What is an Oz traveler/
 

<BR>I'm new.What is an OZ?????

New Zealander?

Close: Australian. From the pronunciation of the first syllable.

It's not Oswald State Prison?

Munchkins from down under

Australians refer to their country as &quot;Oz&quot;.<BR>Shortened from &quot;Aussie&quot;, which is what they call themselves.<BR>With their accent, &quot;Aussie&quot; sounds a bit like &quot;Ozzy&quot;.<BR>Hence the &quot;Oz&quot; contraction.

Try not to confuse Aussies (Ozzies) with people from New Zealand - we are kiwis (after the flightless bird of that name which is native to New Zealand). It is like calling Canadians American.

Kiwi-boy,<BR>What do you mean? Aren't Canadians American?

My question is this--&quot;Oz Traveller&quot; is on every board with questions.But why does he/she append the question with ....&quot;for Oz Traveller&quot;?Wouldn't the information being requested apply to ANY traveller? I dont get the connection.I.E.,info on a Round-The-World trip unless specific details are supplied would be the same for an American as it would be for someone from Ireland??

Professor, I figured it was because Oz Traveller was alerting us to the fact that he's not a US citizen, and any advice given should take that into consideration. I'd be more explicit and explain things more for someone who was a foreigner as opposed to giving directions or recommendations etc. to someone from say, Chicago.

Actually, the real reason people say they are from OZ or any other country other that US, is that nobody will bash them. If you pretend you are from Ireland and ask about a hotel, nobody will tell you to do a search, or call you names. Well, I should exclude Canadians, because they get bashed as much as US citizens. We seem to have a soft spot for any other country.