Hi! Holger,

On 10/23/2014 09:09 AM, you wrote:

 HG> Good Afternoon Paul,

Thanks.  It was a good afternoon.  How was yours?

 HG>> Cheerio, as they say in England,
 PQ>> I use it often on the phone here.  That and the 'cheers'.

 HG> I haven't talked so much with australasian people that I would know but
 HG> the people on the British Isles do say cheerio.

Around grade 7 or 8, our English teacher did a snappy test of his students'
voices.  It was a characterization thing, discerning how much the Aussie
accent might have degraded even at our early age.

Long version: The class makeup was somewhat skewed by ethnic diversity
however, as many class members were born to immigrants from post-WWII
Europe and other pre-Soviet countries displaced by the Russian hordes.
E.g., I shared a desk with a bloke named Steinitz and the class bully was a
fellow by the name of Horbowski.  So, most classmates spoke some form of
English mixed with the accent of their parents' country of origin (since
their home is where they gained their initial language skills, and had the
most interpersonal contact).  Very few were classified as actually speaking
Australian "strine".

Short version: I was near the 'norm' as I was born to Irish catholics. :) 
In any case, the teacher characterized my voice as 'educated Australian'
which I have found to be the most common accent here over the last 50
years.

 HG> Have a nice whatever,

Nearly Saturday.  :)  And, not long till the Gold Coast 600(?) starts...

Cheers,
Paul.

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