Kangaroo entered English from Guugu Yimidhirr, an Aboriginal language spoken in far north Queensland, Australia. The word was written down in 1770 by people on James Cook’s voyage after contact near present day Cooktown.
Linguists generally agree that this was a real local word, not a mistake. A very common story says the speakers were actually saying something like “I don’t know”, and that the British misunderstood it as the animal’s name. That story is popular, but it is not supported by the historical and language evidence.
The recorded form was close to gangurru, a Guugu Yimidhirr word for a type of kangaroo, probably the eastern gray kangaroo. So the borrowing was more specific at first than modern English kangaroo, which can refer to several related animals.
- Guugu Yimidhirr: gangurru, a particular kind of kangaroo
- English: kangaroo, later used more broadly
- Popular myth: “it meant I don’t know”
This makes kangaroo a useful example of how English has borrowed words through contact, while later retelling can create memorable but inaccurate origin stories.
