h a l f b a k e r yMagical moments of mediocrity.
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Most of them are too small, particularly to ride. The
ones that are bigger are just going to kick the shit
out of you, for fun. |
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You might manage to hold a big Red Kangaroo buck, if
you grab it from behind. |
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From in front? I've seen one bearhug a medium-sized
dog to death. Squeezed it and broke its back, then
it dropped the dog in the water into which the dog
had foolishly chased it. |
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Strangely enough, the word "kangaroo" comes from
one of the aboriginal languages, in which "kang garra
hu" means "false etymology based on a popular
myth". |
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// The ones that are bigger are just going to kick the shit
out of you, for fun. // |
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Which is far more humane than American rodeos, where
the bull kicks the shit out of the dumbass who tried to ride
to ride it because somebody injected it with an
amphetamine cocktail and zapped it with a stun gun. |
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It actually sounds kind of fun to watch, in a sick sort
of way. Considering bun. |
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Yes [NotationToby], then I'll certainly bun. |
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The story of the etymology of the word "kangaroo"
is not too far from what [Max] suggested. |
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Captain Cook, who claimed Australia for England in
1770, apparently quizzed a local from the
Endeavour River area of North Queensland, as to
what a particular animal was called. The answer
was Gangurru, or something similar. Cook
recorded the name, and it stuck. |
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However, when white men got around to settling
Australia in 1788, they were to do so in the Sydney
area, about 3000km south of the Endeavour River.
No-one local had ever heard of a "kang-oo-roo" as
the word had become, in English pronunciation.
Cook was already dead, having been speared in
the Sandwich Islands (Hawai'i) in 1779, so he
wasn't around to correct anyone. |
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That said, there's also the problem of more than
300 aboriginal dialects being spoken in Australia
before white settlement, so the language in
Sydney was a lot different to that in the area
north of Cairns. No-one in the Ku-ring-gai area
around Sydney had a clue what the white settlers
were on about, when told that the animals were
called "kangaroos". |
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In any case, no-one has, to this day, been able to
find usage of a similar word in any aboriginal
language (many of which are now extinct), so it's
possible the man whom Cook questioned was
saying something like, "the end of your finger, you
bozo" or "lunch on the run". |
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There were almost 130 different species of
kangaroo around at the time (now about 127, after
a few post-settlement extinctions) so the answer
Cook received could have been specific to the
species, or gender, or size of the kangaroo about
which he was asking. There's a theory it may have
signified "large black [roo]" or something like that. |
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//Most of them are too small, particularly to ride.
The ones that are bigger are just going to kick the
shit out of you, for fun.// |
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Yeah, I'm thinking not so much riding as just holding
on to the hoppy bastard. |
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That said, [NotationToby], I wish I could bun that
anno. |
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Put me down as another vote for monkey riders. |
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//There were almost 130 different species of
kangaroo around at the time (now about 127)// |
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That I do not believe. Wikipedantia says there are
four extant species commonly referred to as
kangaroos, and about 50 other species of smaller
relatives, which might loosely be called
kangaroos. But 127? Nah. |
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As for the true etymology, it's actually from an
African phrase (I forget the language) "Kwa
n'garro", which basically means "Huge jerboa". The
Australian aboriginals had learned this from a
West-african crew member on Willem Janszoon's
expedition, and repeated it to Cook's men,
assuming that all "foreigners" spoke the same
language. |
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Geographical etymology is a puzzle fit for linguists with too
much free time. Maine is the center of the region known as
Acadia, that name largely attributed to a map used by
Champlain that should have said 'Arcadia' (based on the
nomenclature of some previous explorer). In the language
of the Wabanaki Tribe, however, there is a word
pronounced "uh-KAY-djuh" which means 'where we are
right now'. Locally, it is believed that some white explorer
asked a Wabanaki guide "what is this place called?" to
which the guide gave the most literal answer possible. |
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Considering how many words there are in all of the world's
languages and the very limited array of sounds that can be
produced by the human vocal appuratus, either, neither, or
both of those explanations could be true. |
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//Locally, it is believed that some white explorer
asked a Wabanaki guide "what is this place called?" to
which the guide gave the most literal answer
possible.// |
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To which the explorer replied, "Thanks!" and proceeded
to land his helicopter at Sea-Tac? |
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You're probably right about the confusion with
etymology of words, [MB]. |
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For instance, "mac swe-el boo-cann-ain" means "lazy,
arse-
picking wanker" in one or two of the Aboriginal
dialects near where I live. |
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Sea-Tac is kind of far away from coastal Maine, but given
how confused many early (non-Viking) European explorers
seemed to be about the New World, the possibility is
entirely feasible, [ytk]. |
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<something something>
Joey! You don't know where that's been
<something something> |
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//mac swe-el boo-cann-ain" means "lazy, arse-
picking wanker" in one or two of the Aboriginal
dialects near where I live.// |
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I am indebted for that information. Strange,
though, that only the Aborigines living near to your
good self have found the need to add such a phrase
to their linguistic repertoire. |
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//Captain Cook, who claimed Australia for England in 1770//
It's OK, you can keep it. |
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//Most of them are too small, particularly to ride.// Either employ giant kangaroos, or tiny people. |
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It could have been marginally worse, [AWOL]. The
French missed out on claiming it by a matter of
weeks, it would seem. |
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We were seated at the picnic table on a beach
south of Sidney with a sign: Do not feed the
kangaroos. A male Wallaby walked up to my oldest
girl, towering over her and stared at her sandwich.
I stood up, and walked up to it intending to scare
it away. It advanced towards me, slowly raised
itself on its hind feet, staring down at me. |
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My daughter gave it her sandwich immediately,
which it snatched with its hands. And we quickly
left the picnic area. |
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Why didn't Sidney shoo it away with the sign ? |
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