Spindoc,

You'll have to excuse me for not concentrating to my fullest girlie extent, but I was nursing a bowl of icing sugar, cocoa and butter on knee, stirring it and posting at the same time (I believe that's called multi-tasking:)

Anyway, it gave you a reason to snipe back at me - and Mr13 is now happily scoffing chocolate cake - so everyone's happy : )

As usual, Poirot has zoomed in on the critically important: a 'girl' Poirot is definitely NOT and that applies in spades for the two other seniors.

As will doubtless be mentioned one day on the ABC, in New Matilda, The Conversation or Fairfax - whose 'journalists' (a description to be taken loosely in modern times) xerox from the BBC and there is a time lag, but we need not wait for that - that 'G' word is sexist and the BBC has ruled accordingly.

<Now BBC bans the G-word: Sports reporter joked that he’d been beaten in judo bout by a 19-year-old GIRL... so ‘sexist’ word cut from broadcast
Mark Beaumont, 31, made joke after being hurled to floor by judo champion
Remark aired in full when programme first broadcast last month
Show was edited when rebroadcast last week to remove word
Athlete herself Cynthia Rahming left bemused: ‘I wasn’t offended – I didn’t find it sexist'
Mariella Frostrup and Miriam O'Reilly support BBC stance
Anthea Turner and Kathy Lette both think corporation's edit was wrong>

http://tinyurl.com/kmp33j6

It is a timely reminder to always refer to the voluminous PC Dictionary and where in doubt, always self-censor.

BTW, in case anyone is wondering, it is is NOT censorship when political correctness is applied to delete something that could cause offence to the serially sensitive and is therefore PC 'unapproved'.

"As usual, Poirot has zoomed in on the critically important: a 'girl' Poirot is definitely NOT and that applies in spades for the two other seniors."

Lovely sentiment there, otb, - thanks for that.

One can almost hear the mature gentlemanly timbre of your kindly musings...nice bit of tag-teaming too.

You fellas always show us how these things are done best.

The vexed problem of how to address the feminist dinosaurs left over from the previous century, make that Last Millenium, is solved by the ruling by Swedish ruling that the non-sexist term is 'hen'. That being the radfem preference of arguably the most radfem country on the planet, 'hen' it will be.

Fortunately, that is where Australia has led the feminist pack. -Aussies are proactive and the term 'hen' has been in use for a long time and is already well-entrenched within the Australian vernacular and used by women and their menfolk, for example the reference to 'Hens Parties', Hens Night' and so on.

'Chooks' is the affectionate plural. That is something to squawk about - Sweden's hens are playing catch-up to the Land Down Under.

Being Australian for me will be celebrating with my friends who will be sharing the oath. They have come from Africa and the Phillipines. Great guys and very thankful to be in this blessed land.

Dear Hasbeen,

I'm so pleased that you've understood the point of
this discussion. Thank You. It's always educational
to learn how the "other half" lives.

Dear Poirot,

Analytically speaking, some of these guys are talking
out of their rear ends.

We can all act like classic Grumpy Old Men is we so choose.
However, when we look at our children and our
grand-children we soon realise that they turned out
rather well - and the future will be pretty safe in their
hands. The following link confirms this. It's written by
a young school kid, an 11 year old from Toowoomba, Queensland
on what it means to be Australian:

http://www.asg.com.au/assets/files/what_it_means_to_be_australian.pdf