Better late than never, I guess ...
My word was "kangaroo."
My first thought was the animal, which we commonly know, but still seems exotic to me. It has become the symbol of its native Australia, literally a world away from where I live. I have seen them in zoos, but I've never seen one bounding full-speed with those extraordinary legs and tail.
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| Kangaroo on the run. Photo by Chris Samuel, Flickr.com |
The next entry was "kangaroo court," which means a proceeding that perverts legal rights and makes a miscarriage of justice. I wondered how an animal as cute as a kangaroo had its name attached to such an unpleasant thing.
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| Phpttt! to your Kangaroo Court! Photo by Gopal Vijayaraghavan, Flickr.com |
Lastly, (and this will give away my age) I loved Captain Kangaroo, who was essentially my preschool teacher. I watched the Captain every morning, along with Mr. Moose, who always dropped ping-pong balls on the Captain and Mr. Greenjeans, who always brought animals. I still love to watch animal videos.
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| Mr. Greenjeans, Capt. Kangaroo and bunny friends. Photo by CBS, Flickr.com |
Well, we must be of the same age. I have mixed feelings about the kangaroo enclosure at Zoo Atlanta because there really isn't enough room for the animals to hit top speed. They are dangerously strong with all that leg and tail musculature! I have looked but have not found a suitable (trustworthy) source of the concept that kangaroo court came from the miners of the Gold Rush who laid claim by jumping over the rights of others who were already there.
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