Editing Down Under

{{Short description|Colloquial term usually referring to Australia and New Zealand}}
{{About|the geographical colloquialism||Down Under (disambiguation)|and|Land Down Under (disambiguation)}}
{{For|the song by Men at Work|Down Under (song)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2017}}
[[File:LocationAustralasia.png|thumb|right|Australasia on a map]]
The term '''''Down Under''''' is a [[colloquialism]] differently construed to refer to [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]], or the [[list of islands in the Pacific Ocean|Pacific island countries]] collectively.<ref name="OED">[[Oxford English Dictionary]] (Electronic), Version 4.0, entry for "[http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/57306 down under]". The dictionary records the first published use in 1886 by [[J. A. Froude]] in "Oceana" p. 92 "We were to bid adieu to the 'Australasian'…She had carried us safely ''down under''."</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kids |first1=Thinking |last2=Publishing |first2=Carson-Dellosa |title=Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills, Grade 6 |date=7 March 2016 |publisher=Carson-Dellosa Publishing |isbn=978-1-4838-2415-4 |page=482 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K1GaCwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> The term originally referred solely to Australia and gradually expanded in scope. It comes from the fact that [[Australia]] is in the [[Southern Hemisphere]], "below" almost all other countries on the [[Map#Orientation|usual arrangement of a map]] or globe which places cardinal north at the top.<ref name="OED" /><ref>New Oxford American Dictionary (NOAD2), entry for "Down Under"</ref>

The term has been in use since the late 19th century,<ref>{{cite book |last=Froude |first=James Anthony |author-link=James Anthony Froude |year=2010  |orig-year=1886 |title=Oceana, Or, England and Her Colonies [the colonies of modern day Australia) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108023900 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eIY81q0U1egC&pg=PA19 19], [https://books.google.com/books?id=eIY81q0U1egC&pg=PA92 92]}} — page 19 for details of the specific ship [[SS Australasian (1884)]]. The full sentence on page 92 is "She had safely carried us ''down under'' as the Square gardener put it to me afterwards in London, scarcely believing it could be a reality".</ref> and the persistence of the media use of the term has led to its wide acceptance and usage, especially in reference to Australia. The [[Men at Work]] song "[[Down Under (song)|Down Under]]" became a patriotic rallying song for [[Australians]]. The Russian-Australian boxing champion [[Kostya Tszyu]] was nicknamed "The Thunder from Down Under", as is Australian [[snooker]] player [[Neil Robertson]]. When the then [[Miss Australia]] [[Jennifer Hawkins]] was crowned as [[Miss Universe 2004]] in [[Quito]], [[Ecuador]], she was called by the same nickname by host [[Billy Bush]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVPLPgb-Uj4 Miss Universe 2004 Crowning 3:00]</ref>

According to American [[film critic]] [[Roger Ebert]]'s tongue-in-cheek ''Glossary of Movie Terms'', the ''Down Under Rule'':
{{quote|No film set in Australia is allowed to use the word Australia in its title where “Down Under” is an acceptable alternative. For example, we don't get ''[[The Rescuers Down Under|The Rescuers in Australia]]'' or ''[[Quigley Down Under|Quigley in Australia]]''.}}

The [[Tour Down Under]] is a cycling race in and around [[Adelaide]], [[South Australia]], and since 2009 has been the inaugural event of the [[UCI World Tour]] Ranking calendar, which culminates in the [[Giro di Lombardia]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite web |title=Wanted Down Under |website=BBC |date=22 January 2016 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006s5v8 | access-date=9 September 2018}}
* {{cite web |title=Homepage |website=Down Under Centre |url=https://www.downundercentre.com/ |access-date=9 September 2018}}

[[Category:Culture of Australia]]
[[Category:Culture of New Zealand]]
[[Category:English-language idioms]]