When the new United States Ambassador to Australia incorrectly referred to Lake Burley Griffin, critics were up in arms. But was his faux pas really so bad?
When Arthur B Culvahouse Jr was welcomed as the United States Ambassador to Australia on Wednesday, he made an impassioned speech outside the US Embassy in Canberra., critics were quick to hone in on one mistake: he referred to the jewel in the capital's crown as Lake Burley Campbell.
"It was arranged for me to lay a wreath at your War Memorial in my capacity as a former Regan Administration official," he told the crowd of journalists. "As I exited the War Memorial looking out at Parliament House over Lake Burley Campbell, I then and there decided that … serving as the 26th United States Ambassador to Australia would be the capstone of my career."
Getting Lake Burley Griffin wrong was, undoubtedly, an unfortunate faux pas. But who are we to criticise? Canberrans have a long history with getting place names 'wrong' — we don't pronounce Manuka like the honey, and Telstra Tower, Telecom Tower and Black Mountain Tower are used interchangeably to refer to the same thing.In fact, there are a lot of quirks in the national capital that might take newcomers a little while to get their heads around.
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