Lindy the Libarian

Question

John Anderson is the leader of the National Party (recently rebranded as "The Nationals"), junior partner in Australia's ruling Coalition government. As such, he enjoys the title of Deputy Prime Minister, although few Australians would be able to name him if challenged.

Today, on ABC radio, he was talking about "Peter and Lindy", the fictional protagonists of the new Nat Party TV campaign, which will depict this 30ish regional couple as the face of the new bright go-ahead Nationals.

Peter is a worker in secondary industry, and Lindy is a "libarian".

Is this her Star Sign or is she from the remote African nation of Libaria?

Do Libarians exist in other parts of the English speaking world? And if so, are they invoked by dignitaries as exalted as Deputy Prime Ministers?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]John Anderson is the leader of the National Party (recently rebranded as "The Nationals"), junior partner in Australia's ruling Coalition ... parts of the English speaking world? And if so, are they invoked by dignitaries as exalted as Deputy Prime Ministers?[/nq]
There are indeed. A few seconds googling reveals the problem is not confined to Oz. It seems that omitting the first 'r' is a fairly common form of finger trouble in the typing of "librarian". Libarians are employed in Oz, Cda, the US, NZ and the UK, though far fewer in that last country. Many of them work at "libaries". That seems fair.

KHann

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]John Anderson is the leader of the National Party (recently rebranded as "The Nationals"), junior partner in Australia's ruling Coalition government. As such, he enjoys the title of Deputy Prime Minister, although few Australians would be able to name him if challenged.[/nq]
That's the problem with having a coalition where one of the partners is so insignificant. The Nationals no longer have the numbers needed to justify the power they hold. Their influence is based partly on tradition and partly on the back-room horse-trading that is one of the realities of politics.
[nq:1]Today, on ABC radio, he was talking about "Peter and Lindy", the fictional protagonists of the new Nat Party TV ... parts of the English speaking world? And if so, are they invoked by dignitaries as exalted as Deputy Prime Ministers?[/nq]
Don't be fooled by the "Nationals" label. Many of us are old enough to remember that they're really the Country Party. Fluency in English is not one of the high-priority criteria for selection as a candidate by that party. It's much more important to have a big hat, and to be able to give a speech while munching on a piece of straw. It also helps to have a wife who is good at making scones.
To be fair, I have to say that dropping that "r" is probably common in rural Australian accents. My own father still says "Febuary" and "secketry".
It would be interesting to find out how Anderson says "nucular".

Peter Moylan (Email Removed) http://eepjm.newcastle.edu.au (OS/2 and eCS information and software)

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"Peter Moylan" (Email Removed) wrote in message > Don't be fooled by the "Nationals" label. Many of us are old
[nq:1]enough to remember that they're really the Country Party.[/nq]
Too true. We also recall the almost certainly apocryphal story of (insert name of any rural politician here) proudly proclaiming "I'm a country member" and receiving a chorus of replies from the other side of the House: "We remember!"

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]John Anderson is the leader of the National Party (recently ... they invoked by dignitaries as exalted as Deputy Prime Ministers?[/nq]
There are, I suppose, tens or hundreds of thousands of them in the U.S., but few of them refer to themselves that way.

I'm not sure anyone here works in secondary industry, though. What is it?
[nq:1]Don't be fooled by the "Nationals" label. Many of us are old enough to remember that they're really the Country ... while munching on a piece of straw. It also helps to have a wife who is good at making scones..[/nq]
Hm. I was wondering what a "regional couple" was. Did you just shed some light on it? Or do Peter and Lindy belong to whatever region the ads are shown in (so they'd have to change the way they say "dance"), sort of like Mr. and Mrs. Everywhere in Stand on Zanzibar ?

Jerry Friedman

Usenet · Answer

"Jerry Friedman" wrote in message >
[nq:1]I'm not sure anyone here works in secondary industry, though. What is it?[/nq]
Primary industry: Growing stuff or digging it out of the ground Secondary industry: Turning it into pies, shoes, cars or Pentium IV processors
Tertiary industry: Selling it or doing some essentially useless adjunct like making TV advertisements about it
Are these terms unknown outside Australia?
[nq:1]Hm. I was wondering what a "regional couple" was.[/nq]
People who live in "the regions", that is not in the big cities but not on farms either. They live in towns and small cities that have banks but not stock exchanges.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I'm not sure anyone here works in secondary industry, though. What is it?[/nq]
[nq:1]Primary industry: Growing stuff or digging it out of the ground Secondary industry: Turning it into pies, shoes, cars or Pentium IV processors Tertiary industry: Selling it or doing some essentially useless adjunct like making TV advertisements about it Are these terms unknown outside Australia?[/nq]
Never heard of them myself, but perhaps they're in use. Your comment on the last one seems cruel and uncalled-for. In the tertiary category goes such things as the selling of medical equipment, and we all know the pain and heartbreak involved in that profession.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Tertiary industry: Selling it or doing some essentially useless adjunctlike making TV advertisements about it Are these terms unknown outside Australia?[/nq]
[nq:1]Never heard of them myself, but perhaps they're in use. Your comment on the last one seems cruel and uncalled-for. In the tertiary category goes such things as the selling of medical equipment, and we all know the pain and heartbreak involved in that profession.[/nq]
You are SO right!
On behalf of all Australians I would like to extend a heartfelt and humble apology to all marketers of medical equipment and anybody anywhere who has ever been involved in the commercial transactions necessary to the transfer of vital lifesaving drugs, machines or techniques and who was offended by my cruel and uncalled-for comments about the noble profession of TV advertising, without which, as we all know, hospitals and medical sugeries the world over would lack the supplies necessary to sustain the lives of children, old people and the mentally challenged.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I'm not sure anyone here works in secondary industry, though. What is it?[/nq]
[nq:1]Primary industry: Growing stuff or digging it out of the ground Secondary industry: Turning it into pies, shoes, cars or Pentium IV processors Tertiary industry: Selling it or doing some essentially useless adjunct like making TV advertisements about it Are these terms unknown outside Australia?[/nq]
I can't speak for leftpondia, but I'm certain the terms haven't crossed into general use in the UK. They're exceedingly familiar to anyone who's studied economics and/or economic geography, but I suspect outside of such fields they're pretty well unknown.

I'm curious, though: does general Australian usage extend to the related terms/concepts of "backward" and "forward" industrial links?

It's interesting when this sort of jargon in the non-judgemental sense of that term creeps into general circulation. The town planning/zoning classification of "Central Business District" has worked its way into common usage in some countries; it always strikes me as town planners talking solely to town planners when I see a sign pointing to the "CBD", but it's clearly understood by the general population.
(Again, "CBD" is one of those terms that's not in general circulatin in the UK probably because planning here doesn't really use "zoning" in the North American sense of that term, and the term doesn't mean the same thing.)

Cheers, Harvey
Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years;
Southern England for the past 21 years.
(for e-mail, change harvey to whhvs)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]On 16 Oct 2003, vicdam wrote[/nq]
[nq:1]I can't speak for leftpondia, but I'm certain the terms haven't crossed into general use in the UK. They're exceedingly ... well unknown. I'm curious, though: does general Australian usage extend to the related terms/concepts of "backward" and "forward" industrial links?[/nq]
What about using "downstream" and "upstream" in this sort of context? I've heard that used in AmE, but in fairly specialized discussions. For example, Coop, as a medical equipment salesperson, is pretty far downstream.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]On 16 Oct 2003, vicdam wrote[/nq]
~~snip~~
[nq:2]I'm curious, though: does general Australian usage extend to the related terms/concepts of "backward" and "forward" industrial links?[/nq]
[nq:1]What about using "downstream" and "upstream" in this sort of context? I've heard that used in AmE, but in fairly specialized discussions. For example, Coop, as a medical equipment salesperson, is pretty far downstream.[/nq]
"Upstream" and "downstream" certainly make sense, but when I was studying economic geography (early 1970s) the terms were definitely "backward" and "forward" links.
I've not noticed "upstream" and "downstream" in general circulation any more than "backward" and "forward" links, though as far as I'm aware, both sets of terms remain in specialist rather than common use.

Cheers, Harvey
Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years;
Southern England for the past 21 years.
(for e-mail, change harvey to whhvs)

Lindy the Libarian

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