This week Donald Trump denounced the impeachment inquiry that has begun in Congress as a “kangaroo court”, and so not fit to judge what he also called his “great and unmatched wisdom”. But what have Australian marsupials got to do with American politics?
The phrase “kangaroo court” originated in 19th-century America to describe any illegitimate court proceedings, as were often held by mutineers or prisoners. Some fanciful etymologies link it to the practice of “claim jumping” – the attempt to seize land already claimed by another – during the Gold Rush, or to dodgy practices by itinerant judges hopping from one jurisdiction to another.
For a while, kangaroo courts were also called “mestang” (or “mustang”) courts, after the feral horses that roamed the plains, so perhaps the idea was just that of a court presided over by a wild beast. The familiar version might have won simply because kangaroos are more picturesque: they can bound along at up to 40mph, and are classed as “macropodines”. That is Greek for having very large feet, which might be thought preferable to having, like the subject of the congressional inquiry, tiny hands.
• Steven Poole’s A Word for Every Day of the Year is published by Quercus.
