The Taipei Times had an editorial the other day, using this term. I know it means:
When people take the law into their own hands and form courts that are not legal, these are known as kangaroo court…
But why the kangaroo expression? Anybody know? I’;ve googled and googled and everytime i got…skunked.
HELP! ASAP!
Tough one. I got a laugh out of this try though
This usage derived from the supposed fact that when kangaroos see a man for the first time they typically stop dead and eyeball him for five minutes, then suddenly turn and scoot. The practice of staring idiotically into space for long periods followed by a rash and inexplicable jump to conclusions was thought to closely resemble the behavior of a jury or judicial panel, hence kangaroo court.
[quote=“amos”]Tough one. I got a laugh out of this try though
This usage derived from the supposed fact that when kangaroos see a man for the first time they typically stop dead and eyeball him for five minutes, then suddenly turn and scoot. The practice of staring idiotically into space for long periods followed by a rash and inexplicable jump to conclusions was thought to closely resemble the behavior of a jury or judicial panel, hence kangaroo court.[/quote]
great find, amos. where is the URL? So that’s why!!! A tough one. I never would have guessed.
Thanks
Well l wouldn’t count on that being true but who knows. Anyway here’s the link http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_236.html
[quote=“amos”]Tough one. I got a laugh out of this try though
upposed fact that when kangaroos see a man for the first time they typically stop dead and eyeball him for five minutes, then suddenly turn and scoot. T.[/quote]
They also can decide to wrap their tiny little arms around your neck and rip your guts out.
If you are in water they can try to drown you. They do this to dingoes.
Otherwise they are furry loveable creatues.
In a South African context, I think “Kangaroo Court” comes from the marsupials’ (or are they fish?) preferred hunting method of ‘necklacing’, dropping tyres over the victim’s shoulders to stop the arms moving, whereupon the victim is doused with petrol and set aflame.
this one you won’t find a good answer to. seems it was coined in texas- long before texans ever heard of kangaroos.
back when i was in taiwan i researched “kangaroo court” and the results satisfied me. there is a legal term (of greek origin) something like kategoros court, which loosely translated means a court in which the presiding authority was the accuser. a cognate is probably “categorically” as in completely onesided: OJ categorically denied all charges against him. a court which is categorically one-sided against the defendant is, via mangled translation called a kangaroo court today.
kategoros…category…kangaroo.
[quote=“skeptic yank”]this one you won’t find a good answer to. seems it was coined in texas- long before texans ever heard of kangaroos.
back when I was in Taiwan i researched “kangaroo court” and the results satisfied me. there is a legal term (of greek origin) something like kategoros court, which loosely translated means a court in which the presiding authority was the accuser. a cognate is probably “categorically” as in completely onesided: OJ categorically denied all charges against him. a court which is categorically one-sided against the defendant is, via mangled translation called a kangaroo court today.
kategoros…category…kangaroo.[/quote]
I know Australia is down the bottom there but surely they (we, I am confused) can at least have this and
“throw a shrimp on the barbie”
Nobody says “throw a shrimp on the barbie” btw, so maybe we could have Kangaroo court if its okay.
Why not?
aw, fair suck of the sav
Why not?[/quote]
“Throw a shrimp on the barbie”
BroonAussie
Why not?[/quote]
I’ve mentioned this somewhere on Forumosa before, but it’s because the bloody things are prawns. PRAWNS! Paul Hogan just spoke American for the sake of the ads. And besides, it would probably come out more like “chuck on some of them prawns while you’re at it, mate”. To be honest, I generally don’t BBQ prawns anyway - dries 'em out too much 
Why not?[/quote]
I’ve mentioned this somewhere on Forumosa before, but it’s because the bloody things are prawns. PRAWNS! Paul Hogan just spoke American for the sake of the ads. And besides, it would probably come out more like “chuck on some of them prawns while you’re at it, mate” [/quote]
I’ve never seen a shrimp or prawn on the barbie. Maybe other aussies can tell another story. Could be a myth created by some clever media types.
I have seen them barbecued here. They had the skewer shoved up their internals and died from that and the heat.
Only worse thing was the Japanese cooking stuff that jumps around on the skillet.
I’ve eaten BBQ’d prawns, but not home-made. Usually, steak, chicken, sausages, and fish in foil and calamari for the picky types. I prefer my prawns straight from the fish market, boiled or whatever it is they do to them.
Thats how I remember them. Going fishing/ hiking or whatever and a big bag of cooked prawns and lots of beer.
On the boat mine usually ended up as burly to the amusement and cheering of those fishing.
My guess is that kangaroos are native to Australia. And Australia was long ago a destintion for ousted convicts from the Old Country. Since a kangaroo court could be one run by prisoners and hence perhaps the term originated in Australia.
The explanation below is more in line with skeptic yank in being a term coined in the USA
I was hoping aussies could have something of their own but apparently like everything else it comes from the USA.
Kangaroo court
Kel Richards writes:
A kangaroo court is officially defined as
Thanks to Richard for the education.