It has wallabies, you know

Lonely Planet's new New Zealand guidebook has attracted the usual media coverage and quotations, with New Zealanders as ever interested in how the rest of the world views their country, and in particular sensitive to any criticism, implied or direct.  This self-analysis has extended to the small South Canterbury town of Waimate.  The Timaru Herald observed that '...while Timaru has escaped the sharper edge of Lonely Planet's tongue, Waimate has been ignored completely'.

 

For the record, Waimate has its own discreet charms including its own wallaby colony, the subject of an annual hunt.  And the town's not short of amenities either; for instance, it will soon boast a brand new public toilet!

 

- Timaru Herald, 19 August 2008

All-purpose acronyms

'According to the latest US Department of Defense contracts bulletin, John Deere Construction has won a $46.7 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract for 300 Tractor, Rubber Tired, Articulated, Steering, Multi-Purpose (TRAM). So a tram, another name for a streetcar, it seems is actually an acronym. Does this mean that the following applies...

BUS: Box, upright, with seats
CAR: Carriage, automotive, reverses
TAXI: Tatty automobile, xenophobe inside'

- Flight International, 5-11 December 2006