There is a God....and his name is Jonny!

Australian Grammar.....not

I don't know if it's just me that thinks it's wrong, but shouldn't the comma here be an "and" or at least an "&", if nothing else?  It seems to be generally accepted to place a comma (at least in newspapers) instead of the word "and".  However, it does lead to some confusion, as at first glance the headline doesn't make sense.  You have to you read it two or three times, or just start reading the article, then you realise what the headline is actually referring to.  This isn't just a parochial newspaper issue - I've seen it in "The Australian" too.

I asked a journalist I was sailing with what the reasoning was.  Space - that's it.  Because they can't squeeze the word "and" in, they just put a comma.  These editors, these people who (should have) studied English for four years at university, should know better.  As if people's spelling isn't bad enough already.  If anyone can explain to me how this makes grammatical sense, I would love to know!

Now we are all Australians......

It is an interesting situation to be in.  We have recently been accepted into the Australian fold and now hold dual nationality.  Here we are getting our gongs together with a much more worthy applicant  - a Somalian refugee - and a federal politician.  I think the boys were more thrilled to get tattoo's put on their faces, but don't the look sweet.  

But less than one month later, our new found antipodean nationality is put to the test by the rugby world cup.  To anyone out there who had any doubts as to where the allegiance lies - see the other photo.  "Arise Sir Giteau".  Better luck next time boys.

However I should point out that my 7 year old was in tears after the game - but then he was born in Scotland and is now an Australian!  The next morning, I told him I was going next door (to see our Aussie neighbours) to gloat.  He asked "what does gloat mean?" to which I replied, "come with me, I'll show you".  I have been smiling all week.        Thank you England  :-)