LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.25 (01) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 25 November 2009 - Volume 01
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From: Paul Finlow-Bates <wolf_thunder51 at yahoo.co.uk>
 Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.24 (01) [EN]

"...just as this strange animal was spotted on the shore and people were
asking each other what it was, a  Scottish crew member who was stuck in the
toilet ..."

On an 18th C sailing ship, the toilet was at the Head, a projection beneath
the bowsprit.  You had to climb out there onto a netting trapeze and hang
over the side.  It was completely open to the elements, so there was
certainly no door!

Sailing ships of the period would always have some degree of following wind,
which is why the foremost accessible position on the ship was chosen.
Toilets on ships are still referred to as "The Head" to this day.

Paul
Derby
England

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From: Andrys Onsman <Andrys.Onsman at calt.monash.edu.au>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.24 (01) [EN]

As far as I know, in Australia it is generally accepted that the word
 kangaroo derives from the Australian Aboriginal language Guugu Yimidhirr
word gangurru. First noted by James Cook (1770), it is considered to have
referred to the Eastern Grey Kangaroo but it quickly came to refer to any
kangaroo.

As well as the myth that  it meant ?I don?t know? there is also the (most
likely) incorrect assertion that Cook was the first European to utter an
Aboriginal word.

Lastly, when I asked one of my Aboriginal colleagues whether boomerangs
were used in southern Australia, he looked at me curiously and pointed out
that there were too many trees. Only dessert and plains people used them.
As an interesting aside; the non-returning boomerangs were very similar to
the throwing axes of the Indigenous peoples of North America - both in
action and design.

Cheers
Andrys

•

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