What does the word kangaroo mean in the original Australian Aborigine language of those who first named it for foreigners?

[Just realised: the 'joke' in the title to this post may be incomprehensible to some. A 'jumper' in British English is what Americans call a sweater, so a kangaroo is a 'woolly jumper' (groan )]

WORD HISTORY 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.”

well the term specifically refers to the grey kangaroo . It was actually gangarru and first recorded by James Cook to refer to the grey kangaroo but soon was adopted to cover all kangaroos.

It is a myth that the term means 'I dont know'or í don't understand'

quote:

Originally posted by FredPuli:
[Just realised: the 'joke' in the title to this post may be incomprehensible to some. A 'jumper' in British English is what Americans call a sweater, so a kangaroo is a 'woolly jumper' (groan )]

Yes Fred I get the joke, and one of the hardest things to learn coming over to live in Canada was the different names for items of clothing. For example men wear suspenders here regularly!

But the name jumper does refer to an item of clothing here but not the same one as in the UK!
My question for you is: What is a jumper in N. America?

quote:

What is a jumper in N. America?

A person who attempts/commits suicide by Falling from a Tall structure

quote:

Originally posted by bedstor:

quote:

What is a jumper in N. America?

A person who attempts/commits suicide by Falling from a Tall structure

No,no,no bedstor Ok I have to be more specific What item of clothing is a jumper in N America?

by the way bedstor I attempted to send you an email at the address you posted here last night. Did you recieve it?

Is it a pinafore ?
Viv

quote:

by the way bedstor I attempted to send you an email at the address you posted here last night. Did you recieve it?

Nothing in my mailbox (Nor my Spam folder)
You did send it to the address on the profile?
Click on my "name" and I have removed the "@" and replaced it with a comma to stop spammers harvesting it (never ending problem )
Try again if still no joy we'll try another way
PS Just use the Name if you are an AOL Member

quote:

Originally posted by VivienneHa:
Is it a pinafore ?
Viv

Yes Viv. It's a pinafore !I'm gonna teach you Brits to be bi-lingual this evening..

so then...North Americans refer to them as suspenders ..but we know them as..?

Are we done with the original question and answer yet?

dorian, we are still waiting for a verdict from Fred !

Lock it DG The extended question should have be posted as a new topic and the Chat in our Enthusiasts discussion room But as D_G has not got the Key to that (soon if she Posts with the same quality)
Idea!The DP site Discussion Room will Tide her over until She gets Enough ,and its full of our well "off-topic" topics and Games!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bedstor,

That's fine..whatever u all decide will suit me

bedstor see "Nature Trivia"

quote:

Originally posted by dance girl:
dorian, we are still waiting for a verdict from Fred !

Correct:Kangaroo or gangaru comes from the Guugu Ymithirr language of Botany Bay and is the large grey or black kangaroo Macropus robustus.

There is a basis in truth for the story about kangaroo meaning 'I don't know' but , as so often with trivia, the true story has got distorted. As settlers moved inland they used the word for any kangaroo or wallaby they encountered. Eventually they met the Baagandji people some 1,400 miles from Botany Bay. These people had another of Australia's then 250 or so languages. When the Baagandji people heard the English settlers using this foreign word kangaroo for the animal when trying to speak to them they interpreted this, from the context and circumstances, as meaning that the English were using the word 'kangaroo' for 'animal we do not know' or 'animal we've never heard of'. The Baagandji took the "hint" and adopted it into their speech. They used kangaroo for an animal that they had never heard of and did not know up to then. Looking at the settlers' strange animal ,they used it for 'horse'