21 Million Aussies Tonight

[ausi ski bum 1]

At about 9:30pm Tonight Australia reaches a population of 21 million people.

 

Not that many of us really is there, less that 0.5% of the worlds population

[big-will 7]

Congtatulations! (maybe?)

[soubriquet 0]

They're all coming to Niseko to celebrate.

 

There's the Labor Party, the Liberal Party and the Party party party Party.

[indosnm 0]

With the rate now Soubs it's almost like going to Bali! Why not?

[thursday 1]

looking at the success of your sports teams and individuals as a whole, the percentage of excellent athletes among the general population belies the meager population growth. So where is this athletic energy to pass on the genes?

[bushpig 0]

Well with a negative fertility rate, we actually rely on immigration for the most part.

[ausi ski bum 1]

Yes without immigration the population would be in decline, Australia certainly does punch above its weight when it comes to sport.

[Mantas 3]

 Originally Posted By: thursday

looking at the success of your sports teams and individuals as a whole, the percentage of excellent athletes among the general population belies the meager population growth. So where is this athletic energy to pass on the genes?

Look no further my boy.

Seriously I think it comes down to lifestyle and an abundance of opportunity. Wide open spaces and good weather.

[Go Native 70]

 Originally Posted By: ausi ski bum

Yes without immigration the population would be in decline, Australia certainly does punch above its weight when it comes to sport.

Australia does so well at sport because our governments (national, state and local) spend incredible amounts of money on sporting programs. The most recent data on sport spending is from 2001. Even back then over $2 billion was spent on sporting programs. I doubt many other countries in the world would spend anything near that amount. In the US and Canada much of sport funding is through the private sector rather than government.

Government spending on the environment in 04/05 was around $2 billion. Considering the massive environmental problems facing Australia (salinity, deforestation, extinctions, etc, etc) it shows just how much Australians love their sport

[SirJibAlot 0]

Isn't Australia becoming the second Delhi, full of bobble heads?

[bushpig 0]

what the hell does that mean? It sounds a little racist, but I could be completely wrong...

[SirJibAlot 0]

I don't know that it's racist, I have worked with a number of Indians (lovely people), but thier way of acknoledging (our equivelent of nodding up and down) is quite different from anywhere else in the world and looks quite similar to those popular dashboard 'bobble heads'.

[bushpig 0]

Well obviously no nastiness intended in the comment.

[SirJibAlot 0]

I'm just waiting for that style of nodding to become popular in Aus! hhahahahaha

[Rag-Doll 0]

"bobblehead"!!? WTF? Why is that ok and not any other derogatory term? It bloody well is racist SJA and I'm surprised, and a bit disappointed, that SJ hasn't asked you to edit the post.

 

SJ - what's going on? You guys a sleep at the wheel or what?

[SirJibAlot 0]

Some on - have a sense of humor for goodness sake. Comments that are mean spirited are the problem. if someone calls me a gaijin, it doesn't bother me...but if someone mumbles it as an insult, i'm pissed - see the difference here?

[big-will 7]

Rag-Doll - see that "Notify" link on every single post on these forums? You can use that to directly notify admins if they have missed something you feel is inappropriate. They really cannot be expected to read & evaluate every single post every single day.

 

It seems to me that SirJibs comment wasn't meant to be offensive and it didn't seem anything to get worked up over to me. I suppose people take these things different ways...

[bushpig 0]

I agree he didn't mean it offensively. BUT, I think a lot of harmless names we have for people from other cultures/countries can be pretty offensive to those people. Would you say it directly to them? Probably not. I used to use names like that all the time. Like "curry munchers". I just thought it was an amusing way of talking, but now I try to avoid it. I don't mean it as offensive, so why risk the possibility of offending someone when it's not my intention?

[big-will 7]

Yeah I agree with that.

[Rag-Doll 0]

Sorry for the tone, I was just feeling a bit trollish yesterday and not having a dog to kick and picked on this thread. Apologies to SJ too for having a go at them.

 

Anyway, I don't reckon that just because the term is used in a good natured way or in a joking way makes it any less offensive. Any term that is derogatory or plays on comical stereotypes is a bit off color. I agree with BP, if you wouldn't use it directly to the people involved, then it probably shouldn't be used at all.

 

SJA, using a derogatory term towards yourself is very different to someone else using it and gaijin isn't quite in the same category anyway is it? What is your response to a post on a Japanese website talking about how many big noses are visiting Japanese resorts these days?

 

I'm not personally offended by your post (as a 6th gen Aussie from Anglo-German stock it doesn't apply), but come-on, bobbleheads is no different to curry munchers, towel heads, skinnies, yellow monkeys, our swarthy sub-continent friends, etc. Not nice on a public forum.

 

[Mantas 3]

What is a derogatory term for a "6th generation Ausssie Anglo-German stock" type person anyway?

It seems that derogatory terms are reserved strictly for white Europeans when referring to just about any other race, but not vise versa.

Why is that ???

[Rag-Doll 0]

 Originally Posted By: Mantas

What is a derogatory term for a "6th generation Ausssie Anglo-German stock" type person anyway?
It seems that derogatory terms are reserved strictly for white Europeans when referring to just about any other race, but not vise versa.
Why is that ???

Skip!

I don't know if english has a monopoly on derogatory terms. I reckon every probably language has derogatory slang words for outsiders and others. We only know the English ones because that's what we speak.

I have a chinese malay friend who speaks english but not chinese. He laughs about his childhood when his "friends" would accuse him of being a banana - yellow on the outside but white in the middle! Man, but kids can be cruel.

[SnowJapan#Andrew 6]

While we probably read not far off 100% of what goes up between us, we obviously did miss this one. Sorry for the late response.

 

I have been away in Tokyo since early morning and my colleagues caught up doing other things so there hasn't been much watching of forums going on.

 

On topic - it would be nice if we could avoid potentially offensive and derogatory terms on here.

Your co-operation please.

 

[SirJibAlot 0]

 Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll

What is your response to a post on a Japanese website talking about how many big noses are visiting Japanese resorts these days?

I'd say "What, the Romans are coming?" hahahahaha....

Bobblehead is a description of the head movement and more of a literary description than a derrogatory comment. Towelhead is misleading becuase only Indian Sikhs' where them as well as people of other cultures, infact - Turbans were originally invented to keep cool in the desert heat. The long strip of cloth was soaked in water at a well, and then wrapped around the head. The layers of wet cloth kept wet all day in the hot dry air. This technique was used long before the beginnings of Islamic religions.

Contemporary turbans come in many shapes, sizes, and colors.

Middle Eastern, Central Asian, South Asian, Islamic, and Sikh turban wearers usually wind their turban anew for each wearing, using long strips of cloth. The cloth is usually five meters or less. However, some elaborate South Asian turbans may be permanently formed and sewn to a foundation.
Turbans are worn as women's hats in Western countries. They are usually sewn to a foundation, so that they can be donned or removed easily. Now that fewer Western women wear hats they are less common. However, turbans are still worn by female cancer patients who have lost their hair to chemotherapy and wish to cover their heads. Some women use wigs; others prefer scarves and turbans.
Women of the West Indies often cover their heads with intricately tied scarves which may be called scarves, head wraps, or turbans.
In Western countries such as the United States, Canada, Europe, etc., men seen wearing turbans in public are likely to be Sikhs, who wear turbans to cover the long uncut hair worn as a sign of their commitment to the Sikh faith.

The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman IIHumans have been wearing cloth on their heads since the invention of cloth. Texts and art that survive from many past cultures mention turbans.

The Vedas contain references to turbans called usnisa being worn in Vedic India,
The ancient Persians wore a conical cap sometimes encircled by bands of cloth.
It is believed that the Arabs of the time of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet, wore turbans. The turban was very useful for fending off the desert sand and protecting the face from high temperatures and strong sunlight. A turban signified dignity; knocking off a man's turban was considered an insult. When the great Islamic empires were established, under the first four caliphs, the Umayyads, and the Abbasids, the new rulers wore turbans. Turban-wearing diffused to populations under Islamic rule, even in countries where turbans were not previously worn. However, turbans, like all fashion, waxed and waned in popularity, or shifted from one style to another.
Probably the largest-ever Turbans were worn by high-ranking Turks of the Ottoman period, including soldiers. These were enormous round turbans, wrapped round a hollow cone or framework, that often projected at the top. From the 19th century the Turks mostly gave up the turban for the fez at the same time as they abandoned their kaftan tunics for more Western dress. Broad-rimmed Western hats did not meet the Islamic requirement that the forehead touch the ground during prayer (for which head-gear is not removed) and the Sultan issued a decree enforcing the wearing of the fez, applicable to all religious groups.

1600s painting by Jan VermeerMany contemporary images show European men of the Middle Ages and Renaissance wearing headgear that looks like turbans. These hats are actually chaperons, which could look very similar. Men in Europe were expected to take off their headgear in church, and in the presence of a person of much higher rank, like a king. This is not easy with a turban. Turbans also appear in European religious art, especially in scenes picturing the Holy Land, then inhabited by turban-wearers. Turbans did not become a regular part of European headgear until the late 17th century. Men then shaved their heads and wore heavy wigs; when relaxing at home, they removed the wigs and covered their heads with caps or sometimes turbans.
European women wore an amazing variety of headresses, some of which appear to be wrapped scarves or turbans. If they were turbans, they do not seem to have been all that common. In the late 18th century and early 19th, turbans became fashionable headgear for women. [5] The first recorded use of the English word "turban" for a Western female headress is in 1776 (OED). As with all styles, they have waxed and waned in popularity. Later Victorians wore wrapped toques; turbans were fashionable in the early 20th century. [6] , [7]. The French couturier Poiret was known for his Orientalist designs featuring turbans. Turbans were fashionable in the 1940s and 1950s [8], [9]; one name given them was cache-misère (French, "hide misery"), a chic solution to a bad-hair day. [10] After a precipitous decline in hat-wearing during the 1960s, turbans are rarely seen.

In some western countries a number of turban-wearers have been attacked or abused on the mistaken assumption that all men wearing turbans are Muslims. Sikh men wearing turbans have been harassed or even killed because of their headgear. One widely publicized incident was the murder of Balbir Sodhi. In fact, North American and European Muslims rarely wear turbans, preferring the small skullcap often called a kufi.

A towel in the otherhand is a piece of absorbent fabric or paper used for drying or wiping. It draws moisture through direct contact using a blotting or a rubbing motion.

A bath towel is usually made of terrycloth, with absorbing fibres, along with a decorative pattern. A beach towel is usually a little bit larger than a bath towel. Although it is often used for drying off after being in the water, its chief purpose is to provide a surface to lie on. They are also worn for privacy while changing clothes in a public area, and for wiping sand from the body or objects. Beach towels often have colourful patterns printed or woven into them.
A bath towel is used for drying one's body after bathing or showering. It is typically rectangular, with a typical size around 30"×60" (75×150 cm). A large bath towel is sometimes called a bath sheet. Some smaller bath towels are designed for use as bath mats.
A hand towel is significantly smaller than a bath towel (perhaps 30x60 cm), and is used for drying one's hands after washing them.
A washcloth (or wash cloth) is a small square about the width of a hand towel, and is used by wetting, applying soap to the towel, and then using the towel to apply the soap to skin. This increases abrasion, and can remove dead skin cells from the skin more effectively than just manual application and rubbing of soap. These are mostly American, less common in Europe.
A change of towels, as supplied by maid service in an American-style hotel, is one bath towel, one hand towel, and one washcloth.
A paper towel is a piece of paper that can be used once as a towel and then be disposed of. A perforated roll of paper towels is normally mounted on a rod a little longer than the width of the roll, or in an alternative type of hanger that has indentations on ears, the indentations fitting into the ends of the paper towel roll. Paper towels can also be found packaged like facial tissues, as individual folded sheets.

Fibres in a tea towel.A tea towel (British English) or dish towel (American English) is a cloth which is used to dry dishes, cutlery, etc., after they have been washed. In 18th century England, a tea towel was a special linen drying cloth used by the mistress of the house to dry her precious and expensive china tea things. Servants were considered too ham-fisted to be trusted with such a delicate job, although housemaids were charged with hand-hemming the woven linen when their main duties were completed.[citation needed] Mass-produced tea towels were produced during the Industrial Revolution. Today pictorial tea towels make charming and collectible souvenirs, and are occasionally used as wall decorations in European restaurants
A Foot towel is a small, rectangular towel which, in the absence of a rug, carpet or bathroom mat, is placed onto the part of the bathroom floor onto which the owner plans to first step after emerging from the shower, or, less frequently, bath.
A show towel is a sub species of the common bath or hand towel that has had trim, such as satin, lace or linen stitched onto it, or embroidery done on it, mainly to simply "look nice". They are used to add a decorative touch, usually to a bathroom, most commonly in the USA. They should not be used to actually dry anything, as regular washing ruins the added trim, and the towel buckles as well (because the towel usually shrinks differently than the trim). [1]
A wet towel (oshibori) is used in Japan to wash one's hands before eating. It is often given to customers of an izakaya.
A sweat towel is often of similar size to a hand towel, and can be required in gyms in order to wipe down the machines after use.
The term kitchen towel can refer to either a dish towel or to a paper towel, the latter usage being primarily British. So I would argue that bobblehead is a tad more accurate than towelhead - and probably less offensive as the turban is clearly not made from the same materials as towels, but the heads most sertainly shake from side to side.

[bushpig 0]

Um, right...