Looking for an aussie

[Royce Wiles]

Hi Lars

>"Happy hours, discount drinks and irresponsible promotions such as laybacks
>were found to be a prime cause of violence in Australia."

I've just showed two very Australian co-PhD students here in Canberra your
query, but neither of them has heard of "layback". Here are two
suggestions, unfortunately both involve text emendations :-)

1       A "lay-by" might fit, this is a delayed purchasing system where a
customer puts a very low deposit on a new item in a store (say $2), the
store then holds the item until the full amount is paid off, only then is
the item collected.

2       Is it possible the "l" in layback should be a "p"? Although what a
payback is is still then a question!

That's the best I can do for now, I'll keep asking and will check
dictionaries of Australian English next time I'm in the library.

Royce Wiles
Australian National University