Sideswipe: Seriously smooth, Baywatch cool

Icecream maker Del Monte created a Hasselhoff-shaped popsicle for National Ice Cream Month after the star was voted the smoothest TV personality of 2011. It's called the Hoffsicle.

Embracing 'munted'

Jane says she was surprised to see on Nightline the use of the word "munted". "This was referring to the damage done to buildings from the Christchurch earthquake," she explains, adding: "Is there too much New Zealand slang used in news reporting? I would be interested in your thoughts ..."

OK Jane. Here are my thoughts: The reason the word munted is used to describe the physical devastation of Christchurch in news reports is not because of some colloquial brain-fart by Nightline; all media use the term because it has come to mean "ruined" since the quake.

One of the very early quotes on February 22 was from Christchurch resident Jane Smith, who told New Zealand Herald reporters how a work colleague had helped with rescue efforts after a building facade collapsed on a bus on Colombo St. "There's people dead. He was pulling them out of a bus. Colombo St is completely munted," she said.

A few days later the word was being referenced by others: "Our main sewer truck is seriously munted," Mayor Bob Parker told TVNZ. "I believe that is the technical term."

It may be slang, but it perfectly conveys the scale of the devastation, but with a touch of black humour and kiwiness.

Rubbed the wrong way

A reader writes: "Masterpet.co.nz is a classic example of some stupid Australian making a NZ version of an Aussie website assuming that NZ is little more than a state of Australia," says a reader. "They're telling Kiwis how to choose and look after illegal animals, like snakes!"

Do as I say ...

Alex writes: "A parking warden comes to our local dairy and tries to catch cars that park longer than 10 minutes, and in the mornings he uses his camera to catch those who drive in the bus lane on the corner of Dominion and Mt Albert Rd when they're not supposed to. Yet this same man's car is parked in the half-hour zone for hours on end. I don't know what the law is - are they exempt from the law they enforce? - but it's a bit hypocritical, if you ask me."

Language mangling

Michael Smythe writes: "Is there a name for that other form of language-mangling regularly demonstrated by John Banks, the Act candidate for Epsom. One wonders if he is sponsored by a brand of desktop printer when he pronounces his target constituency as Epson. Is this a specific type of malapropism?"

Snoozing away a problem

As Japan looks to save electricity in the northern summer amid its ongoing nuclear crisis, one regional government has come up with a novel solution not usually found in the country's workplaces - siestas. The government of Gifu prefecture is urging its staff to go home for a nap between 1pm and 3pm to cut down on air conditioning and other power usage.