In quite an unanticipated turn of events I have traveled to Australia twice over the last couple of years. To my surprise some of what I encountered in Australia was quite familiar—eerily familiar at times. To be sure the inclination to shorten words into fun abbreviations (as in the case of brekkie and barbie for breakfast and barbecue or Ozzie and Tazzy for Australia and Tasmania) was rather novel and the proliferation of espresso machines to every cot and corner of the country was quite inexplicable as well (though much appreciated). But in many other ways Australia smacked of the Read more