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Understanding the Idiom: "down under" - Meaning, Origins, and Usage

When someone uses the expression “down under” , they are typically referring to a location south of their current position. This could mean traveling from Europe or North America to Australia or New Zealand, for example. However, it can also be used more broadly to describe any country located below the equator.

The origins of this phrase are unclear, but it is believed to have originated in England during the 19th century when ships would travel from Europe to Australia by sailing around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. Sailors on these voyages would refer to Australia as being “down under” due to its location south of their starting point.

Today, “down under” has become a common way for people all over the world to refer to countries located in the southern hemisphere. It is often used colloquially and can have different connotations depending on context.

• “Down under” refers generally refers to locations south of one’s current position
• The term likely originated from sailors traveling between England and Australia during the 19th century
• Today, it is commonly used as an informal way of referring to countries located in the southern hemisphere

Origins and Historical Context of the Idiom “down under”

The phrase “down under” is a popular idiom that refers to Australia and New Zealand. It has become synonymous with these countries, but where did this expression come from? Understanding the origins and historical context of this idiom can provide insight into its meaning and cultural significance.

The term “down under” was first used in the late 19th century to describe Australia’s location on the globe. Due to its position in the southern hemisphere, it is located below many other countries, hence the term “down.” The phrase was later adopted by New Zealand as well.

Over time, “down under” became more than just a geographical descriptor. It came to represent a unique culture and way of life that is distinct from other parts of the world. This includes everything from Australian slang to their love for outdoor activities like surfing and barbecuing.

In addition, the history of colonization in Australia and New Zealand plays a significant role in shaping their identity as nations “down under.” The indigenous populations were largely displaced by European settlers, leading to complex social issues that continue to be addressed today.

Usage and Variations of the Idiom “down under”

The idiom “down under” is widely used in English-speaking countries to refer to Australia and New Zealand. However, this phrase has evolved over time and has taken on various meanings beyond its original geographic reference.

Variations of the Idiom

While “down under” is commonly associated with Australia and New Zealand, it can also be used to refer to other southern hemisphere countries such as South Africa or Argentina. In some cases, it may even be used more broadly to describe any location that is far away or difficult to reach.

Usage in Popular Culture

The idiom “down under” has been popularized through various forms of media including music, film, and literature. For example, the song “Down Under” by Men at Work became an international hit in the 1980s and helped solidify the association between the phrase and Australia.

In addition, many films set in Australia or featuring Australian characters have incorporated the idiom into their titles such as “Crocodile Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns Home Down Under” . This usage reinforces the idea that “down under” refers specifically to Australia.

Synonyms, Antonyms, and Cultural Insights for the Idiom “down under”

When referring to Australia or New Zealand, the phrase “the Antipodes” can be used as an alternative to “down under”. This term originates from Greek mythology where it referred to the opposite side of the world. Another synonym is “Oceania”, which encompasses all countries in the Pacific region including Australia and New Zealand.

On the other hand, antonyms of “down under” include phrases such as “up north” or simply stating a specific country name such as Canada or Russia. These terms are often used when contrasting with Australia or New Zealand’s southern location.

Culturally, using “down under” can also imply a sense of informality and friendliness towards Australians and New Zealanders. It is often used by foreigners who have visited these countries or have friends from there. However, it is important to note that some locals may find it cliché or overused.

Practical Exercises for the Idiom “down under”

Exercise 1: Write a short paragraph using the idiom “down under” to describe a place or situation. Be creative and try to use the idiom in a unique way.

Example: The sun was beating down on us as we walked through the dusty streets of Alice Springs, deep in Australia’s outback. It was like being transported to another world, down under where everything felt unfamiliar yet strangely alluring.

Exercise 2: Watch an Australian movie or TV show and identify how many times the characters use the phrase “down under” . Take note of how it is used and what context it is used in.

Example: In Crocodile Dundee, Mick Dundee uses the phrase “down under” several times throughout the movie when referring to his home country of Australia. He often uses it as a way to emphasize his pride in his country’s unique culture and landscape.

Exercise 3: Create a dialogue between two people using the idiom “down under” . Try to make it sound natural by incorporating other colloquial expressions commonly used in Australia.

Person A: G’day mate! How ya going?

Person B: Not too bad, thanks for asking. Just got back from a trip down under.

Person A: Oh yeah? Whereabouts did you go?

Person B: I spent some time exploring Sydney and Melbourne. It was unreal!

Person A: Sounds like a ripper of a trip. I’ve always wanted to visit down under myself.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using the Idiom “down under”

When using idioms, it is important to understand their meaning and usage in context. The idiom “down under” is commonly used to refer to Australia or New Zealand, but there are some common mistakes that people make when using this phrase.

To avoid these common mistakes, take the time to learn about the origins and proper usage of idioms before incorporating them into your language. This will help you communicate more effectively and avoid any confusion or misunderstandings.

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adverb or adjective

Definition of down under, word history.

1886, in the meaning defined above

Dictionary Entries Near down under

down-twister

Cite this Entry

“Down under.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/down%20under. Accessed 4 May. 2024.

Geographical Definition

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• Did You Know

What Is The Meaning Of Down Under

In this article, we’re exploring the meaning behind the term “Down Under,” who uses it, and why it’s so popular. Ready to head south of the Equator to one of the most climate-diverse countries in the world? You know, where “women glow and men plunder?” Okay, that’s the last reference to the song… for now.

Let’s dive into the meaning of Down Under.

What’s In A Name?

You’ve heard of places like the Big Apple, Cali, and Down Under, right? Well, each of these locations has an official name, but tourists and foreigners love to play along with the kitschy nicknames.

For example, New York City locals don’t call their city the Big Apple, but thanks to catchy tourist marketing, it’s synonymous with NYC.

The same goes for Cali, a word you’ll hear from camera-toting tourists, but never from a native. And what about Australia’s famous term of endearment, Down Under?

It seems the entire world refers to Australia as the land Down Under, but you’ll not hear it slip from an Aussie.

So, why is Australia called Down Under, and what does the term mean? Let’s hop on the global map to learn more.

Where Is Australia Located Geographically?

Australia’s location is in the Southern Hemisphere, along with New Zealand, Fiji, French Polynesia, and an array of other islands and archipelagos.

During European exploration and colonization, explorers sought a land located as far South as they could reach at the time. Not much was known South of Asia, so when explorers discovered Australia, they coined it “Down Under.”

The reasoning is simple: the location was unknown, and located in the Southern Hemisphere, below most known countries. Australia is under the equator, another factor contributing to the nickname.

Of course, we now know that other countries exist “Down Under,” including New Zealand. That said, when someone says Down Under, it’s generally understood that they’re referencing Australia.

However, another name coined this uncharted territory first:

Before Down Under, it was “Terra Australis Incognita.”

Why Is Australia Called the Down Under?

Down Under is the popular nickname for Australia, similar to the New World nickname for the Western Hemisphere. Before these countries became globally incorporated, they were unknown mystery locations, and on the spot handles were a primitive way of naming the place before it received a country name.

Other factors play into nicknames as well, including how other countries perceive these locations.

Outside of its Southern geographical location, Down Under became a pop culture reference:

The Men At Work hit, “Down Under,” highlights notable aspects of Australian lifestyle and culture.

Australian boxing star Kostya Tszyu’s stage name is “The Thunder From Down Under.”

However, 200 million years before Australia became the land Down Under, it was attached to the Gondwana Supercontinent. Every country we know today was attached to this massive continent, but slowly, the continent split apart over time.

Africa and South America separated first. The last to detach were Australia and Antarctica, and they split off into the Southernmost continents.

Did you know that Australia is still moving? Only, it’s encroaching north instead of south at a rate of about seven centimeters per year. While none of us will be around to see it, there could be a future where Australia isn’t actually so far Down Under anymore.

What Does Down Under Mean In Australia?

We’ve covered the global viewpoint of Down Under, but what do Aussies think of the term? Not surprisingly, Australia isn’t “Down Under,” to locals, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a native who uses the term.

When foreigners or tourists use the phrase, it’s well-meant, and a term of endearment to express fondness for the country. Thankfully, Australians are infamously friendly and warm.

If you use the term Down Under while traveling Down Under, you’re unlikely to offend. Just don’t expect locals to reciprocate the nickname while describing their homeland.

Kangaroos, Wildlife, and Opals, Oh My!

Australia is a beautiful country encircled by oceanic winds and miles of wild flora and fauna. One of the most unique features of Australia is that it’s a country, continent, and island. Because it’s surrounded by seas, it’s humid, dry, and populated by unique wildlife.

In fact, most of the country’s wildlife and foliage are native to Australia. One of our favorites? Kangaroos, which hop across every corner of the country.

Another key product of Australia’s climate and geography is opals! Australia is the leading source of opals, supplying 95-97% of the world’s supply.

Why is Australia optimal for opal fields? We can thank the splitting of the Supercontinent for these fiery gems! When Australia separated millions of years ago, the entire continent was covered in a watery sedimentary sea basin. Over time, the water dried up leaving behind silica deposits in the cracks and crevices of the earth. Over 20 million years, the silica formed into glistening opal specimens!

Thanks to this unique geological composition, the world’s largest opal fields are in Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia.

And That’s The Story of “A Land Down Under”

Australia is one of the most fascinating countries on the planet, which is why 9.4 million tourists visited in 2019.  

Is Australia on your travel radar? We can see why! Who can resist the exotic beaches, rugged Outback, unique wildlife, and friendly locals?

If you head to the land Down Under, be sure to visit the local opal fields , explore the wildlife , and grab yourself a treasured opal keepsake!

SHOP OPALS FROM DOWN UNDER

Boulder Opal

Crystal Opal

White Cliffs Opal

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Opal Auctions

• Written - 6th Sep 2020
• Edited - 3rd Jan 2023

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3.95 CTSBLACK OPAL FROM DOWN UNDER AUSTRALIA ELECTRIC GREEN A1978

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• Which Country Is Referred To As "Down Under"?

The term ‘Down Under’ refers to Australia but sometimes the term is also used with reference to New Zealand. The term is often used by outsiders, but not Australians. Officially, Australia is known as the Commonwealth of Australia. The capital of the country is Canberra while the largest city is Sydney. It is a monarchy led by Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor General is Sir Peter Cosgrove. Australia’s population in 2018 is estimated to be about 24 million.

Why The Name “Down Under?”

The nickname ‘Down Under’ came as a result of the European explorers who were looking for a land located below the continent of Asia. One of the famous explorers at the time was Matthew Flinders. He was part of the team that coined the name “Down Under” with reference to Australia. At the time, nothing much was known about this unknown land. When it was found, the explorers named it ‘Terra Australis Incognita’ meaning the “unkown southern land.” Australia wholly lies in the Southern Hemisphere of the global map- within the Antarctica continent. Its location is truly below many countries. More specifically, Australia is located below the western countries and the Asian continent.

How Did This Unknown Land Find Itself “Down Under?’

Over 200 million years ago, Australia was not in the position it is now. It was part of a continent that no longer exists called the Gondwana Supercontinent. This continent was made up of all the continents as known by us today. However, about 180 million years ago, the continent began splitting apart. The first continents to break away were Africa and South America. The last ones to break off were Antarctica and Australia. It is out of this split that the country “Down Under” came forth.

It is believed that Australia is still on the move. The movement is as a result of the bedrock fact. Every year the continent drifts towards the equator by 70 mm. The rate of movement is equivalent to that of the growth of the human hair or fingernails.

Uses Of The Term “Down Under”

Besides being the country’s nick name, the term “down under” has been used in different contexts. First, the Men at Work music group composed a song “Down Under” in praise of the Australian nation as a sign of patriotism. Several Australians have also been nicknamed “Down Under.” This includes the famous boxing champion Kostya Tszyu who is called ‘The Thunder from Down Under.'

The Uniqueness Of The Land “Down Under”

The presence of the oceans surrounding Australia leads to circulation of oceanic winds. As a result, the country has humid and dry temperatures. The country has many unique flora and fauna, many of which are not found anywhere else in the world. In fact, 80% of all the fauna and flora are unique to Australia only. The country is famously known for kangaroos. 91% of the land in Australia is covered by vegetation.

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down under adverb , noun , & adjective

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What does the word down under mean?

There are three meanings listed in OED's entry for the word down under . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the word down under ?

How is the word down under pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the word down under come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the word down under is in the 1880s.

OED's earliest evidence for down under is from 1886, in the writing of James A. Froude, historian and man of letters.

down under is formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: down adv. , under adv.

Nearby entries

• downtowner, n. 1830–
• downtread, v. 1536–
• down tree, n. ?1740–
• downtrend, n. 1890–
• downtrod, adj. 1598–
• downtrodden, adj. & n. 1597–
• down trou, n. 1973–
• downturn, n. 1658–
• downturn, v. 1909–
• downturned, adj. 1826–
• down under, adv., n., & adj. 1886–
• downvote, n. 2000–
• downvote, v. 1876–
• downward, adv., adj., & prep. c1175–
• downward dog, n. 1977–
• downward-forward, adj. 1855–
• downwardly, adv. 1662–
• downwardly mobile, adj. 1946–
• downward-mobile, adj. 1943–
• downward mobility, n. 1929–
• downwardness, n. 1650–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, entry history for down under, adv., n., & adj..

down under, adv., n., & adj. was revised in December 2018.

down under, adv., n., & adj. was last modified in July 2023.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into down under, adv., n., & adj. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

A Supplement to the New English Dictionary (1933)

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OED Second Edition (1989)

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Citation details

Factsheet for down under, adv., n., & adj., browse entry.

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Down Under by Men at Work

Songfacts®:

• The "Land Down Under" is Australia, where the group is from. The lyrics were written by lead singer Colin Hay, who explained in his Songfacts interview : "The chorus is really about the selling of Australia in many ways, the overdevelopment of the country. It was a song about the loss of spirit in that country. It's really about the plundering of the country by greedy people. It is ultimately about celebrating the country, but not in a nationalistic way and not in a flag-waving sense. It's really more than that."
• Colin Hay told Songfacts about composing the song: "It's a very important song for me. It always felt like a strong song, right from the start. Originally, the idea came from a little bass riff that Ron Strykert, the guitar player for Men at Work, had recorded on a little home cassette demo. It was just a little bass riff with some percussion that he played on bottles which were filled with water to varying degrees to get different notes. It was a very intriguing little groove. I really loved it, it had a real trance-like quality to it. I used to listen to it in the car all the time. When I was driving along one day in Melbourne, the chords popped out and a couple of days later I wrote the verses."
• Barry Humphries is an Australian entertainer who has created many popular characters, including Dame Edna Everidge. He was also the voice of Bruce the Shark in the movie Finding Nemo . Colin explained his influence on this song: "He's a master of comedy and he had a lot of expressions that we grew up listening to and emulating. The verses were very much inspired by a character he had called Barry McKenzie, who was a beer-swilling Australian who traveled to England, a very larger-than-life character."
• Some lyric translation: Fried-out Kombi - A broken-down van. The lyrics are often translated as "Combie," but the correct spelling is Kombi. It comes from the VW Kombivan, which was very popular in the '60s and early '70s, especially with surfers and hippies. Head full of Zombie - Zombie was a particularly strong batch of marijuana that was floating around Australia for a long time. People called it "Zombie Grass." Vegemite sandwich - Vegemite is a fermented yeast spread that is pretty much a national institution in Australia. Some people love it and can't start the day without a piece of toast spread with Vegemite, and some go so far as to carry a small jar of it with them when they travel overseas. Some are indifferent to it, and others can't stand it. It kind of resembles smooth black tar, and is similar in taste to the English "Marmite," but Aussies will always tell you that Vegemite is far superior. Where beer does flow, and men chunder - "Chunder" is Aussie slang meaning to vomit.
• This song is often misinterpreted as a patriotic anthem. Colin Hay told Songfacts: "It's ironic to me that so many people thought it was about a specific thing and that really wasn't the intention behind the song. If you listen to ' Born In The U.S.A. ,' it's a similar song in that there's a lot of nuance missed because people like drinking beer and throwing their arms up in the air and feeling nationalistic. It's ultimately a song about celebration, but it's a matter of what you choose to celebrate about a country or a place. White people haven't been in Australia all that long, and it's truly an awesome place, but one of the most interesting and exciting things about the country is what was there before. The true heritage of a country often gets lost in the name of progress and development."
• Business As Usual was the first Men at Work album; they released just two more before breaking up in 1986. Colin Hay embarked on a prolific solo career and often revisited this track. "I love the song," he told us. "I have strong feelings about it because it's looked after me for many, many years."
• Men at Work recorded the first version of "Down Under" in 1980 in Melbourne and released it independently as the B-side to a song called "Keypunch Operator." They released it on a label they called M.A.W. - about 300 copies. This early version, without the production sheen, is slower and more playful, with little interludes where we hear the voices of some characters in the song.
• This became an unofficial national anthem when Australia won the America's Cup in 1983, an event the United States had never lost. The then Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke, was so delighted with Australia's win, he gave the whole country the day off and announced on the news that any boss who fired an employee for taking the day off "is a bum!" >> Suggestion credit : Jude - Melbourne, Australia
• The quirky video became a huge hit on MTV. The network had been on the air for only a year, and they didn't have many videos to choose from. Men at Work didn't know much about MTV, but British and Australian bands had been making videos for some time. The band made videos that fit their personality, often improvising scenes and using their friends for help. The guy who stands up and offers the Vegemite sandwich is the band's drummer, Jerry Speiser. He wasn't really "6 foot 4 and full of muscles" - he had to stand on something to get extra height. He also wore a wig.
• Men at Work hit big in the summer of 1982 and through the next year had five Top 40 singles: " Who Can It Be Now? ," "Down Under," " Overkill ," " It's A Mistake " and "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive." The first two, both from their debut album, vaulted all the way to #1 on the American charts and helped them win the Best New Artist Grammy Award.
• This was a huge worldwide hit. For two weeks, both the single and album were #1 in the US and UK. In their native Australia, the album stayed at #1 for nine weeks, and the single topped the chart for six.
• In 2003, Colin Hay recorded two new versions for his album Man At Work . The first is an acoustic version he included so people could hear how the song sounded originally, before Men at Work did it. Colin's wife, Cecilia, has a Latin Salsa band, and on the second version he recorded her horn section and flute parts, combining them with his tracks.
• In 2009, the music publishing company that owns the rights to the Australian children's song " Kookaburra " sued the "Down Under" songwriters, claiming the flute riff copied the children's classic. On February 4, 2010, a judge ruled in favor of Larrakin Music, which owned the "Kookaburra" publishing rights - the song having been originally penned by music teacher Marion Sinclair in 1932. In his judgment, he said that Men At Work had infringed Larrikin's copyright because "Down Under" reproduced "a substantial part of Kookaburra." The lawsuit asked for 60 percent of the publishing rights; the judgment was for 5 percent, retroactive to 2002, netting Larrikin about $100,000. According to Colin Hay, legal fees in the case totaled about $4.5 million, as he fought it aggressively. Hay said after the judgment: "I'll go to my grave knowing 'Down Under' is an original piece of work. In over 20 years no one noticed the reference to 'Kookaburra.' Marion Sinclair never made any claim that we had appropriated any part of her song, and she was alive when 'Down Under' was a hit. Apparently she didn't notice either." Greg Ham, who contributed the controversial flute part, told Melbourne's The Age newspaper: "It will be the way the song is remembered, and I hate that. I'm terribly disappointed that that's the way I'm going to be remembered - for copying something." According to Colin Hay, it was the stress of the court case that led to the death of Ham at the age of 58 in 2012.
• Sia Furler is Colin Hay's niece. In the film Waiting for My Real Life , she says of "Down Under": "I do believe that song was a mass representation of vegemite culture - Australian culture."
• Australian electronic dance music producer Luude remixed "Down Under" as a drum-and-bass track with new vocals recorded by Colin Hay. The remix generated heat online, so Luude officially released it as a single on December 26, 2021. It peaked at #5 on the UK singles chart and also reached the top 10 in various other territories, including Australia, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. The best chart performance for Luude's version was in New Zealand, where it spent 9 weeks at #1.
• More songs from Men at Work
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• More songs inspired by comedians
• More songs involved in lawsuits
• More songs from 1982
• Lyrics to Down Under
• Men at Work Artistfacts

Comments: 76

• Thomas Shatas from Florida Brilliant Lyrics
• Dale Latimer from Coilton, Pennsylvania Thanks Eric from Seattle for confirming a long-held suspicion I've had about the opening verse!
• Dave And Fam from Harrison Hills, Wisconsin this song gets strong play on jack fm/big cheese play anything radio stations and along with the dance remix has my kids loving this song as much as I did back in 6 or 7th grade. we came here to learn more about the "chunder" line and meaning. this article did not disappoint.
• Kaza from Melbourne Just wanted to clarify that while Barry McKenzie was a character created by Barry Humphries another Barry altogether played that character. That was Barry Crocker, an Australian icon in his own right. And that's a lot of Barrys.
• Eric from Seattle The line about meeting a strange lady had a different meaning when it was first written. The original lyrics were censored. They were about prostitute he met on the road. I met a strange lady, She made me nervous She took me in And gave me service. The scene is set up like this - he and his friends are traveling in a “fried out Kombi” which is a VW van prone to overheating. They’re on the “hippie trail”, which was a network of roads from Tehran to Bangladesh. Sadly, it no longer exists, due to politics and war. “Head full of zombie” means they’re smoking legal cannabis. He meets a strange lady, who “makes him nervous” by proposing sex for money. He agrees, and she takes him in to either a room or her body (probably both), and “gives him service” which means sex to completion. Their record label must have thought that too explicit for a pop tune, so they needed it cleaned up, and “breakfast” was quickly substituted. It make no sense and doesn’t rhyme, so that alone implies the switch. But, in my head, I sing it the original way every time I hear it.
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny On this day in 1982 {September 18th} Men At Work performed "Down Under"* on the ABC-TV Saturday-afternoon program, 'American Bandstand'... The following month on October 31st, 1982 "Down Under" entered Billboard's Top 100 chart at position #79, ten weeks later it would peak at #1 {for 3 weeks} and it spent almost a half-year on the Top 100 {25 weeks}... It also reached #1 in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and their native Australia... Between 1982 and 1985 the Melbourne, Australia band had six records on the Top 100 chart, four made the Top 10 with two reaching #1, the above "Down Under" and "You Can It Be Now?" for 1 week in 1982... Besides their two #1 records, their two other Top 10 records were "Over Kill" {#3 for 1 week in 1983} and "It's A Mistake" {#6 for 2 weeks in 1983}... Their two of six charted records that didn't make the Top 10 were "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive" {#28 for 2 weeks in 1983} and "Everything I Need" {#47 for 1 week in 1985}... * "Down Under" was one of two records that prevented "The Girl Is Mine" by Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney from reaching #1, the first two weeks "Down Under" was at #1, Michael & Paul were at #2 and and the previous week "Maneater" by Daryl Hall and John Oates was at #1 while Michael & Paul were spending their first week at #2...
• Kevin from United States Wondering if anyone knows who the woman was who played the "Strange Lady " so to speak in the video. I thought maybe she was an Australian actress or maybe just a friend of the band back then.
• Karen from Mo I play flute and for fun I decided to learn the flute parts on a lot of the pop songs i grew up with quite a few years ago and when I worked on this one I recognized the little flute parts as the opening line melody to Kookaburra, however I just saw it as intentional color to add more "Australian" reference, no different than the vegemite reference. The rest of the song and flute parts don't seem to be based on that tune at all. I learned that song in Girl Scouts when I was younger so maybe that is why I recognized it. There is a song out today Uma Thurman that has the theme from the Munsters TV show but no one else seems to notice that either.
• Reyos from Windsor, On I had always assumed that the Kookaburra riff was intentional, from the first time I heard this song on. And because of that it's hard to believe people didn't realize it for so long.
• Bruce from San Jose, Ca Just try listening to this song when driving your daily commute to/from work - You'll get into the beat so much, it gets your thumbs THUMPING on the steering wheel with that drum beat! (Got lotsa SORE thumbs from that over the years...)
• Bob from Milwaukee, Wi The flute part of the recording of the song is based on the children's song "Kookaburra", written in 1932 by Marion Sinclair. Sinclair died in 1988 and the rights to the Kookaburra song were deemed to have been transferred to publisher Larrikin Music on 21 March 1990. In the United States, the rights are administered by Music Sales Corporation in New York City. In June 2009, 28 years after the release of the recording, Larrikin Music sued Men At Work for copyright infringement, alleging that part of the flute riff of "Down Under" was copied from "Kookaburra". The counsel for the band's record label and publishing company (Sony BMG Music Entertainment and EMI Songs Australia) claimed that, based on the agreement under which the song was written, the copyright was actually held by the Girl Guides Association. On 30 July, Justice Peter Jacobson of the Federal Court of Australia made a preliminary ruling that Larrikin did own copyright on the song, but the issue of whether or not Hay and Strykert had plagiarised the riff was set aside to be determined at a later date. On 4 February 2010, Justice Jacobson ruled that Larrikin's copyright had been infringed because "Down Under" reproduced "a substantial part of Kookaburra". When asked how much Larrikin would be seeking in damages, Larrikin's lawyer Adam Simpson replied: "anything from what we've claimed, which is between 40 and 60 per cent, and what they suggest, which is considerably less." In court, Larrikin's principal Norman Lurie gave the opinion that, had the parties negotiated a licence at the outset as willing parties, the royalties would have been between 25 and 50 per cent. On 6 July 2010, Justice Jacobson handed down a decision that Larrikin receive 5% of royalties from 2002. In October, 2011 the band lost its final court bid when the High Court of Australia refused to hear an appeal. Until this high-profile case, "Kookaburra's" standing as a traditional song combined with the lack of visible policing of the song's rights by its composer had led to the general public perception that the song was within the public domain. The revelation of "Kookaburra's" copyright status, and more-so the pursuit of royalties from it, has generated a negative response among sections of the Australian public. In response to unsourced speculation of a Welsh connection, Dr Rhidian Griffiths pointed out that the Welsh words to the tune were published in 1989 and musicologist Phyllis Kinney stated neither the song's metre nor its lines were typical Welsh. Since the verdict, Colin Hay has continued to insist that any plagiarism was wholly unintentional. He says that when the song was originally written in 1978, it did not have the musical passage in question, and that it was not until two years later, during a jam rehearsal session, that flautist Greg Ham improvised the riff, perhaps subconsciously recalling "Kookaburra". Hay has also added that Ham and the other members of the band were under the influence of marijuana during that particular rehearsal. In the months before his death on the 19th of April 2012, Ham had been despondent over the verdict, and convinced that "the only thing people will remember me for" would be as a convicted plagiarist.
• Esskayess from Dallas, Tx Aren't 'Vegamites' members of PETA?
• Jim from Longmont, Co Men at Work musician Greg Ham was found dead in his Melbourne home April 19, 2012 You can hear him do his famous flute riff on this song. RIP
• Rodrigo from Lisbon, Portugal Im Portuguese and I have to share the greatest fact of all about this song. The first sentence: "Traveling in a fried-out Kombi", sounds just like a portuguese sentence that means "a horse eating on a market". It's hilarious! And it's what portuguese ear when earing this song! :D Great song!
• Bart from New Milford, Nj I heard the "Kookaburra" from the first time I heard "Down Under", and assumed it was on purpose, part of the parody. On the other hand, when I first heard the song, it was played on a recorder, so the flute playing the first two verses of "Kookaburra" sounded just like my 6th grade teacher.
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny On January 15th, 1982 "Down Under" reached No. 1 for three weeks; then "Africa" by Toto became No. 1 for one week, but "Down Under" reclaimed No. 1 for another week!!!
• Andrew from Melbourne, Australia "DownUnder" stealing from the Kookaburra song? That must be the most rediculous judgement ever handed down in a copyright case. I grew up with this song and it NEVER occurred to me that it was similiar to the other song.
• James Wilson from Trenton, Nj A clip of this song was on Scrubs. It was when Kim was giving birth and suddenly Colin Hay appears. JD says something like "I always wondered what that song was about".
• Annabelle from Eugene, Or To Caitlin in Adelaide, Australia, I did a report on your home continent in fifth grade, and I can tell you there is such a place as Jimboomba. It's located in Queensland. So I don't understand why you think that Frank is from another country.
• Kelvin from Perth, Australia Opening a Aussie restaurant in China Hubei province. This song will be played in the restaurant together with other aussie song that i trying to find.....I love it...it give me very special feeling, my country, my family my kids since I am away from home. AUSSIE AUSSIE
• Rob from Sidney, Australia Good tune but way over played. I really got sick of "Down Under" after the radio stations would play it non bloody stop. I have not heard it for a long time until now. Ah the memories began to flow like a never ending beer tap at your local boozer. Yes, Colin Hay is/was Scottish but don't forget so were members of another Aussie band called AC/DC. Another good song from MAW is called Who Can It Be Now? Colin has moved on since Men At Work disbanded and his solo career has taken off like a bottle rocket. I really like his solo stuff almost as much as the stuff he did with the group. Think I'm gonna make me a big old vegamite sandwitch, get a little Zombie Grass and a glass of Victoria Bitter (can't stand that s--te that passes for Fosters these days) and just chill out. BTW: Like Midnight Oil says give the land back to the natives... Peace be with you my fellow brothers and sisters.
• Nady from Adelaide, -- vegemite is farrr superior.peiod.
• Emily from Newcastle, Australia VEGEMITE, i love it but i'm allergic, but when i heard this song and it said "He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich" I'm like "MAAAAATEE!" Awesom song! I'm not sure if it was this song or another song but NXFM (radio station) played a song over and over again on april 1st and i think it might have been this one. i love this song.
• Nady from Adelaide, Australia VEGEMITE!!!MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!!!! this song always reminds me of frickin hot Aussie boys heh heh, dunno why just does (trust me on this one, there pretty damn good lookin) Makes me wanna do burnouts in a HQ (bea-utiful) while sippin on a nicey cold Bundy in a stubbie holder from the Congera pub, all the while playing a big fat didgereedoo. Wow I've impressed myself! Shows how Aussie you can be when you put your mind to it. P.S. I'm no bogan but I do enjoy a Bundy every now and then....and I can't play the didgereedoo...Ohwell, GET THIS ONE UP YA!!!
• Mitchell from Adelaide, Australia P.S. The people who don't believe Men At Work are Australian are forgetting that Australia is extremely multicultural, a lot of Australian bands have different people in them but they're all citizens.
• Mitchell from Adelaide, Australia I believe this song was mentioned on one of the scrubs episode with Michael J Fox on it. J.D. sings a line (I forgot why) and then he turns to the character Fox was playing and asks if you chunder or something like that.
• Tom from Marble Falls, Ar After hearing this song I started paying more attention to Aussie bands. I got to tell you guys, a lot of them are pretty kick-ass!
• Garoud from Arica this song STILL is regularly played in Chile, but very few people (that lives here and speaks english) can understand the lyrics, including me, is a very strange way of talking LOVE THE SONG
• Darrell from Eugene Oops. When I mentioned "Kombi" vehicles, Skoda, of the Czech Republic (it was Czechoslovakia when this car was produced in the 1950s and early 1960s) made an Octavia Combi station wagon that was sold in small numbers in the US. It looked like a combination of a Rambler American and a VW squareback. That ends my treatise on Kombis.
• Caitlin from Adelaide, Australia heya 2 all my fwends (hehe) go power :)
• Caitlin from Adelaide, Australia hehe i love music
• Caitlin from Adelaide, Australia Frank, Jimboomba, Australia i dnt think u r really an aussie sorry but it sounds like u r from a different country
• Caitlin from Adelaide, Australia this song is a good inspiration 4 aussies
• Ines from Bremen, Germany Ringo Starr has covered this song with his All-Starr band. The song is proper nice
• Darrell from Eugene, United States Although the "Kombi" mentioned at the beginning of the song was a VW, several other automakers used that name, most notably DKW (predecessor of Audi), Borgward, Goliath, Opel and Taunus (German Ford. Goliath and Borgward were both German compact-car makers who dabbled in minivans and station wagons, and despite the name, Borgward, like every other manufacturer of vehicles bearing the "Kombi" name, is German. Of the 5 non-VW carmakers mentioned, only Audi and Opel are still in business.
• Inge from Melbourne, Australia Actually the song uses both plunder and chunder, the lyrics below are taken from the song as you can see both plunder and chunder are used. This is a great song "Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover." "I come from a land down under Where beer does flow and men chunder Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover."
• Courtney from Kiel, Wi It's not "men chunder" it's "men plunder" I have the cd and the lyrics came with the song. I think this is one of the best songs of the 80's
• Frank from Jimboomba, Australia howdy - i think vegemite is the greatest aussie food i cant start my day without a peice of toast with vegemite!! thanks to men at work for mentioning it in a awesome song!! hooroo - cj
• Frank from Jimboomba, Australia hello!! i think land down under is the bestest song of all time. it has wonderfully aussie lyrics and i love vegemite sandwiches - my favourites!! rock on men at work!! hooroo cj jimboomba australia
• Frank from Jimboomba, Australia this song is great and we love it!! we think it has great aussie lyrics by a great aussie band. clarkey and frank jimboomba ast
• Brandon from Peoria, Il I love music videos from the '80s. They actually fit the song...amazing. The song sings "he just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwitch"...and in the video he smiles and gives him a vegemite sandwitch...AMAZING. Unlike modern videos that when they are over you are like WTF Mate?
• John from Birmingham, England a great song to sing and play dont think too much
• Grahame from Kununurra, Australia It's not "where women blow"!! It's "where women glow" - look it up. It refers (I assume) to the saying that "Men perspire, women glow and horses sweat". I don't know if it's peculiarly Australian, but it could be. And as pointed out, it's not "men plunder" but "men chunder" which has rightly been pointed out means "regurgitate". However the "watch under" story is extremely spurious. http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-chu1.htm
• Aaron from Muswellbrook That is, don't put alot on to start with. That's a fun trick to do with people from oversees, so look out (eg I have a huge spoonful or layer of and don't wince so that one of you yanks would have as much on first tasting). Vegemite should be piled on, you're not a real bloke if you can't handle a bit of vegemte. Oh, the song's great, I've not met one single person that didn't like it. Aaron
• Mark from Wee Waa, Australia If you ever have the chance to try vegemite, don't smear to much on the bread or toast,its not like peanut butter where you can really slap it on, as it has a tangy taste, I absolutely love it. Mark Australia
• Nikita from Easton, Pa vegemite is a beer extract yeast that is spread on toast(sort of like peanut butter in the US) I read that it has a strong salty,bitter taste that has to be acquired ,sometimes people spread it with butter to soften the taste abit.
• Annabelle from Eugene, Or This has been a mystery to me. Is a vegimite sandwich similar to a peanut butter sandwich? What does vegimite taste like?
• Nikita from Easton, Pa my favorite song of all time.I love the melody.
• Dan from Renmark Yeah Colin Hay is Scottish. Or of Scottish heritage, whatever way he wants to be known. It is a fact that most singers heralding from Australia that made a name on the world stage are from overseas. e.g. bonn scott, brian johnson, Olivia, Bee Gees, Hay, glenn shorrock, stevie wright. some you mightnt have heard of. this song has great catchy tune. it is held in very high regard in australia. also peter allen's "still call australia home"
• Marlow from Perth the slang 'chunder' came from when the first fleet of convicts were being shipped to australia form england. and the prisoners were sea sick. and would yell out from the top deck to warn the their fellow prisoners below to "watch under" while vomiting above
• Marlow from Perth it is very similar to 'dreadlock holiday' by '10cc'
• Stefanie from Rock Hill, Sc Good song! My dad has that album, and he played it 24-7 when we would be in the car, around the time when I was six or so. At least, I think it's this album. It has this song on it.
• Howard from St. Louis Park, Mn The only Top 40 hit of the rock era to mention Vegemite. When the song came out, I bought Vegemite at a local grocery store and didn't care for it. It was too bitter. This was the most Australian song since Rolf Harris hit the charts in 1963 with Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport.
• Sarah Floyd from Bloomingdale, Il ok when i first heard this song i had to listen to it again. then when i kept on hearing it then i had to get the cd. and i so want this song to listen to it and sing.
• Benjamin from Heidelberg, Germany This song really makes you wanna travel to Australia.
• James from Mebourne, Australia Chunder is Aussie slang for all you yanks :). It means to regurgitate. So in the song, where it says "Where beer does flow and men chunder" it means where blokes get pissed. Blokes is aussie slang for guys and pissed means to be intoxicated. Cheers :)
• Peter from Mistelbach, Austria At first I have to say I love this song. And then I have a questions. In the line "Where beer does flow and men chunder" What is chunder? I didn't found it in any dictionary. Thank's for your information.
• Clare from Hmilton, Canada In One part of The song the flut plays the Tune of "Kookaburra" An australian song about an australian bird "kookabura sits in the old Gum tre merry merry king of the bush is he", that is very popular with children.
• Mark from Wee Waa, Australia I grew up with this song and I still love it. I actually saw Men at Work perform in a pub at Coffs Harbour NSW coast, sometime around 1980 or 81 just after their first hit ablum. A memory I will always keep, I still play all the Men at Work hits it brings back all the fun memories growing up in Oz
• Neil from Uk, United States i always thought the lead singer from men at work was in fact from scotland and not australia
• Louie from Staten Island, Ny My favorite all time song.
• Louie from Staten Island, Ny The song was #1 for 4 non-consecutive weeks. And John from NY,the cd can be picked up in any music store or try e-bay.
• David from Torornto, Canada Actually, the line is "where women blow (fart)and men chunder (throw up) Learned this from many years on the road with the Aussies. Dave, Toronto
• John from Stephenville Crossing, Canada This is a really good song. one of my favourites!
• Talal from Costa Mesa, Ca March 2005, I was watching "Kangaroo Jack" (2003) few days ago, horrible movie but the song was in it, and for five days now I can not get it out of my head. So I went to the apple itunes store and bought every version of this song they got, including the Ringo Star band one, I think Colin sang with them, it sounds like him. Anyway ... I just love this song ... can not wait till I play it in my car tomorrow while driving to work in Kuwait and just sing as loud and crazy as I can .... it is a great song.
• Cj from Burtonsville, Md I couldn't help but notice the sexual references in this and many other men at work songs. "where women blow and men plunder" sounds kinda dirty to me. And there's a rumor going around that the "safety dance" is all about masterbation. But hey, maybe im just a sick perverted freak.
• Teigen from Parkes, Australia i luv this song ive been listening it since i was little
• John from New York, Ny I love this song! It is so fun to sing to, but I can't find a place to buy the C.D.
• Dave from Cardiff, Wales The video for this song is hilarious!
• Ligia from Botelhos, Md This song is really very good. I've been listening to it since I was 8......I love it!!!
• Sam from Sydney, Australia in australia, its pretty much an anthem. although the band didnt mean it that way, its kinda obvious why its ended up this way. also, in the lyrics it has numerous lines about travelling abroad and australians there being nice to you
• Katalina from Houston, Tx I love this song. I play it in the car when my brother is driving me to school, and at lunch. It drives my friends cazy, because it's one of those songs that gets stuck in your head. I wish I could dance to it, but I'm hopeless at dancing.
• Alex from New Orleans, La I thought Men at Work were Irish.
• Rachel from Castleford, England My mum taught me to dance to this song! She loved it, I love it! I was only 7, and 12 years later i still dance the same when I hear it!
• Pedantic Wit from Madison, Wi No kidding?! Excellent insight to the song!!
• Jme from Raleigh, Nc This song is in Finding Nemo

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Song Meanings and Facts

Men at Work

Men at work’s “down under” lyrics meaning.

by SMF · Published September 20, 2017 · Updated March 18, 2022

Down Under is a song performed by the noted Australian rock band Men at Work . The song, which was a major hit in several countries across the globe, has lyrics that follow the international travels of an Australian man who is so full of pride for his country.

His travels throughout the world see him go to places such as Brussels in Belgium and Bombay (now called Mumbai) in India. In these places, he meets with nice people who show some level of interest in his cherished home country of Australia.

In an interview with Songfacts.com , the lead vocalist of Men at Work, Colin Hay shed some light on the song’s meaning. He described the chorus of the song as one that is about celebrating Australia in a way that isn’t nationalistic.

According to Colin, the lyrics were inspired by the famous Australian fictional character Barry McKenzie who travels to England. The character McKenzie was created by the Australian comedian, satirist, and author Barry Humphries in 1964.

Top Slang Terms in the lyrics of “Down Under”

The lyrics of the song contain a lot of interesting and pretty popular Australian slang terms.

For example, the phrase “ fried out ” is slang term in Australia which means overheated.

The word “ Kombi ” from the famous line “ traveling in a fried-out kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie ” refers to the Volkswagen Type 2 car. This is a car that was widely used by hippies during the 1960s and 1970s. Therefore that famous line simply means traveling in an overheated car (Volkswagen Type 2).

Then we have the phrase “ head full of zombie “. This is a slang term used to refer to the usage of a kind of “weed” which was once very popular in Australia.

The word “ chunder ‘ in the line, in which the singer sings about the place where beer flows and “ men chunder “, is a slang word for “vomit”.

The “ Vegemite sandwich ” that the narrator receives in Brussels is a very popular delicacy in Australia. It is made of vegetables, spice additives and leftover brewers’ yeast extract.

Facts about “Down Under”

This song also goes by the title Land Down Under . It was written by Men at Work members lead singer Colin Hay and lead guitarist Ron Strykert.

Down Under is the most famous song ever released by Men at Work. In addition to peaking at number 1 in the band’s home country of Australia, the song also reached the number one spot in several other countries. These countries include the United Kingdom and the United States. Other places where this was a number 1 hit are:

• Switzerland

In June 2009, the writers of the song Ron and Colin were sued for copyright infringement. This was after it was discovered that the flute riff of Down Under was plagiarized from the popular Australian nursery rhyme “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree” which was written by songwriter Marion Sinclair. In February 2010, both songwriters Strykert and Hay were found guilty of copyright infringement.

The court subsequently ordered Men at Work to give 5% of the royalties (revenue) from “Down Under” to the copyright holder of “Kookaburra”.

The Luude Version of “Down Under”

In late 2021, Down Under shot to prominence all over the world again. This was after Australian EDM producer Luude collaborated with Colin Hay to record a new version of the song . Colin re-record fresh vocals for this new version. Shortly after it was released, it topped the charts in New Zealand.

Related posts:

• “Down Under” by Luude (ft. Colin Hay)

“Who Can It Be Now?” by Men at Work

• “At The Roadhouse” by The Paper Kites
• Meaning of “Green Valley” by The Paper Kites

7 Responses

• Pingbacks 1

This is a true classic from Australia.

Thanks for clarifying.

I don’t hear the kookaburra rift in this song at all. With?

it’s at the start of the song

What nonsense! Cant believe the judge did that. What was the judges name?

The sad fact is even if there is a similarity to the Kookaburra song it will have got in their heads as kids and likely wasn’t a deliberate break of copyright as it came out of their subconsciouses after laying dormant for decades with the origin forgotten. And a lot of old kiddie songs are public domain anyway. Lawsuit is quite a dirty word when copyright muddies the line between inspiration and imitation, because most copyright infringements are neither deliberate or malicious.

[…] keyboardist Greg Ham, and bassist John Rees. The band is best known for their 1981 smash hit song Down Under (also referred to as Land Down Under) from their debut album titled Business as Usual. Other […]

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Tags: Australia Barry McKenzie Colin Hay Down Under Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree Marion Sinclair Men at Work Ron Strykert

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travel down vs travel

• Thread starter edwar f
• Start date Mar 31, 2009
• Mar 31, 2009

What´s the difference between "travel down" and travel? It´s a phrasal verb?  

Senior Member

What context are you seeing/hearing this in?  

TriglavNationalPark

People typically "travel down" a road, a path, a river, etc. This is a set phrase. If you describe someone as "traveling down from [somewhere]", the assumption is that the person either traveled from a higher place to a lower place, or that he/she traveled in a southerly direction (i.e. down on a map).  

I´ve read this in Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster "I travelled down there from Westchester to scope out the terrain" there = Brooklyn  

edwar f said: I´ve read this in Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster "I travelled down there from Westchester to scope out the terrain" there = Brooklyn Click to expand...

GreenWhiteBlue

"Travel down" is not a set phrase or a phrasal verb. The verb is "travel", and "down" indicates the direction. Here, it is a shortened form of "I travelled down to Brooklyn", with "down" being synonymous with "south". You can use any number of prepositions to show where you travelled, and none of them are parts of phrasal verbs: I travelled up to the top of the mountain . (I travelled up there ) I travelled down into the valley . (I travelled down there ) I travelled through the de sert. (I travelled through there ) I travelled by the shore of the lake . (I travelled by there ) I travelled over the crest of the Rocky Mountains . (I travelled over there ) I travelled along the edge of the Pacific Ocean . (I travelled along there )  

Thank you for your kind help  

MJSinLondon

Over here (UK) "travel down" doesn't always mean travel South. It is sometimes used to denote travel in any direction but away from a city. For example, someone who lives in the suburbs of London will talk of "travelling up" to London or "travelling down" from London whether they live north, south, east or west of the centre of the city.  

Just as MJS said, it doesn't necessarily denote walking southward. I'm accustomed to hearing "walking down the street" which simply means "walking along the street" with no particular bearing in mind.  

picopico said: Just as MJS said, it doesn't necessarily denote walking southward. I'm accustomed to hearing "walking down the street" which simply means "walking along the street" with no particular bearing in mind. Click to expand...

absolutely true, Triglav  

• Apr 1, 2009

TriglavNationalPark said: People typically "travel down" a road, a path, a river, etc. This is a set phrase. If you describe someone as "traveling down from [somewhere]", the assumption is that the person either traveled from a higher place to a lower place, or that he/she traveled in a southerly direction (i.e. down on a map). Click to expand...

mplsray said: I would add that among the examples of traveling from a higher place to a lower place is travel down a river If you were to go north along the Red River of the North , you would be traveling down the river. Click to expand...

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Meaning of down under in English

• Afghanistan
• Equatorial Guinea
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Vincent and the Grenadines

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Definition of 'down under'

down under in American English

Down under in british english, examples of 'down under' in a sentence down under, trends of down under.

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Browse alphabetically down under

• down to the ground
• down to the wire
• Down's syndrome
• (down) in the dumps
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• Australia or New Zealand.
• in, to, or into Australia or New Zealand.
• Australia or New Zealand
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Word history and origins.

Origin of down under 1

Example Sentences

The company commander had also been badly wounded, they said, as they hunkered down under a highway overpass.

This is the photograph that Kate has apparently said is her favorite of the royal trip down under.

Down under, people endearingly call boxes of wine “goons,” and they drink them with alacrity.

My Down Under over-the-top lifestyle compensated for my “real” life asceticism in the United States.

But, as Star thoughtfully worries, “IS THERE A DARK SIDE TO HER THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER?”

They walked together to a recess in the garden, where they sat down under the full radiance of the unclouded moon.

Quick as a flash he jumped in and dived down, down under where the fish were darting.

He sat down under a tree, and began talking very quietly and unconcernedly with the neighbours, as if nothing had happened.

When a man was tired, and the sun was hot, he sat down under a tree for shelter and rest.

Just before he reached the car one of the thermos bottles started to slide down under his elbow.

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A Strong U.S. Dollar Weighs on the World

Where Currencies Are

Falling Around the World

Year-to-date percentage change in the value of each country’s official currency against the U.S. dollar.

–1.6%

–6.5%

–3.0%

–10.0%

–2.1%

–3.9%

South Africa

–1.9%

–3.4%

–0.6%

–5.0%

–7.7%

Where Currencies Are Falling Around the World

–7.3%

By Joe Rennison and Karl Russell

Every major currency in the world has fallen against the U.S. dollar this year, an unusually broad shift with the potential for serious consequences across the global economy.

Two-thirds of the roughly 150 currencies tracked by Bloomberg have weakened against the dollar, whose recent strength stems from a shift in expectations about when and by how much the Federal Reserve may cut its benchmark interest rate, which sits around a 20-year high.

High Fed rates, a response to stubborn inflation, mean that American assets offer better returns than much of the world, and investors need dollars to buy them. In recent months, money has flowed into the United States with a force that’s being felt by policymakers, politicians and people from Brussels to Beijing, Toronto to Tokyo.

The dollar index, a common way to gauge the general strength of the U.S. currency against a basket of its major trading partners, is hovering at levels last seen in the early 2000s (when U.S. interest rates were also similarly high).

The yen is at a 34-year low against the U.S. dollar. The euro and Canadian dollar are sagging. The Chinese yuan has shown notable signs of weakness, despite officials’ stated intent to stabilize it.

“It has never been truer that the Fed is the world’s central bank,” said Jesse Rogers, an economist at Moody’s Analytics.

U.S. dollar index

When the dollar strengthens, the effects can be fast and far-reaching.

The dollar is on one side of nearly 90 percent of all foreign exchange transactions. A strengthening U.S. currency intensifies inflation abroad, as countries need to swap more of their own currencies for the same amount of dollar-denominated goods, which include imports from the United States as well as globally traded commodities, like oil, often priced in dollars. Countries that have borrowed in dollars also face higher interest bills.

There can be benefits for some foreign businesses, however. A strong dollar benefits exporters that sell to the United States, as Americans can afford to buy more foreign goods and services (including cheaper vacations). That puts American companies that sell abroad at a disadvantage, since their goods appear more expensive, and could widen the U.S. trade deficit at a time when President Biden is promoting more domestic industry .

Exactly how these positives and negatives shake out depends on why the dollar is stronger, and that depends on the reason U.S. interests rates might remain high.

Earlier in the year, unexpectedly strong U.S. growth, which can lift the global economy, had begun to outweigh worries over stubborn inflation. But if U.S. rates remain high because inflation is sticky even as economic growth slows , then the effects could be more “sinister,” said Kamakshya Trivedi, an analyst at Goldman Sachs.

In that case, policymakers would be stuck between supporting their domestic economies by cutting rates or supporting their currency by keeping them high. “We are at the cusp of that,” Mr. Trivedi said.

The strong dollar’s effects have been felt particularly sharply in Asia. This month, the finance ministers of Japan, South Korea and the United States met in Washington, and among other things they pledged to “consult closely on foreign exchange market developments.” Their post-meeting statement also noted the “serious concerns of Japan and the Republic of Korea about the recent sharp depreciation of the Japanese yen and the Korean won.”

The Korean won is the weakest it has been since 2022, and the country’s central bank governor recently called moves in the currency market “ excessive .”

The yen has been tumbling against the dollar, and on Monday briefly slipped past 160 yen to the dollar for the first time since 1990. In sharp contrast to the Fed in the United States, Japan’s central bank began raising interest rates only this year after struggling for decades with low growth.

For Japanese officials, that means striking a delicate balance — increase rates, but not by too much in a way that could stifle growth. The consequence of that balancing act is a weakened currency, as rates have stayed near zero. The risk is that if the yen continues to weaken, investors and consumers may lose confidence in the Japanese economy, shifting more of their money abroad.

A similar risk looms for China, whose economy has been battered by a real estate crisis and sluggish spending at home. The country, which seeks to hold its currency within a tight range, has recently relaxed its stance and allowed the yuan to weaken, a demonstration of the pressure exerted by the dollar in financial markets and on other countries’ policy decisions.

“A weaker yuan is not a sign of strength,” said Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former Treasury Department economist. “It will lead to questions about whether China’s economy is as strong as people thought.”

In Europe, policymakers at the European Central Bank have signaled that they could cut rates at their next meeting , in June. But even with inflation improving in the eurozone, there is a concern among some that by lowering interest rates before the Fed, the E.C.B. would widen the difference in interest rates between the eurozone and the United States, further weakening the euro.

Gabriel Makhlouf, governor of Ireland’s central bank and one of the 26 members of the E.C.B.’s governing council, said that when setting policy, “we can’t ignore what’s happening in the U.S.”

Other policymakers are confronting similar complications, with central banks in South Korea and Thailand among those also considering lowering interest rates.

By contrast, Indonesia’s central bank unexpectedly raised rates last week, in part to support the country’s depreciating currency, a sign of how the dollar’s strength is reverberating around the world in different ways. Some of the fastest-falling currencies this year, like those in Egypt, Lebanon and Nigeria, reflect domestic challenges made even more daunting by the pressure exerted by a stronger dollar.

“We are on the edge of a storm,” Mr. Rogers of Moody’s said.

Eshe Nelson contributed reporting.

Joe Rennison writes about financial markets, a beat that ranges from chronicling the vagaries of the stock market to explaining the often-inscrutable trading decisions of Wall Street insiders. More about Joe Rennison

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Congress approved a TikTok ban. Why it could still be years before it takes effect.

TikTok’s fate in the U.S. has never been more in doubt after Congress approved a bill that gives its parent company two options: sell it to an approved buyer or see it banned.

President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law on Wednesday. 

But it could take years for the TikTok ban to actually go into effect, since its Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, is likely to challenge the statute in court. 

And even if it survives a legal challenge, no one is quite sure what would happen next. 

How soon could a potential ban take effect?

It would probably be several years from now.

According to the statute’s language, ByteDance would have nine months to divest and find an American buyer for TikTok once the bill is signed into law. 

On top of that, the president can push back the deadline by an additional 90 days. 

That means, without a sale, the soonest TikTok could shut down in the U.S. would be more than one year from now.  

But it’s more complicated than that. 

If ByteDance sues to block the implementation of the statute — which it has said it would do — the bill will be taken up by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to Isaac Boltansky, director of policy for the financial services firm BTIG.

Boltansky said ByteDance would file a suit no later than this fall. And while the case is under judicial review, the “clock” on any ban is effectively paused, he said. 

Once the D.C. court issues its ruling, whichever side loses is likely to request a review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

That would forestall the ban by another year — meaning nothing would go into effect until 2026, Boltansky said.

TikTok will argue that the ban is unconstitutional and that it’s also taken steps to protect American users’ data. The app has already launched an aggressive lobbying campaign, featuring a number of small-business owners and influencers who say it's their lifeblood.

“We have got to make enough noise so that they don’t take away our voice,” TikTok user @dadlifejason, who has 13.8 million followers, says in a TikTok ad shared on social media.

What about finding a buyer?

The bill stipulates that TikTok can continue to operate in the U.S. if ByteDance sells the app to a U.S.-approved firm. 

While large U.S. tech companies would love to get their hands on the platform, Boltansky said that Biden administration regulators — not to mention GOP critics of Big Tech firms — have no interest in expanding the power, reach or influence of such companies.  

Some other outside groups might emerge. At least one led by Steve Mnuchin, who was Treasury secretary in the Trump administration, has already sought to make a bid, telling CNBC in March that he was putting together an investor group . The Wall Street Journal has also reported that former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick was looking for potential buyer partners. While ByteDance, which owns other companies, is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, TikTok would fetch less than that, experts say — especially if it is sold without its powerful recommendation algorithm.  

But Boltansky believes ByteDance is unlikely to agree to any kind of sale. The Chinese government has said as much, arguing that it regards the algorithm as a national security asset. And without that, TikTok becomes much less appealing to potential buyers.    

So is TikTok in the U.S. going away?

It might — but the ultimate impact may be limited. The fact is, most TikTok users already have a presence on other platforms, so the impact on their livelihoods to the extent that they operate businesses on TikTok could be limited.

According to a survey from the financial services group Wedbush, approximately 60% of TikTok user respondents said they’d simply migrate to Instagram (or Facebook) in the event of a sale, while 19% said they’d go to YouTube. 

Analysts with financial services company Bernstein arrived at similar estimates. In a note to clients, they forecast that Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, would take over as much as 60% of TikTok’s U.S. ad revenue, with YouTube gaining 25%. Snapchat would also benefit, they said. 

Why did lawmakers feel they needed to take this drastic step?

Boltansky said many political pundits remain surprised that the bill got over the finish line. But a wave of anxiety about both Chinese influence and the impact of social media on youth converged to get it passed.

“This has been noteworthy,” Boltansky said. “Everyone is so conditioned to D.C. doing nothing or the bare minimum to keep the lights on.”

As tensions with Beijing have grown, congressional lawmakers, along with top law enforcement officials, have warned that TikTok is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and is a national security threat to the United States.

“It screams out with national security concerns,” FBI Director Christopher Wray testified on Capitol Hill last year

U.S. officials fear that the Chinese government is using TikTok to access data from, and spy on, its American users, spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories.

It felt like a TikTok ban was moving slowly, then quickly. What happened?

The House passed its standalone TikTok bill on a big bipartisan vote in March. But the Senate appeared in no hurry to take up the measure as Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., drafted her own legislation.

That all changed when Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., working with the White House, rolled out his $95 billion foreign aid supplemental plan last week that included billions of dollars for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. 

Included in that sweeping aid package: the House’s TikTok bill, with some minor changes. Johnson pushed the package through his chamber, then sent the House on a recess, forcing the Senate to take it or leave it.

Rather than further delay the critical, long-stalled military and humanitarian aid, the Democratic-controlled Senate is moving to quickly pass the package — including the TikTok bill and other Johnson priorities.

Rob Wile is a breaking business news reporter for NBC News Digital.

Scott Wong is a senior congressional reporter for NBC News.

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What do the US campus protests mean for Joe Biden in November?

Thousands of students have rallied for Palestine, after hundreds of thousands of Democrats declined to vote for Biden in the primary

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The policies of Joe Biden and Democrats towards Israel, which have prompted thousands of students across the country to protest, could affect the youth vote for Biden and hurt his re-election chances, experts have warned, in what is already expected to be a tight election.

Thousands of students at universities across the US have joined with pro-Palestine rallies and, most recently, encampments, as Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 people.

Some of the protests began as a call to encourage universities to ditch investments in companies that provide weapons and equipment to the Israeli military. But as the Biden administration has continued to largely support Israel, the president has increasingly become a focus of criticism from young people. Polling shows that young Americans’ support for Biden has been chipped away since 2020.

With Biden narrowly trailing Trump in several key swing states, it’s a voting bloc the president can ill afford to lose.

“The real threat to Biden is that younger voters, especially college-educated voters, won’t turn out for him in the election,” said Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of history of education at the University of Pennsylvania.

“I wouldn’t expect that the protesters on campuses today are going to vote for Trump, almost none of them will. That’s not the danger here. The danger is much simpler: that they simply won’t vote.”

Turnout could be key to Biden winning November’s election, given the devotion of Trump’s base, and there are signs that Biden’s handling of the situation in Gaza is already costing him support.

In Wisconsin, which Biden won by just 21,000 votes in 2020, more than 47,000 people voted “uninstructed” in the state’s Democratic primary , as a protest against the government’s support for Israel. It came after more than 100,000 voters in Michigan’s Democratic primary cast ballots for “uncommitted” : Biden won the state by just 154,000 votes four years ago.

Biden triumphed in Pennsylvania by a similarly small margin, and average polling shows him currently trailing Trump in the state, albeit by less than two points. Protests at campuses at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh probably have Biden’s campaign worried.

“In states like Pennsylvania, the margins are going to be so small, that it’s at least possible that a couple thousand people not turning out, or voting for one of the third-party candidates, could swing the election one way or the other,” Zimmerman said.

In April, a Harvard poll found that Biden leads Trump by eight percentage points among 18- to 29-year-olds, down from a 23-point lead Biden had at the same point in 2020. In the same survey, 51% of young Americans said they support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, while just 10% said they were opposed.

Just as worrying for the voting figures was the sentiments Harvard unearthed. Nearly 60% of 18-to 29-year-olds said the country is “off on the wrong track”. Only 9% believe things are “generally headed in the right direction”.

On Tuesday, even the College Democrats of America – a centrist, Biden-supporting organization – criticized their own party .

“Each day that Democrats fail to stand united for a permanent ceasefire, two-state solution, and recognition of a Palestinian state, more and more youth find themselves disillusioned with the party,” the group said in a statement.

The White House said that Biden had “reiterated his clear” opposition to Israel invading the Gaza city of Rafah, where about 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering, in a call with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, over the weekend.

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The administration said Biden had also “reaffirmed his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security”. That came after Biden said he condemned “the antisemitic protests”, although the president added: “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”

Zimmerman said “the most obvious” precedent for student protests influencing an election was in 1968, when Lyndon B Johnson dropped his re-election campaign in the face of anti-Vietnam war protests. Those protests, which had begun in 1965, weren’t the only reason for Johnson’s dropping out of the Democratic primary , Zimmerman said, but played a major role.

The Vietnam-era movement grew to something much larger in scale than the current demonstrations, although with hundreds of students arrested so far, there is evidence the movement is growing, and according to National Students for Justice in Palestine, an advocacy group, there are more than 50 encampments at universities around the US.

“A heavy-handed response to protests is basically not going to put them down. It’s just going to increase the protests and strengthen them, because then it becomes a question of free speech,” said Ralph Young, a history professor at Temple University whose work has focused on protest movements in the US.

If the protests against Israel’s conduct – and against Biden’s ability or willingness to reel Israel in – continue, it will not be an issue for Trump. In a Gallup poll in March, 71% of Republicans said they approved of “the military action Israel has taken in Gaza”, compared with just 36% of Democrats.

“The main negativity on this is for the Democrats. What Biden needs in order to win is a very heavy turnout of Democrats. If he loses even 10% of the Democratic vote and even if that does not go to Trump, I think the chances are slim for Biden to get re-elected,” Young said.

“If there is a ceasefire, or if things ease up, then maybe cooler heads will prevail and things will settle down. Maybe then the protests will not have as much of an impact on the election. But the longer they go on, the more impact they will have.”

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