Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

Bogan ... a term used which is roughly equivalent to AmE "trailer
trash". It describes typically plebeian people who go about in UG boots
and very worn jeans, spoting mullet haircuts (soup bowl fringe cut to
ears, and left long at back). Bogans are slow on the uptake, drive cars
with outlandish accessories and parade their lack of insight of the
social world at every opportunity. Contrast with "caffe latte set";
"chardonnay socialists".

No, it's "The Chaser" -- which used to be the name of the teams' mock
newspaper -- written in similar style to "The Onion".

TOF

"The Chaser's war on everything" is the latest of several series put
together by the team called The Chaser. The first was "CNNNN", which
stood for something like "Chaser Network News". That was funny for a
while, but it drove me crazy trying to keep one eye on the main plot and
the other on the scrolling messages at the bottom. What finally spoilt
it for me was that we got some CNN footage rebroadcast during the
genuine news, and I got to see that CNN and CNNNN were essentially the
same thing, except that CNNNN was telling outrageous "truths" for comic
effect while CNN intended us to believe what they were saying.

The next series, as I recall it, was during the run-up to an Australian
Federal Election, and that time the Chaser reporters made a point of
cornering politicians with embarrassing questions ... the sorts of
questions that other reporters were afraid to ask for fear of libel
suits. ("Did you support the Prime Minister when he announced that he
was joining the Americans in the war against Iraq?")

I haven't seen much of The War On Everything. It probably conflicts with
something that SWMBO wants to watch, or something like that. When I do
take a look, I see that they're still willing to tackle topics that
other comedians have put in the "too embarrassing" tray.

Norman Gunston was a pioneer in this sort of "ask embarrassing
questions" school of comedy. He was the sort who, if he were still
around, would slip into a Bush press conference and ask things like "Is
it true that you can't pronounce 'nuclear'?"

[snip]

[snip]

Um, er...

"...A popular misconception is that the Coriolis effect determines
the direction in which bathtubs or toilets drain, and whether water
always drains in one direction in the Northern Hemisphere, and in the
other direction in the Southern Hemisphere. This myth is perpetuated by
the Simpsons episode, Bart Vs. Australia. In reality, the Coriolis
effect is a few orders of magnitude smaller than other random
influences on drain direction, such as the geometry of the sink,
toilet, or tub; whether it is flat or tilted; and the direction in
which water was initially added to it...."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect

Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego

I am a fan of The Chasers - at least their television programmes. One
gag which I had a laugh at involved an unsuccessful 'human statue'
busker erecting a real statue, then sitting back, relaxing, and cleaning
up the takings.

One of the Chaser team (Chas Licciardello) is currently before a
magistrate on charges of some sort or another. He had set up, and
filmed, a stall selling 'weapons' at a Rugby League football match,
where the home team has a reputation for violence. Apparently the
magistrate will be viewing the footage tonight in order to make a decision.

See:  http://tinyurl.com/2b2la2

Stupot

I had no idea what the meant by "Chaser" and guessed it was something
related to ambulence chasers. That is, until I was given a book of
highlights from their magazine that preceeded the TV shows. They have
a graphic of a small glass, suggesting a whisky chaser.

You can see it on their web page here:

http://www.chaser.com.au/

Why this form of chaser, I don't know. Their "History" page says
nothing about it.

http://www.chaser.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=52