Jabberwocky

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"Wabe" redirects here. For house in London, see The Wabe.
For other uses beyond Carroll’s Jabberwocky, see Wabe (disambiguation).
For other uses, see Jabberwocky (disambiguation).
"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871
novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The book tells of Alice's adventures
within the back-to-front world of Looking-Glass Land.
In an early scene in which she first encounters the chess piece characters White King and White Queen, Alice finds a book written in a seemingly
unintelligible language. Realizing that she is travelling through an inverted world, she recognises that the verses on the pages are written in mirror-
writing. She holds a mirror to one of the poems and reads the reflected verse of "Jabberwocky". She finds the nonsense verse as puzzling as the
odd land she has passed into, later revealed as a dreamscape.[1]
"Jabberwocky" is considered one of the greatest nonsense poems written in English. [2][3] Its playful, whimsical language has given English nonsense
words and neologisms such as "galumphing" and "chortle".

Possible interpretations of words

Bandersnatch: A swift moving creature with snapping jaws, capable of extending its neck. [21] A 'bander' was also an archaic word for a 'leader',
suggesting that a 'bandersnatch' might be an animal that hunts the leader of a group. [19]

 Beamish: Radiantly beaming, happy, cheerful. Although Carroll may have believed he had coined this word, usage in 1530 is cited in
the Oxford English Dictionary.[22]
 Borogove: Following the poem Humpty Dumpty says: " 'borogove' is a thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round,
something like a live mop." In explanatory book notes Carroll describes it further as "an extinct kind of Parrot. They had no wings, beaks
turned up, made their nests under sun-dials and lived on veal." [19] In Hunting of the Snark, Carroll says that the initial syllable of borogove is
pronounced as in borrow rather than as in worry.[21]
 Brillig: Following the poem, the character of Humpty Dumpty comments: " 'Brillig' means four o'clock in the afternoon, the time when
you begin broiling things for dinner."[18]According to Mischmasch, it is derived from the verb to bryl or broil.
 Burbled: In a letter of December 1877, Carroll notes that "burble" could be a mixture of the three verbs 'bleat', 'murmur', and 'warble',
although he did not remember creating it.[22][23]
 Chortled: "Combination of 'chuckle' and 'snort'." (OED)
 Frabjous: Possibly a blend of fair, fabulous, and joyous. Definition from Oxford English Dictionary, credited to Lewis Carroll.
 Frumious: Combination of "fuming" and "furious". In the Preface to The Hunting of the Snark Carroll comments, "[T]ake the two words
'fuming' and 'furious'. Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first. Now open your mouth
and speak. If your thoughts incline ever so little towards 'fuming', you will say 'fuming-furious'; if they turn, by even a hair's breadth, towards
'furious', you will say 'furious-fuming'; but if you have the rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say 'frumious'." [21]
 Galumphing: Perhaps used in the poem as a blend of 'gallop' and 'triumphant'. [22] Used later by Kipling, and cited by Webster as "To move
with a clumsy and heavy tread"[24][25]
 Gimble: Humpty comments that it means: "to make holes like a gimlet."[18]
 Gyre: "To 'gyre' is to go round and round like a gyroscope." [18] Gyre is entered in the OED from 1420, meaning a circular or spiral motion
or form; especially a giant circular oceanic surface current. However, Carroll also wrote in Mischmasch that it meant to scratch like a dog.
[19]
 The g is pronounced like the /g/ in gold, not like gem (since this was how "gyroscope" was pronounced in Carroll's day). [26]
 Jabberwock: When a class in the Girls' Latin School in Boston asked Carroll's permission to name their school magazine The Jabberwock,
he replied: "The Anglo-Saxon word 'wocer' or 'wocor' signifies 'offspring' or 'fruit'. Taking 'jabber' in its ordinary acceptation of 'excited and
voluble discussion', this would give the meaning of 'the result of much excited and voluble discussion'..." [19] It is often depicted as a monster
similar to a dragon. In the above old image it has four legs and also bat-like wings. In Alice in Wonderland(2010 film) it is shown with large
back legs, small dinosaur-like front legs, and on the ground it uses its wings as front legs like a pterosaur, and it breathes out lightning flashes
rather than flame.
 Jubjub bird: 'A desperate bird that lives in perpetual passion', according to the Butcher in Carroll's later poem The Hunting of the Snark.
[21]
 'Jub' is an ancient word for a jerkin or a dialect word for the trot of a horse (OED). It might make reference to the call of the bird resembling
the sound "jub, jub".[19]
 Manxome: Possibly 'fearsome'; Possibly a portmanteau of "manly" and "buxom", the latter relating to men for most of its history; or
"three-legged" after the Triskelion emblem of the Manx people from the Isle of Man.
 Mimsy: Humpty comments that " 'Mimsy' is 'flimsy and miserable' ". [18]
 Mome: Humpty Dumpty is uncertain about this one: "I think it's short for 'from home', meaning that they'd lost their way, you know".
The notes in Mischmasch give a different definition of 'grave' (via 'solemome', 'solemone' and 'solemn').

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  Outgrabe: Humpty says " 'outgribing' is something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle". [18] Carroll's
book appendices suggest it is the past tense of the verb to 'outgribe', connected with the old verb to 'grike' or 'shrike', which derived 'shriek'
and 'creak' and hence 'squeak'.[19]
 Rath: Humpty Dumpty says following the poem: "A 'rath' is a sort of green pig". Carroll's notes for the original in Mischmasch state that a
'Rath' is "a species of land turtle. Head erect, mouth like a shark, the front forelegs curved out so that the animal walked on its knees, smooth
green body, lived on swallows and oysters." [19] In the 1951 animated film adaptation of the previous book, the raths are depicted as small,
multi-coloured creatures with tufty hair, round eyes, and long legs resembling pipe stems.
 Slithy: Humpty Dumpty says: " 'Slithy' means 'lithe and slimy'. 'Lithe' is the same as 'active'. You see it's like a portmanteau, there are two
meanings packed up into one word." [18]The original in Mischmasch notes that 'slithy' means "smooth and active"[19] The i is long, as in writhe.
 Snicker-snack: possibly related to the large knife, the snickersnee.[22]
 Tove: Humpty Dumpty says " 'Toves' are something like badgers, they're something like lizards, and they're something like corkscrews.
[...] Also they make their nests under sun-dials, also they live on cheese." [18] Pronounced so as to rhyme with groves.[21] They "gyre and
gimble," i.e., rotate and bore. Toves are described slightly differently in Mischmasch: "a species of Badger [which] had smooth white hair, long
hind legs, and short horns like a stag [and] lived chiefly on cheese". [19]
 Tulgey: Carroll himself said he could give no source for Tulgey. Could be taken to mean thick, dense, dark. It has been suggested that it
comes from the Anglo-Cornish word "Tulgu", 'darkness', which in turn comes from the Cornish language "Tewolgow" 'darkness, gloominess'.
[27]

 Uffish: Carroll noted "It seemed to suggest a state of mind when the voice is gruffish, the manner roughish, and the temper huffish". [22][23]
 Vorpal: Carroll said he could not explain this word, though it has been noted that it can be formed by taking letters alternately from
"verbal" and "gospel".[28]
 Wabe: The characters in the poem suggest it means "The grass plot around a sundial", called a 'wa-be' because it "goes a long way before
it, and a long way behind it".[18] In the original Mischmasch text, Carroll states a 'wabe' is "the side of a hill (from its being soaked by rain)". [19]

Jabberwocky       The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! 

He took his vorpal sword in hand;  He left it dead, and with its head 
      Long time the manxome foe he sought—        He went galumphing back. 
BY LEWIS CARROLL
So rested he by the Tumtum tree 
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves        And stood awhile in thought.  “And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? 
      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:        Come to my arms, my beamish boy! 
All mimsy were the borogoves,  And, as in uffish thought he stood,  O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” 
      And the mome raths outgrabe.        The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,        He chortled in his joy. 
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, 
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!        And burbled as it came!  ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 
      The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!        Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: 
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun  One, two! One, two! And through and All mimsy were the borogoves, 
      The frumious Bandersnatch!”  through        And the mome raths outgrabe.

Conjunction: Definition and Examples

The conjunction is the part of speech used as a “joiner” for words, phrases, or clauses in a particular sentence. It links these words or groups of
words together, in such a way that certain relationships among these different parts of the sentence will be established, and the thoughts that all
of these convey will be connected.

2
What are the Different Types of Conjunctions?

In the English language, conjunctions come in three basic types: the coordinating conjunctions, the subordinating conjunctions, and the correlative
conjunctions.

1. Coordinating Conjunction
Among the three types of conjunctions, this is probably the most common one. The main function of coordinating conjunctions is to join words,
phrases, and clauses together, which are usually grammatically equal. Aside from that, this type of conjunctions is placed in between the words or
groups of words that it links together, and not at the beginning or at the end.

Examples:
Pizza and burgers are my favorite snacks.
In the sample sentence above, the underlined word serves as a coordinating conjunction that links two words together (pizza + burgers).

The treasure was hidden in the cave or in the underground lagoon.

The example above shows how coordinating conjunctions can join together two (or more) phrases. The coordinating conjunction “or” in the
sentence above links “in the cave” and “in the underground lagoon.”

What those girls say and what they actually do are completely different.
In this sentence, you’ll see how the same coordinating conjunction ”and” from the first sample sentence can be used to link clauses together
(“what those girls say” and “what they actually do”), instead of just single words.

How to Punctuate Coordinating Conjunctions

In joining two words, phrases, or dependent clauses together, a comma is not required before the coordinating conjunction.

Examples:
aliens and predators
by the beach or on the hill
what you see and what you get

If, on the other hand, you are linking more than two words, phrases, and dependent clauses together, a series of commas must be placed in
between the distinct elements.

Examples:
spiders, snakes, and scorpions
in the bedroom, in the garage, or at the garden

Lastly, for joining together two independent clauses, a comma must be used before placing the coordinating conjunction.

Examples:
Cassandra fell asleep, so Joaquin just went home.
I don’t really like spaghetti, but I can eat lasagna any day.
For you to easily recall the different coordinating conjunctions that you can use, you can just remember the word “FANBOYS,” which stands for:
F-for, A-and, N-nor, B-but, O-or, Y-yet, S-so

Conjunction

2. Subordinating Conjunction
This type of conjunctions is used in linking two clauses together. Aside from the fact that they introduce a dependent clause, subordinating
conjunctions also describe the relationship between the dependent clause and the independent clause in the sentence.

List of Common Subordinating Conjunctions:

while wherever in that

as soon as when once
although until supposing
before after while
even if as if unless
because how in case
no matter how if as far as
whether provided now that
3
as though
so that since

Sample Sentences:

It is so cold outside, so I brought you a jacket.

Because it is so cold outside, I brought you a jacket.
By looking at the sentences above, you will easily notice that a subordinating conjunction can be found either at the beginning of the sentence or
between the clauses that it links together. Aside from that, a comma should also be placed in between the two clauses (independent clause and
dependent clause) of the sentence.

3. Correlative Conjunction
The correlative conjunctions are simply pairs of conjunctions which are used to join equal sentence elements together.

List of Common Correlative Conjunctions:

either… or both… and

neither… nor whether… or
not only… but also so… as

Sample Sentences:

Both my brother and my father are lawyers.

I can’t decide whether I’ll take Chemical Engineering or take Medical Technology in college.

What is a Conjunctive Adverb?

Although a conjunctive adverb is not a real conjunction, this kind of words functions as conjunctions in a sentence. Some examples of conjunctive
adverbs are:

in addition otherwise instead

for example as a result incidentally
however indeed after all
therefore still finally
on the contrary thus likewise
hence on the other hand meanwhile
in fact furthermore consequently

Final Thoughts

Conjunctions are very essential in speech and in writing. They improve the cohesion between the different parts of the text and enable you to
construct long sentences without sounding awkward. Although the concept of conjunctions may seem too simple, you should still take time and
make sure that you place the punctuations properly, choose the appropriate conjunctions, and see to it that you adhere to the standard rules of
grammar.