The credible and reliable Macquarie Dictionary has this to say: "Well, both are actually fine to use in Australian English. While the spelling ‘donut’ has typically been regarded as an American spelling, it was made popular in Australia through advertising. This has given it a boost in frequency to the point where it is now simply an alternative spelling in Australian English. The important thing to remember is consistency in your spelling choice.”
Oddie prefers ‘donut’ because he doesn't like trying more than is absolutely necessary.
Those ad guys change everything
Oddie remembers a time when people would hoon on a jet ski, or a jet ski would be used for a daring escape from the long arm of the law.
Nowadays police refer to personal water craft or PWC, which is a politically correct term for jet ski and doesn't link one brand of them to bad behaviour.
Thankfully though offenders still decamp in a particular direction.
Decamping along the river
Oddie went for a long decamp along the Goulburn River after being released from home detention. And boy has it changed.
For a start there's water, lots of it, but there's also the blossom of spring, birds making mates and busily building their nests and the wonderful smells of the bush.
It's amazing how much you miss the little things when you are deprived of them, even for two short weeks.
Shout the bar, NOW!
The late and much loved publican and raconteur Stan Zurcas used to cop a ribbing when he walked into the main bar at Shepparton's Sherbourne Terrace to greet the regulars each night.
Mutterings of "shout the bar" were resisted so Stan could engage in some cheeky banter, and the story went that he would wait until it had quietened down before reaching into his pocket.
Shouting the bar even once Shepparton opens up won't be much of a stretch, with only 10 seated customers allowed. Oddie expects the regulars will stay respectfully quiet in the knowledge that it is impossible for publicans to make a quid with such a miserly "opening up".
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