> Here in Australia, a lot of confusion arose when the first Europeans tried
> to talk with the Aborigines. For example, it's likely that 'kangaroo'
> means "huh?" or "I don't understand a word you're saying" rather than the
> name of the lovable hopping marsupial with a pouch. The river that flows
> through my city is called the Yarra River, but as 'yarra' was the local
> aboriginal word for 'river', I guess it's really the River River.
Actually (purely for the edification of those in the Southern states), kangaroo does in fact mean kangaroo, in the dialect of the tribe Cook met near the Glasshouse Mountains North of Brisbane, where he first came across kangaroos. When the first fleet arrived in Sydney some years later, they were pre-schooled in the recognition of kangaroos, and were presumably proud of their ability to name them correctly. The local aboriginees of course assumed that kangaroo was what they called them back in England.
The Yarra on the other hand, is easily translated as "river that flows upside down", which is of course why our rowers do so well at the olympics: rowing through mud really develops the biceps.
Owen
P.S. To add to Loren's list of Goons:
Cpt James Cook, RN
S: Explorer 120% (when you gotta go...) M: Naval Captain 90% (that air of command: no navel gazing) M: Patron of the Sciences 90% (a talent you can Banks on) Stuff Endevour: ocean going vessel full of salty vassels Barrel of limes: +20% resistance to scurvy Flaws Poorly chosen parents, leading to poor career advancement, and a premature death on a South Pacific island instead of in a comfy room at Greenwich.
Owen Jones, Maths Dept, Univ of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Australia Ph +61 7 3365 3262 (direct) 3365 3277 (secretaries) Fax +61 7 3365 1477 Home page http://www.maths.uq.oz.au/~odj/
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