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We hate to take the edge off Dame Kiri's celebrations after winning the famous "knickers lawsuit" filed against her after she refused to perform with Australian singer John Farnham, but she is prone to losing her smalls herself. She was sued by Leading Edge Events after she pulled out of the gig saying she was shocked and embarrassed when she saw a DVD of the rocker collecting knickers "as some sort of trophy" during one of his concerts. But it turns out the opera star is no stranger to going commando herself. The soprano forgot to wear knickers in her rush to get to the wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981 - where she sang to a television audience of 700 million people. The embarrassing oversight is revealed in a book about the rise and fall of Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, which gave Dame Kiriher break 36 years ago.
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McDonald's is mounting a new campaign against "demeaning" dictionary definitions of "McJob". The Oxford English Dictionary, considered by many wordsmiths as the gold standard for the English language, is one that will be targeted. It defines the noun as "an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, especially one created by the expansion of the service sector". McDonald's NZ communications manager, Joanna Redfern-Hardisty, chimed in yesterday, saying the definition was not applicable to the New Zealand market. "Our country manager started as a crew person on his 15th birthday and six out of our eight senior team started from rank at the restaurant."
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Angry parents have accused BBC TV character Mr Tumble of greeting toddlers by saying "I'm f****** you" in sign language. The character says the gestures mean "I'm happy to see you". But parents have accused the BBC of jumbling its signals. Father of one Jamie Miller, who works for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf , was stunned when he watched Something Special with daughter Katie, 5. Miller said: "The signs for happy and f****** are quite similar but it was still an awful error to make. Katie, who is learning sign language, asked what the gesture meant. I didn't know what to tell her." He contacted the BBC five times but Mr Tumble - presenter Justin Fletcher - still opens every show by making the same hand-rubbing signal. The BBC denied the blunder, saying it uses Makaton signals, which vary from British Sign Language. Institute spokeswoman Kate Sidwell said: "We advised the BBC that using Makaton would cause confusion." Makaton is used more for children with learning difficulties. In British Sign Language, happy is shown by gently brushing the palms against each other. The swear word is made by brushing the hands together between the thumb and first finger.
