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.
This poem is a perfect example to demonstrate the limitlessness of human consciousness if we are not shackled by the limitations of the very language we use every day. For me, a Chinese, it is a poem I totally enjoy without having to get to the bottom of its meanings.
Then again, getting to the bottom of its exact meaning is perhaps not Carroll's purpose. In fact Lewis Carroll is said to have claimed that he did not know exactly what some of those coinages were from.
Anyways, some of the words in this poem could be guessed out outright, others being explained in the book or later by the author. "Slithy", for example, is a blend of "slimy" and "lithe", "mimsy" meaning "miserable" and "flimsy".
And the word "chortle", a combination of "chuckle" and "snort", even made its way into proper English today. It means a throaty laugh.
Now, a few recent sightings of portmanteau words in the news:
1. Spanglish – Spanish English:
Chang Lee, who runs a clothes shop just north of the border, explains in fluent Spanglish that Mexicans are spending "too mucho time" waiting to cross, which leaves too little time for shopping - Good neighbours make fences, The Economist, October 2, 2008.
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