Is Australia going to drop the bomb?

It has long been the nature of Australians to not take themselves too seriously, and this has never been better reflected than in their language. Australians have a wonderfully irreverent, knockabout vernacular. Nowhere else would being called bastard, poof, dickhead, and various other titles of a derogatory nature, be considered a compliment.

Naturally, like anything that has two meanings, it depends on the way it's said as to how it should be taken. If an Aussie calls you a mongrel, it might be because you've bested him in some sort of competitive exercise, and that he is accepting defeat gracefully and offering you a compliment. But look out if he calls you a flaming mongrel. It's easy to see how someone not raised in Australia could find themselves in all sorts of bother.

With Australia becoming more and more multicultural, and particularly with the endless downpour of American culture in the media, much of the subtlety and nuance, and much of the uniqueness, of the Australian language is being lost. And now, with the recent passing of the new anti-terrorism laws through parlaiment, it looks like another Australian language icon is set to become history.

Australia is going to have to drop the "bomb".

The bomb is a car. More precisely, it's one of those cars that goes past, and you're suprised that it makes it to the end of the street, let alone it's actually running. Chances are, particularly if you're a male, you have owned one at some time in your life. You know the car I'm talking about; faded paintwork, four different coloured doors, a windscreen that leaks in a heavy dew, rust-eaten panels, a hole in the muffler so you can hear it three kilometres away, and blowing a smokescreen they could have used on D-Day. A car that you would swear was going to blow up any second, hence the term "bomb".

The bomb became an Australian icon. It was almost a rite of passage for the adolescent Aussie male to purchase a bomb for his first car. Men would gather at the local watering holes and compare bombs. It was a subject of great hilarity if someone was seen driving a bomb, especially if they were someone generally considered to be well off. When buying a new car, it was common practise to let the Missus have the bomb to run around in. "Strewth! What a bloody bomb!" was the catch cry heard at a majority of male gatherings.

As I mentioned before, new anti-terrorism legislation has been passed. All of a sudden, Aussies now have to think twice before using the words "car" and "bomb" in the same sentence - or even using the term "bomb" to describe a vehicle. Imagine the confusion that could occur.

Someone rings the local authorities to complain that a bomb has been parked at the corner of First and Main for the past week. Who do they send? The RACV or the bomb squad?