to it close proximity to the larger Australia.

Well that may be your opinion, but my Oxford American Dictionary defines "Down Under" as "Australia and New Zealand." Regarding the origin of the term, it says "with reference to the position of these countries on a globe." I'm not going to search through the history to figure out which parts you took out, but I'm going to take out the word "wrongly" that you apparently added. Westknife (talk) 13:24, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Westknife "I'm going to take out the word "wrongly" that you apparently added" we did not just only add THAT word we where trying to stop the number of edit wars on this Article!!! [our edit] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.162.35.60 (talk) 19:47, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Tripe indeed — from the original questioner! It is a long-held and widely accepted fact that 'down under' is a term originated in Britain used as an informal definition of both Australia AND New Zealand. Maybe the original IP poster should remove their arrogant and ignorant blinkers and examine its full definition in a hard copy of a British OED. Kfz-Technik Deutsch-Techniker (talk) 19:17, 20 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Ebert[edit]

The Ebert quote is tongue in cheek, right? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 213.17.66.42 (talk) 08:50, 3 May 2007 (UTC).[reply]

The land down under refers to the passage under a road in London that convicts walked through on there way to the transportation ships. It has nothing to do with the geographical location of Australia this article is wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.120.116.180 (talk) 01:11, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Enough with this! New Zealanders need the camaraderie that comes with the Australian connection just as much as Australians do. We are both down under, and we both refer to ourselves as such. The petty partisan bickering of some few who for whatever reason seek to divide us DO NOT MATTER!!
Kiwis say g’day. Kiwis eat Vegemite (and marmite), and Kiwis are DOWN BLOODY UNDER!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.198.154.169 (talk) 11:23, 8 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Stop taking New Zealand out[edit]

...unless you can find a cite that says the term means Australia only. A while ago I added a cite, listed as [1] I believe, from a dictionary which states that it includes both countries. Westknife (talk) 21:30, 22 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

On second thought, I rewrote the sentence to what it is now. I hope this is a reasonable compromise. Westknife (talk) 21:34, 22 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's not really, the term 'Down Under' is almost exclusively used for Australia, not New Zealand, and they're welcome to it. That the article doesn't express this is inaccurate.121.73.221.187 (talk) 09:53, 20 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
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