Possum Bourne wins the Canberra car rally, the Crusaders beat the Brumbies in the Super 12 rugby and what do we get from the Aussies? More lip. This from the unofficial Australian guide to conversation with New Zealanders, or Kiwese.
BETTING: "Betting gloves" are worn by betsmen in crucket.
BRIST: Part of the human anatomy between the "nick" and the "billy."
BUGGER: As in "mine is bugger than yours."
CHULLY BUN: Chilly bin, also known as an esky.
COLOUR: Assassin, murderer.
COME YOUSE: Former Australian crucket captain Kim Hughes.
CUSS: Kiss.
DIMMER KRETZ: Those who believe in democracy.
DUCK HID: Term of abuse mostly directed at males.
ERROR BUCK: Language spoken in Arab countries like "Surria", "E-Jupp" and Libernon."
EKKA DYMOCKS: University staff.
ERROR ROUTE: As in "Arnott's error route buskets."
FITTER CHENEY; A type of long flat pasta.
GUESS: Flammable vapour used in stoves.
IGGS: As in steak and eggs, the national dish.
JENDLES: Thongs.
PHAR LAP: New Zealand's most famous horse, actually christened "Phillip."
RIGBY LEG: As in Anzac rugby league test.
SENDLES: Open shoes.
STUCK: What Kiwese eat with eggs.
Plot thickens
The buzz in Britain, now that BMW has sold the Rover Group, is that the first bidder, Alchemy Partners, the London-based venture capitalists, were all along a front for Volkswagen, which wanted unused Rover assembly lines for Golf and Skoda models. Alchemy pulled out at the last minute. The plot has thickened since the new owner of Rover cars, the Phoenix consortium, headed by former Rover chief executive John Towers, hinted that it might lease an assembly line or two to another carmaker. Analysts are saying Rover could learn much from Volkswagen, certainly about how to sell cars.
Ford in focus
The Ford Focus was the best-selling car in the world after the first four months of 2000. Ford sold 228,360 Focus models to the end of April. In Europe, it captured 35 per cent of the total new-car market. Ford is hoping for a top-selling car/pick-up truck double at the end of the year - the Focus and the F-Series. Sales of the car will be further boosted by a special edition Sony Focus, which comes with Sony's premium 460-watt Xplod sound system.
Sales of pick-ups will also be given a lift by a production run in Ford's Canadian factory of 7500 Harley-Davidson F-150s. Yep, it will be named after the famous motorbike. The low-slung, special-edition F-150 is painted black with orange Harley pinstripes and 20-inch chrome wheels. It will be powered by a 195kW 5.4-litre V8.
The European-built Focus unfortunately isn't available here. Ford New Zealand crunched the numbers but the car ended up too expensive to import. Ford went with the Laser instead. The Good Oil spent a day in Malaysia in a 1.8-litre hatchback Focus. It outperforms, outhandles and outrides the Laser.
We are the world
* A churchgoer left a service in Calgary, Canada, to discover his car had been stolen. Police are looking for a fellow who signed the visitors' book, Rob Car.
Aussie lip
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