a word whose pouch is full of linguistic riches… Once thought to be aboriginal word for "I don’t know what you mean" given in answer to a question in English from Captain Cook, it probably derives from ‘gan garu’ - a local word for the jumpy animal used by aboriginals of north eastern australia.  

The word is hopping with derivative phrases, such as ‘kangaroo shares’ - shares (originally in Australian mining companies) which jump up and down in value - and ‘kangaroo closure’, which is a kind of partial guillotine in which some clauses of a bill are jumped over for discussion in the UK Parliament.

And what is a ‘kangaroo court’?  First used to describe impromptu communal claim trials by Californian gold prospectors in the mid 19th century, the phrase refers either to claim ‘jumpers’ who tried to squat on another prospector’s patch, or to the way the courts jumped straight to a verdict without bothering with legal process.

And which of the two theories do you think is funnier?

Another animal with similar apocryphal etymology is the humble llama. The old story is that a Spaniard asked "¿Cómo se llama?" pointing to the animal, and the aboriginal guide just repeated the last word of the question.

That’s a lovely story and probably true.

- PW