What do the words in the poem Jabberwocky mean?

Answer 1

The poem Jabberwocky has a total of 167 words if you if you count 'snicker-snack' as two words, or 166 if you count it as one.

There are 94 individual words, with snicker-snack counting as two, or 93 with it counting as one.

Answer 2

Alice also wonders what the words in Jabberwocky mean, so when she meets Humpty Dumpty, she asks him. He explains the first stanza to her: `'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.' `That's enough to begin with,' Humpty Dumpty interrupted: `there are plenty of hard words there. "Brillig" means four o'clock in the afternoon -- the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.'

`That'll do very well,' said Alice: and "slithy"?'

`Well, "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.'

`I see it now,' Alice remarked thoughtfully: `and what are "toves"?'

`Well, "toves" are something like badgers -- they're something like lizards -- and they're something like corkscrews.'

`They must be very curious looking creatures.'

`They are that,' said Humpty Dumpty: `also they make their nests under sun-dials -- also they live on cheese.'

`And, what's to "gyre" and to "gimble"?'

`To "gyre" is to go round and round like a gyroscope. To "gimble" is to make holes like a gimblet.'

`And "the wabe" is the grass-plot round a sun-dial, I suppose?' said Alice, surprised at her own ingenuity.

`Of course it is. It's called "wabe," you know, because it goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it -- '

`And a long way beyond it on each side,' Alice added.

`Exactly so. Well, then, "mimsy" is "flimsy and miserable" (there's another portmanteau for you). And a "borogove" is a thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round -- something like a live mop.'

`And then "mome raths"?' said Alice. `I'm afraid I'm giving you a great deal of trouble.'

`Well, a "rath" is a sort of green pig: but "mome" I'm not certain about. I think it's short for "from home" -- meaning that they'd lost their way, you know.'

`And what does "outgrabe" mean?'

`Well, "outgribing" is something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle: however, you'll hear it done, maybe -- down in the wood yonder -- and when you've once heard it you'll be quite content. Who's been repeating all that hard stuff to you?'

Through the Looking-Glass was written in 1871, but Carroll had already printed the first verse to Jabberwocky sixteen years previously. In 1855 the opening stanza appeared in Mischmasch, a private periodical Carroll produced to amuse his siblings. He also provided a glossary, in which many of the words are given somewhat different meanings to those that Humpty Dumpty provides: BRYLLIG: (derived from the verb to bryl or broil). "the time of broiling dinner, i.e. the close of the afternoon"

SLYTHY: (compounded of 'slimy' and 'lithe'). "smooth and active"

TOVE: a species of Badger. They had smooth white hair, long hind legs, and short horns like a stag. lived chiefly on cheese.

GYRE: verb (derived from 'gyaour' or 'glaour', "a dog") "to scratch like a dog."

GYMBLE: (whence 'gimblet') to screw out holes in anything

WABE: (derived from the verb to 'swab' or 'soak') "the side of a hill" (from it's being soaked by the rain)

MIMSY: (whence 'mimserable' and 'miserable') " unhappy"

BOROGOVE: an extinct kind of Parrot. They had no wings, beaks turned up, made their nests under sun-dials and lived on veal.

MOME: (hence 'solemome' 'solemone' and 'solemn') "grave"

RATH: a species of land turtle. Head erect, mouth like a shark, the front [crossed out] fore, legs curved out so that the animal walked on its knees, smooth green body, lived on swallows and oysters.

OUTGRABE: past tense of the verb to 'outgribe' (it is connected with the old verb to 'grike' or 'shrike', from which are derived "shriek" and "creak.") "squeaked"

He goes on to explain further: Hence the literal English of the passage is: "It was evening, and the smooth active badgers were scratching and boring holes in the hill-side; all unhappy were the parrots; and the grave turtles squeaked out." There were probably sundials on the top of the hill, and the "borogoves" were afraid that their nests would be undermined. The hill was probably full of the nests of "raths", which ran out, squeaking with fear, on hearing the "toves" scratching outside. This is an obscure, but yet deeply-affecting, relic of ancient Poetry.

In a letter written in 1877 Carroll explains 'uffish thought' and 'burble': I am afraid I can't explain 'vorpal blade' for you - nor yet 'tulgey wood', but I did make an explanation once for 'uffish thought'! It seemed to suggest a state of mind when the voice is gruffish, the manner roughish, and the temper huffish. Then again, as to 'burble' if you take the three verbs 'bleat, murmur, and warble' then select the bits I have underlined, it certainly makes 'burble' though I am afraid I can't distinctly remember having made it in that way.

In the preface to The Hunting of the Snark, Carroll defines 'frumious' Take 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 'fruminous'.

sources: Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll and The Annotated Alice by Martin Gardner

Jabberwocky has been so influential, that several of its words have entered common usage and are now included in the dictionary; 'galumphing' is defined by the Oxford English dictionary as a combination of 'gallop' and 'triumphant', 'chortled' is another word invented by Carroll - the OED defines it as a blend of 'chuckle' and 'snort'.

Many of the words in Jabberwocky are nonsense words, so strictly speaking, they don't actually mean anything, but can take on meaning which we attach as readers so they mean something to you, and to me, and sometimes those things will be the same.

We can see from the difference between Humpty Dumpty's word definitions and Lewis Carroll's that the definitions of the words aren't fixed, and that we can apply our imaginations to decide for ourselves what they mean. We can guess at meanings based on similarity to other words, or from the context of the poem. Humpty Dumpty tells us about 'portmanteau' - two words squashed together to make another word, we know how these words work, so we are equipped to analyse the words for ourselves.

We don't know what a Jabberwock is, but don't you get kind of an idea of what it is by reading the poem? We know that the Jabberwock is describes as a "manxome foe" so he's certainly an enemy. He has "jaws that bite" and "claws that catch" and "eyes of flame" we don't really know what a Jabberwock is, or was in Lewis Carroll's mind, but part of what poetry is is how it affects the reader, what it makes us think of and imagine so I think the real meaning is with you, with all of us, as individuals. The very fact that it makes us think and imagine makes it a highly successful poem.

This is a very elongated reply, but as a child, I did not need it to be analyised, I just loved it, and I BELIEVE that is what Lewis Carroll intended

Answer 3

The words in Jabberwocky which Lewis Carroll invented were:

• Jabberwocky
• Brillig
• Toves
• Wabe
• Borogoves
• Outgrabe
• Jabberwock
• Jubjub
• Frumious
• Bandersnatch
• Vorpal
• Manxome
• Uffish
• Snicker-snack
• Galumphing
• Frabjous
• Callooh
• Callay
• Chortled

For some of the other words, it isn't clear whether Carroll believed he had invented them, or if he borrowed them from other sources:

Slithy is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as a variant a sleathy, an obsolete word meaning slovenly, but this is not how Carroll uses it.

The OED dates gyre back to 1420 and says it means to turn or whirl around, which is the same meaning Carroll gives it.

Gimble is a variant of gimbal, which is a piece of nautical equipment. Carroll obviously means something different.

Mimsy appeared in the OED spelled mimsey, meaning prim, prudish and contemptible.

In Carroll's day rath was a well known Irish word meaning a walled enclosure, serving as a fort and residence for the head of a tribe. This is not how Carroll uses the word.

Tum-tum was a colloquialism well known to the Victorians, referring to the sound of a stringed instrument, particularly when monotonously strummed. It is possible this meaning influenced Carroll's use.

Whiffling had several meanings in Carroll's day, but was usually used to mean blowing unsteadily in short puffs, and from this acquired the meaning of variable and evasive.

Burbled existed as a variant of bubbled, as in burbling brook, but also meant perplexed, confused or muddled.

The OED traces beamish back to 1530 as a variant of beaming, meaning shining brightly, radiant.

source: The Annotated Alice by Martin Gardner

Answer 4

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought-
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Answer 5

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

Answer 6

The words in the poem "Jabberwocky" are nonsensical and made-up by Lewis Carroll. The poem is meant to be whimsical and playful, focusing more on the sound of the words rather than their literal meaning.

Answer 7

It is a poem that tells the tale of a boy who goes off to fight a fearsome monster and eventually cuts of its head and returns home.

Answer 8

'Jabberwocky' is the name of a poem which first appeared in Lewis Carroll's novel 'Through the Looking Glass'.

It features a monster called the Jabberwock.

Answer 9

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.