Where "Kangaroo" Comes From
You'll often hear that "kangaroo" means "I don't understand" in an Aboriginal language, supposedly what locals told Captain Cook when he pointed at the animal — it's a great story, but it isn't true.
The word actually comes from gangurru in Guugu Yimithirr, the language of the Guugu Yimithirr people around present-day Cooktown, Queensland, where it named one specific kind of kangaroo in a language with at least eight different kangaroo words.
A big red kangaroo can cover eight metres in a single bound.
How Aussies Actually Use It
Used for the animal itself, and endlessly borrowed for Australian branding, sporting nicknames (the Kangaroos), and the national airline's logo.
A rare case of an Aboriginal loanword whose popular origin story is a myth rather than the true one.
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