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<blockquote data-quote="Hardhead" data-source="post: 1365526" data-attributes="member: 2844">Lewis Carrol used portmanteaus a lot.&nbsp; It was quoted earlier, but to reiterate, Humpty Dumpty explains them in Through the Looking Glass.`That'll do very well,' said Alice: and &quot;SLITHY&quot;?'`Well, &quot;SLITHY&quot; means &quot;lithe and slimy.&quot; &quot;Lithe&quot; is the same as &quot;active.&quot; You see it's like a portmanteau -- there are two meanings packed up into one word.'They're used often in Jaberrwocky.&nbsp; The neat thing about them is you often don't know exactly what they mean, but you get the general idea.&nbsp; The Jabberwock &quot;came whiffling through the tulgey wood,&quot; for instance.&nbsp; What is &quot;whiffling?&quot;&nbsp; It's one of the made-up words Carrol invented, but I personally get the idea that it was moving fast and erratically.&nbsp; Those words are used, not to describe&nbsp; to us what is happening, but as a sort of literary ink blot test.&nbsp; We're left to see what we want to see.Oh, also, did you know that the word &quot;chortle&quot; also first appears in Jabberwocky?&nbsp; It's most like a combination of chuckle and snort.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hardhead, post: 1365526, member: 2844"] Lewis Carrol used portmanteaus a lot. It was quoted earlier, but to reiterate, Humpty Dumpty explains them in [i]Through the Looking Glass[/i]. [i]`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] They're used often in Jaberrwocky. The neat thing about them is you often don't know exactly what they mean, but you get the general idea. The Jabberwock "came whiffling through the tulgey wood," for instance. What is "whiffling?" It's one of the made-up words Carrol invented, but I personally get the idea that it was moving fast and erratically. Those words are used, not to describe to us what is happening, but as a sort of literary ink blot test. We're left to see what we want to see. Oh, also, did you know that the word "chortle" also first appears in Jabberwocky? It's most like a combination of chuckle and snort. [/QUOTE]

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