Copago and Tabby, a schooner is 425mls or 15 ounces. Come Ewes - Kim Hughes!

Thanks Dagliesh, it would be rather embarrassing to have a glass slip through my hand. Which reminds me, it is quite normal in an Aussie pub for a huge cheer to go up whenever a glass breaks (the size of the cheer relative to the amount of glasses broken). Is this normal elsewhere in the world?

Dear Magpie - No, my comment was not directed at you. It was just a general comment. Sorry if it appeared as if I was having a go at you - that was not what I intended.

Re: "Except to say this: Mother Goose, I'd hazard a guess that as a recent editor, you don't simply let quiz makers' spelling errors slide, choosing instead to 'appreciate the rich diversity in our linguistic world'. I guess my irritation is provoked not only by spelling, but pronunciation errors. The two usually go hand in hand, anyway".

Pronunciation errors don't bother me unless they are really appalling. But I have to admit I am a fanatic about spelling, punctuation and grammar.

One of the things I find intensely annoying is quiz questions that commence with "what" instead of "which". For example, "What play by Shakespeare ..." instead of "Which play by Shakespeare ...".

I tolerate American spelling (but only just) -

What I find really funny are the major discrepancies between English spelling and pronunciation. For example, "Leicester" being pronounced "lester", Magdalen being pronounced "maudlin" and "Featherstonehaugh" being pronounced "fanshaw".

For those who are interested in the vagaries of the English language, I would recommend Bill Bryson's book "Mother Tongue". It's hilarious. The blurb on the cover says, in part, "He explores the countless varieties of English - from American to Australian, from Creole to Cockney rhyming slang ... with entertaining sections on the oddities of swearing and spelling, spoonerisms and Scrabble, and a consideration of what we mean by "good English". (Of course, while reading this, you have to keep in mind, Bryson's American!)

How did Australia get all these sizes of glasses? Being a Commonwealth country I would have expected you to have pints and halves.

Many moons ago, I went into a pub in Fitzroy, Melbourne, and asked for a schooner- the barman gave me a funny look, and had to climb a ladder to get one of two dust-filled glasses from the extreme top of the bar! He guessed (correctly) that I was from Sydney. All the locals gave me funny looks- they were drinking 'ponies' (7 ounces) against a 15 ounce schooner. Needless to say, I did not stay there long.. Fitzroy had a not-too-welcoming reputation...

Makes mental note to self, when in Australia not to order sherry by the schooner! How odd that it is anything other than a large sherry glass.

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Come Ewes - Kim Hughes!

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D'oh! And I thought it was a Kiwi mating call.

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How did Australia get all these sizes of glasses? Being a Commonwealth country I would have expected you to have pints and halves.

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Most trendy Aussie pubs these days have pint glasses now to compliment the wider variety of beers on offer (most have about 8 on tap). You'd be hard put not to find a Guiness on tap, though I do suspect a 'B' grade formula as it only takes about 30 seconds to pour and serve. I think the Guiness adds go longer than that.

10 years ago you would chose a local pub that served your brand of beer. Up here it was either a XXXX pub or a Carlton pub. The pub was always rough and ready, and you never felt quite safe unless you were in your local.

Schooner glasses are indeed available in all Queensland pubs and most clubs, though the 'pot' glass is the most popular. Mostly old timers in for a long session order a 'glass' or 7 ounce beer as it stays crisp and the bartender is always close by to ensure it's kept full. A guy I play rugby with drinks straight from a jug. Mind you, he's 6'6, 150 kg and the jug looks like a 7 ounce in his huge mittens.

Seven ounce beer? That sounds like a sissie's drink, it isn't even half a pint and 'real men' drink pints! If you watch Corrie, even the women drink pints on there. I enjoy the occasional lager and expect to get half a pint.

Odd lot you Aussies.

Lol Sue.. fair point. I've only ever seen the old timers drink 7's as the small serve doesnt give time for the beer to flatten or go warm.. but they drink plenty of them! Makes sense to me, providing a refill is not far away.

Hehe Sues comment about expecting to get half a pint reminded me of a great old Brit comedy,one of the pub patrons seemed to be continually raising his head from an empty glass and proclaiming "I`ll have half",can`t recall the name of the show.

Loved that show, roos... Was it 'Love thy Neighbour'?

I thought exactly the same as you!

Bottoms up, mate...

Spot on, Ozzz. The guy's name was Jacko.

Ah thanks Oz and Dal i wasn`t sure about the name but the two of you confirmed it.Cheers

I grew up with glasses for spirits, pots for beer and pints for stout...it seems odd to me when I see people drinking normal beer in pints. I can't do it myself, becuase I'll drink a pint as quickly as I drink a pot...although I will always get Guinness in a pint, becuase otherwise it just looks wrong!

I saw an anonymous member looking at this just now and was curious, if you are wondering why such a late (2 years) response...

I have a Funtrivia chat buddy who lives in New York and thinks my accent and vocab are really quite astounding (Goodness knows why..) and although I try to 'Americanize' the wording so he'll understand what the heck I'm on about, sometimes I slip in some Aussie slang here and there un-noticed. I forget that sometimes what I am talking about means something totally different to him. (I have another special pal on the East Coast as well but he's quite tuned in to my Aussiness by now, except when it comes to Vegemite but that's another matter. (I have plans to make him breakfast with it when I visit him...shhhh don't tell him. Oh I forgot, he can read this.)

Moving right along, the point I was trying to make before I drifted off was one day I started being silly with my NY pal and exclaimed "Well pickle my grandmother!" "You're not taking the Kingswood!" Well. You should have seen the hysterics.

All the Aussies out there will know what I mean. And I can't go with out saying:

"Kimmy. Kimmy. Look at me Kimmy. Look at me. Kimmy!"

"I've just polished the dipstick!"

I wonder if 'Kath and Kim' would need subtitles...

Anyway, avagoodweegend and don't forget the Arerogard.

Ozzzzz, If I just told my NY pal I'd polished the dipstick I'd have a heck of a lot of explaining to do....

HA!!!!

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I wonder if 'Kath and Kim' would need subtitles...

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Nah, they would just redo it, and balls it up, like they've done with "The Office".

"Nah, they would just redo it, and balls it up, like they've done with "The Office"."

(ROTFLMAO)