We greatly appreciate readers’ letters concerning Australian English, and although there is never space enough to print all information and queries in Ozwords,you can be assured that all material is followed up. Thus we are looking at the use of yak to describe Brahman cattle in Queensland; at the possibility that the term durriefor a cigarette may be connected with the signature Douwe Egbertson packets of Drum(rather than with the brand Bull Durham); at the use of Boolooloola tongueto describe meat containing much gristle; at one reader’s claim that the word cheerio(regarded as a Queensland term for a ‘cocktail frankfurt’) was known in Bendigo; and at the origin of mutt-eye(or mutti)for ‘corn’ in the Kempsey-Taree area—and so on.

The Centre’s home page on the Internet is attracting many ‘visitors’. We are pleased that some teachers from the United States have taken up our school project ‘How to Make Your Own Dictionary’. Other American teachers set class exercises asking students to find out the meanings of Australian words; and the students—these young denizens of cyberspace—manage to find our home page, and email us with requests for the answers! The Centre is keen to expand its links with Australian schools, especially via our home page, where there are school projects and information about Australian words. For those with access to the Internet, the address is: http://www.anu.edu.au/ANDC

Frederick Ludowyk
Editor, Ozwords