>okay, okay, there are no trams currently in Sydney and yes I did know that >tramways were installed in many Australian cities apart from Melbourne. Just >never heard the expression "off like a Bondi tram". Perhaps a parochial >expression? Adrienne Adrienne Leith wrote "There are no trams in Sydney????". Just to clarify >matters, there used to be an extensive network of tramways in Sydney >with the first electric tram being used in 1879 to carry passengers to >the International Exhibition at the Garden Palace which used to stand in >what is now the Royal Botanic Gardens, just across the road from the >present State Library of NSW. >The expression "off like a Bondi tram" or "shoot through like a Bondi >tram" refers, if I remember correctly, to the fact that that tram was >notorious for not stopping if it were full (which it invariably was as >there was no train line to Bondi then). The other explanation which I >have heard is that it refers to the fact that the Bondi tram was the >last tram to run in Sydney before they stopped them altogether in the >early 1960s. The sayings are quite commonly used, although perhaps more >so in Sydney. Adrienne, being in Melbourne where trams do still run, may >not have been aware that other cities in Australia used to have them >once too. >I realise that this is not exactly Museum-L material but since Harry >keeps on referring to Oz sayings, some others might be interested in >what they mean. >Margaret Perkins >Conservator >Museum of Victoria >Melbourne >Australia Museums Australia (Victoria) Unit 4 19-35 Gertrude Street Fitzroy Vic 3065 AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 3 9416 1945 Fax: +61 3 9416 0523