One of the Wechts

Hi all,

I thought I would share this cool thing.

Gramps is quoting poetry to ds. " I know that" and he runs to get his D & D book.
He begins to read Jabberwocky with Gramps. I think maybe the Jabberwocky is in the Monster Manual. Months later, I am reading some Carroll with dd and I decide to look up vorpal in the dictionary. It is not there. I search on line. Now true D & D fans may know that a vorpal sword is so sharp and awesome that it will cut of the heads of the enemy.

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.

Fun stuff!! Best I can figure, Carroll seems to have invented that word. What do you think Sandra? (a.k.a. the word origin guru)


Beth in MD


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Julie Bogart

--- In [email protected], "One of the Wechts"
<scott-wecht@e...> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I thought I would share this cool thing.
>
> Gramps is quoting poetry to ds. " I know that" and he runs to get
his D & D book.
> He begins to read Jabberwocky with Gramps. I think maybe the
Jabberwocky is in the Monster Manual. Months later, I am reading
some Carroll with dd and I decide to look up vorpal in the
dictionary. It is not there. I search on line. Now true D & D
fans may know that a vorpal sword is so sharp and awesome that it
will cut of the heads of the enemy.
>
> 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.
>
> Fun stuff!! Best I can figure, Carroll seems to have invented
that word. What do you think Sandra? (a.k.a. the word origin guru)

Many of the words in "Jabberwocky" are invented words. In fact, what
makes that poem especially delightful is that we understand the
storyline so well without knowing what many of the words mean (since
they are brand new)! Carroll uses "felt sense" (that intuitive sense
of what sounds and word placement do together to make meaning) so
effectively in this poem. It's a successful experiment in language
creation and acquisition through context alone.

We love Jabberwocky and didn't know that D&D used that term!

Julie

[email protected]

In a message dated 4/1/04 3:31:18 AM, scott-wecht@... writes:

<< Fun stuff!! Best I can figure, Carroll seems to have invented that word.
What do you think Sandra? (a.k.a. the word origin guru)
>>

I'm guessing "probably."

Vorpal blades are maybe created by jellicle cats.
They're totally cromulent words.
Hey, you're the one who did the search. <g>


Oh look!

-=-vorpal
3 votes


An adjective originating in Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" poem in <i>Through
the Looking Glass and What Alice Saw There</i>. Due to his description of it,
most generally would agree that it deals with slashing damage severing a limb
or head; however, it can be stretched to mean any form of weapon that can
possibly kill in one blow, considering the word itself is a "nonsense word"
created by Carroll. Despite its popularity and history, it still eludes a normal
dictionary.

I don't allow my characters to have vorpal weapons; they are simply too
powerful.-=-

THIS site is cool:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=vorpal

People submit definitions and others vote on which they like (it seems).
Quite a democratic dictionary-in-progress!

And check this one on cromulent:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cromulent&f=1

It's a word from the Simpsons which Lisa used to say that "embiggen" was a
real word (which it is, on The Simpsons <g>). CUTE the way the word is being
used in the examples given (which might be themselves totally cromulent
examples, or not...).

Sandra
occasional word-whore

[email protected]

In a message dated 4/1/04 6:19:25 AM, julie@... writes:

<< Carroll uses "felt sense" (that intuitive sense

of what sounds and word placement do together to make meaning) so

effectively in this poem. >>

And some made up words (like "embiggen") are created legitimately from parts
left lying around. English doesn't need "embiggen" because we have "enlarge"
but if we didn't, darned if we wouldn't really NEED "embiggen."

With "embiggen" though the joke (etymologically, perhaps) is that "big"
comes from Anglo Saxon, and they've stuck it with a prefix that's commonly used
with roots from Norman French (like "embrace" or "embarrass") and so it's got a
touch of the lingusitic Frankenstein-word about it. But now that I think of
it, "bold" is native English (by which I mean from the Germanic side of the
family of English words) and "embolden" has been a word for a long time.

So embiggen is emboldened by the history of English and its cromulence is
well-earned.

Using the little dictionary "word" has I looked for more "em-somethinged"
words.
embalm
embank (definitely French, "embankment")
embark (OOOooh.... definitely English. "Bark" for boat is old, old, old.)
embattle (French: embattlements)
embed (English)
embellish (FRENCH, with its embellishments)
embezzle (French, embezzlement)
embitter (sounds German, "bitter" but could be French and I'm not looking)
embrue and embroider, French
and now I'm bored and still in the b's.

If I were in grad school, I'd do that monkey-trick for many more hours and
write up something that embiggened the linguistic community but I'm not, so I'll
just drop this halfbaked clue and go do something else! Tea and cookies
sounds good.

Sandra

[email protected]

Fun Fact

Jabberwocky and has actually become an official part of the english language
and is listed in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. This word came not long ago
as part of the "word of the day" program that we subscribe to. We always look
forward to sitting down each day to discuss these words.

Main Entry: jab·ber·wocky
Pronunciation: 'ja-b&r-"wä-kE
Function: noun
Etymology: Jabberwocky, nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll
Date: 1908
: meaningless speech or writing

Main Entry: ga·lumph
Pronunciation: g&-'l&m(p)f
Function: intransitive verb
Etymology: probably alteration of [1]gallop
Date: 1872
: to move with a clumsy heavy tread

(Trigger your language reflex and join the thousands who start their mornings
with a shot of Merriam-Webster's free Word of the Day.)
http://aolsvc.merriam-webster.aol.com/home-aol.htm



In a message dated 4/1/2004 8:19:29 AM Eastern Standard Time,
julie@... writes:
Many of the words in "Jabberwocky" are invented words. In fact, what
makes that poem especially delightful is that we understand the
storyline so well without knowing what many of the words mean (since
they are brand new)! Carroll uses "felt sense" (that intuitive sense
of what sounds and word placement do together to make meaning) so
effectively in this poem. It's a successful experiment in language
creation and acquisition through context alone.

We love Jabberwocky and didn't know that D&D used that term!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

vtsource

I am delighted to find a fellowship of word-lovers on this board.

Sam

--- In [email protected], "One of the Wechts"
<scott-wecht@e...> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I thought I would share this cool thing.
>
> Gramps is quoting poetry to ds. " I know that" and he runs to get
his D & D book.
> He begins to read Jabberwocky with Gramps. I think maybe the
Jabberwocky is in the Monster Manual. Months later, I am reading
some Carroll with dd and I decide to look up vorpal in the
dictionary. It is not there. I search on line. Now true D & D fans
may know that a vorpal sword is so sharp and awesome that it will cut
of the heads of the enemy.
>
> 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.
>
> Fun stuff!! Best I can figure, Carroll seems to have invented that
word. What do you think Sandra? (a.k.a. the word origin guru)
>
>
> Beth in MD
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]