The 'blown away' sign that welcomes those arriving by air into Wellington has had its O taken away. But plans for the letter to be replaced by a football for FIFA Women's World Cup have been kicked to Tuesday. Photo: Stuff / Juan Zarama Perini
The letter O reportedly first appeared 1000 years before Jesus Christ, then the Greeks adopted it, from where it entered the Roman alphabet and, eventually, found itself in this sentence. Seven times.
The rotund vowel's persistence is not in doubt but it has posed a unique problem this week for the people at Wellington Airport.
The sign was made "Vellington" in 2014 to celebrate the TV series What We Do in the Shadows. The W did not pose the same problems as the O. Photo: Stuff / Kevin Stent
With the FIFA Women's World Cup starting in New Zealand next month the airport planned to replace the O in the "blown away" sign by the Miramar cutting with a large football.
The plan was for work to start on removing the O at 11.15am on Monday with people posing for photos in front of it at 4pm.
But, shortly after 3pm the airport sent out an update: 'Unfortunately, removing the existing 'O' is taken a bit longer than expected so the football won't be in place tonight'.
It was the Guardian which delved into the history of the letter and traced it from pre-biblical times to now.
"To lexicographers it's just the 15th letter of the English alphabet," it reported.
"To designers it's a perfect shape for treatment: Aworld, a ball, a ring, a sun, a moon, a clock, a compass, a face. It's not even just a letter; it's a number, too - if zero counts as a number. It's a solid sphere or an empty circle."
The change from the O to a football will be kicked to Tuesday.
Oh dear.