Moving right along - language

We're going to be moving soon - as an American would say it. As an Australian would say it, we'll be moving house. Oddly, these are expressions that neither the Americans nor the Australians have quite right. Of course we're moving - as if there would come a day when we lie entirely motionless? And neither my wife nor I are strong enough to move a house. Its contents, perhaps - so in that regard the Australians are a bit closer to being correct. In the U.S., we'd potentially call a mover, or if we're going upscale, perhaps a relocation specialist. Australians would call a removalist. A removalist? An American might think that an odd expression for a hit man. A removalist might potentially just remove; if you want to get rid of your belongings. But a removalist might also place. That is, they might place your items in your new residence. There are no placists.

More specifically, we would be relocating our residence. Well, not the actual residence - we'll be changing the address at which we live. So in Australian, we might be moving residence, or moving address, but I don't think Australians say that; at least that I've heard (don't quote me on that one).

Let's say we'll be changing neighborhoods. I've heard Australians sneer at that spelling of neighbourhood, but let me tell you something. The Americans are going to win on the word neighborhood. Why? Because eventually a generation of Australians, perhaps texting without spell-check, will get tired of that extra "u". Then again, maybe the Americans won't win - horses neigh, but parliamentarians nay. And some day neigh could get the nay.

1789? 1776?

From Ethics and Law for Australian Nurses by Kim Atkins, Bonnie Britton, and Sheryl de Lacy:

The ideas of the Enlightenment - individual liberty and the moral equality of all persons - inspired the French Revolution in 1789, which replaced the hereditary monarchy of France with a democratic government. This became the model for political reform across Europe, Great Britain and the colonies in the Americas and Australia. This is why the French Revolution is considered to be so historically significant.

Leaving out a few words, are the authors actually saying that "The French Revolution in 1789...became the model for political reform...(in) the colonies in the Americas"? I believe there's a group of about 300 million people on a different continent who were taught at a very young age that in 1776, a document was adopted that says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The framers of the American constitution not only had the ideas of the Enlightenment as a basis, but also the constitution of The Iroquois Confederacy of Nations as a model.

Eurocentrism?

Redwoods in New Zealand

Visiting the north island of New Zealand.  I had spotted a redwood forest at the edge of Rotorua.  Here's the story from the brochure: In 1899 trees from all over the world were planted here to determine which of 171 species would grow well. Of the trees planted,  the radiata pine became an important commercial species. The  redwoods also thrived and a grove of 15 acres remains.