Kangaroo words are words that contain other smaller words within them that have the same meaning, just like a kangaroo carrying its baby in its pouch.

Take for, example, the word chicken. Let us write it as cHickEN, and put together the words indicated in caps. What do we get? Hen, which means chicken. So we have within "chicken", a shorter word "hen" which means the same as the longer word.

Playing with kangaroo words can be great fun. Is the party getting drab and boring? Throw a few kangaroo words among the guests to solve and see how things brighten up. Are you feeling bored during a train or bus journey? Challenge your companion with a kangaroo word. Even when you are alone, you can while away hours by examining different words to see if they contain within themselves a smaller image of themselves. If you are lucky enough to discover a new kangaroo word, that discovery can give you a great feeling of exhilaration. Hey, wait a minute, don’t we have a roo here? Exhilaration..., yes of course. Elation (ExhiLAraTION). Eureka! Do you see how much fun kangaroo words can be?

Some kangaroo words conceal more than one joey. Take the case of container, you have within it tin (conTaINer) and can (ContANer).

Kangaroo words are likely to exist in languages other than English, too. Here are a few that I spotted in Hindi:

1. बहुतायत (बहुत)
2. रात्रि (रात)
3. सरोवर (सर)
4. जनता (जन)

Look for these marsupial words in your own language, for additional fun.

And finally are kangaroo words just fun things? Of course not, haven’t you heard every writing expert drill into his/her disciple, shorter paragraphs, shorter sentences, shorter words, as the hallmark of good writing?

So when tomb will do, why use catacomb, or why use heavy artillery like appropriate, when a peashooter like apt can serve the same purpose?

Let us see how good you are with kangaroo words. Can you spot the joey in each of these kangaroos? Remeber, the letters of the smaller words should occur in the same sequence in the parent word, though they needn't come consecutively.

1. Recline; 2. Rotund; 3. Indolent; 4. Precipitation; 5. Observe; 6. Destruction; 7. Salvage; 8. Market; 9. Encourage; 10. Revolution; 11. Stockings; 12. Blossom; 13. Deceased; 14. Petrochemical; 15. Arena.

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These kangaroos carry twins, spot them.

1. Alone; 2. Deteriorate; 3. Chariot; 4. Feasted.

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