Kangaroo (was Re: Avon (was "Cafol") [Getting further OT])

From: Andrew Solovay <asolovay_at_...>
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 16:54:06 -0700

Philipp Grawe <pgrawe_at_...> wrote:

>

> There's an australian Urban Legend that Kangaroo means "I don't know"
> in some aboriginal language. It makes a good story, but I've heard
> University Professors who specialise in that sort of thing laugh and
> politely point out that it's probably not true.

Alas, the American Heritage dictionary puts paid to this wonderful story:

    A widely-held belief has it that the word /kangaroo/ comes     from an Australian Aboriginal word meaning "I don't know."     This is in fact untrue. The word was first recorded in 1770     by Captain James Cook, when he landed to make repairs along     the northeast coast of Australia. In 1820, one Captain     Phillip K. King recorded a different word for the animal,     written "mee-nuah." As a result, it was assumed that Captain     Cook had been mistaken, and the myth grew up that what he had     heard was a word meaning "I don't know" (presumably as the     answer to a question in English that had not been     understood). Recent linguistic fieldwork, however, has     confirmed the existence of a word /gangurru/ in the northeast     Aboriginal language of Guugu Yimidhirr, referring to a     species of kangaroo. What Captain King heard may have been     their word /minha/, meaning "edible animal."

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entries/03/k0010300.html

BTW, do we know of any kangaroos in Glorantha? One of the minor Praxian tribes, maybe? ;-)