where did the saying murphys law come from
Murphy's law According to the book A History of Murphy's Law by author Nick T. Spark, differing recollections years later by various participants make it impossible to pinpoint who first coined the saying Murphy's law. The law's name supposedly stems from an attempt to use new measurement devices developed by Edward Murphy. The phrase was coined in adverse reaction to something Murphy said when his devices failed to perform and was eventually cast into its present form prior to a press conference some months later â€” the first ever (of many) given by Dr. John Stapp, a U.S. Air Force colonel and Flight Surgeon in the 1950s. These conflicts (a long running interpersonal feud) were unreported until Spark researched the matter. His book expands upon and documents an original four part article published in 2003 (Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)[10]) on the controversy: Why Everything You Know About Murphy's Law is Wrong.
Kangaroo court Although the term kangaroo court has been erroneously explained to have its origin from Australia's courts while it was a penal colony,[6] the first published instance is from an American source in the year 1853.[7] Some sources suggest that it may have been popularized during the California Gold Rush of 1849, along with mustang court,[8] as a description of the hastily carried-out proceedings used to deal with the issue of claim jumping miners.[6] Ostensibly the term comes from the notion of justice proceeding "by leaps", like a kangaroo[9] â€“ in other words, "jumping over" (intentionally ignoring) evidence that would be in favour of the defendant. Another possibility is that the phrase could refer to the pouch of a kangaroo, meaning the court is in someone's pocket. The phrase is popular in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand and is still in common use.[10] Also note the existence of the phrase "Jumping to conclusions".