Kangaroo word a word that contains its antonym; for example: "covert" carries "overt", "animosity" carries "amity". Some compilers require that the letters of the joey word not be consecutive within the kangaroo word, or that the kangaroo and joey words must be etymologically unrelated. Kangaroo words were originally popularized as a word game by Ben O'Dell in an article for "The American Magazine", volume 151, during the 1950s. This was later reprinted in "the Reader's Digest". Kangaroo word A kangaroo word is a word that contains letters of another word, in order, with the same meaning. For example: the word "masculine" contains
Plain meaning rule to guide courts faced with litigation that turns on the meaning of a term "not" defined by the statute, or on that of a word found within a definition itself. According to the plain meaning rule, absent a contrary definition within the statute, words must be given their plain, ordinary and literal meaning. If the words are clear, they must be applied, even though the intention of the legislator may have been different or the result is harsh or undesirable. The literal rule is what the law says instead of what the law was intended to say. Larry Solum, Professor