Well, do you think /you/ could hold on to an angry kangaroo for eight seconds?-- ytk, May 18 2012 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.-- UnaBubba, May 18 2012 Wallabydarned!-- AusCan531, May 18 2012 You might manage to hold a big Red Kangaroo buck, if you grab it from behind.
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.-- UnaBubba, May 18 2012 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".-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 18 2012 // The ones that are bigger are just going to kick the shit out of you, for fun. //
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.-- Alterother, May 18 2012 It actually sounds kind of fun to watch, in a sick sort of way. Considering bun.-- blissmiss, May 18 2012 Yes [NotationToby], then I'll certainly bun.-- blissmiss, May 18 2012 The story of the etymology of the word "kangaroo" is not too far from what [Max] suggested.
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.
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.
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".
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".
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.
No-one really knows.-- UnaBubba, May 18 2012 //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.//
Yeah, I'm thinking not so much riding as just holding on to the hoppy bastard.
That said, [NotationToby], I wish I could bun that anno.-- ytk, May 18 2012 Put me down as another vote for monkey riders.-- doctorremulac3, May 18 2012 //There were almost 130 different species of kangaroo around at the time (now about 127)//
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.
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.-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 18 2012 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.
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.-- Alterother, May 19 2012 //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.//
To which the explorer replied, "Thanks!" and proceeded to land his helicopter at Sea-Tac?-- ytk, May 19 2012 You're probably right about the confusion with etymology of words, [MB].
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.-- UnaBubba, May 19 2012 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].-- Alterother, May 19 2012 <something something> Joey! You don't know where that's been <something something>-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, May 19 2012 //mac swe-el boo-cann-ain" means "lazy, arse- picking wanker" in one or two of the Aboriginal dialects near where I live.//
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.-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 20 2012 //Captain Cook, who claimed Australia for England in 1770//It's OK, you can keep it.-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, May 21 2012 //Most of them are too small, particularly to ride.// Either employ giant kangaroos, or tiny people.-- zen_tom, May 21 2012 It could have been marginally worse, [AWOL]. The French missed out on claiming it by a matter of weeks, it would seem.-- UnaBubba, May 21 2012 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.
My daughter gave it her sandwich immediately, which it snatched with its hands. And we quickly left the picnic area.-- pashute, Jun 25 2013 Why didn't Sidney shoo it away with the sign ?-- FlyingToaster, Jun 25 2013 random, halfbakery