Why is Australia sometimes referred to as "Oz"?

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Tommy

I think it is short form for Aussie

Aussie Hannah

It's actually referred to as "Aus" which is a homonym for "Oz" and since its only refered to as "Oz" in writing, "Oz" is easier to write than "Aus". As a proud Aussie (Although "Aus" is shortened to "Oz" Aussie isn't often shortened to "Ozzie") i only ever write "Aus", I agree with the_mouse....it's kinda like calling American Yanks..

aviatenavigatecommunicate

Well, when you pronounce the "AUS" in Australia, it sounds somewhat like "OZ". Also, people from Australia are referred to as Aussies, just as New Zealanders are referred to as Kiwis and Americans as Yanks.

A lot of people get confused with this and particularly on Yahoo answers, will say something like "I'm going to Aussie" or "What is the weather like in Aussie". This is wrong.

"Aussie" doesn't mean the country of Australia, an Aussie is a person from Australia.

But to answer your question simply, a lot of tourist brochures and tourist paraphenalia, even in Australia, as well as advertising refer to Australia as "Oz".

It has nothing to do with The Wizard of Oz, even though Sydney is sometimes called the Emerald City as a nickname.

LiangMoi

I guess it's because it's the short -form of Aussies .

ll_jenny_ll here

because Our Prime Minister thinks he's a bit of a wizard ... ONLY we all peaked behind the curtain and saw he was really a bit of a garden gnome ;)

But in all seriousness ...It is just a distorted abreviation of Aussie

The_Mouse

We use the word "Aus" a lot and many people simply shortened it to "OZ". Apparently there was a writer who also use "OZ" when he was talking about Australia - and the word sort of stuck.

Most of us here are not offended by its usage. But I think it is nicer to use correct terms "Aust" or "Aus" instead of "OZ". I mean, do you like to be called "Yanks" or American?

roger l

Because in years past, a kindly girl named Dorothy landed here and went on an amazing adventure in order to find the leader of our country (the Wizard of Oz!) so she could find her way back to Kansas! :)
But seriously, it is simply an abbreviation of Australia, much easier to say and pronounce.

mariemlm

cause you don't know how to pronounce Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi and you keep calling us ossies instead of ozzies so we changed it to Oz so you'd say it correctly - as it should sound.

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