The term ''Down Under'' is a

colloquialism Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

differently construed to refer to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, or the Pacific island countries collectively.

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

(Electronic), Version 4.0, entry for
down under
. The dictionary records the first published use in 1886 by J. A. Froude in "Oceana" p. 92 "We were to bid adieu to the 'Australasian'…She had carried us safely ''down under''." The term originally referred solely to Australia and gradually expanded in scope. It comes from the fact that

is in the Southern Hemisphere, "below" almost all other countries on the usual arrangement of a map or globe which places cardinal north at the top. The term has been in use since the late 19th century, and the persistence of the media use of the term has led to its wide acceptance and usage, especially in reference to Australia. The

Men at Work Men at Work are an Australian rock band that was formed in Melbourne, 1979. They were best known for breakthrough hits such as " Down Under", " Who Can It Be Now?", " Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and ...

song " Down Under" became a patriotic rallying song for

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

. The Russian-Australian boxing champion

Kostya Tszyu Konstantin Borisovich "Kostya" Tszyu ( ; rus, Константин Борисович «Костя» Цзю, , kənstɐnʲˈtʲin bɐˈrisəvʲɪtɕ ˈkosʲtʲə ˈdzːʲu; born 19 September 1969) is a Russian-Australian former professional b ...

was nicknamed "The Thunder from Down Under", as is Australian

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

player

Neil Robertson Neil Alexander Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player, who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and former List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He ...

. When the then

Miss Australia Miss Australia was an Australian beauty pageant held from 1908 until 2000. It was replaced by Miss World Australia from 2002, and Miss Universe Australia from 2004. From 1926 to 1991 the program operated as the Miss Australia Quest, after which ...

Jennifer Hawkins Jennifer Hawkins-Wall (née Hawkins; born 22 December 1983) is an Australian TV host, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2004. She had previously been crowned Miss Universe Australia 2004. She was the host of '' Australia's ...

was crowned as

Miss Universe 2004 Miss Universe 2004 was the 53rd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Centro de Convenciones CEMEXPO in Quito, Ecuador on 1 June 2004. At the end of the event, Amelia Vega of the Dominican Republic crowned Jennifer Hawkins of Australia as Miss U ...

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, she was called by the same nickname by host

Billy Bush William Hall Bush (born October 17, 1971) is an American radio and television host. He is a member of the Bush family, a nephew of former president George H. W. Bush and cousin of former president George W. Bush and former Florida governor Jeb B ...

.Miss Universe 2004 Crowning 3:00
/ref> According to American

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

's tongue-in-cheek ''Glossary of Movie Terms'', the ''Down Under Rule'': The

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (currently branded as the Santos Tour Down Under for sponsorship reasons) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia. It is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and UCI Women’s WorldTour ...

is a cycling race in and around

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, and since 2009 has been the inaugural event of the

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

Ranking calendar, which culminates in the

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia (), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Cycling monument, Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycli ...

References

Further reading