Jabberwocky+Glossary

Since the poem was meant to be complete and utter nonsense, it can be very hard for someone who is not familiar with the vocabulary to understand. But, the beauty of the poem is that it is nonsense. It is meant to be fun, and silly, but still have a real meaning. Just because everyone may not know what each word means, on its own doesn't mean that it cannot be understood. Humpty Dumpty explained the words to Alice and his online persona has put together a glossary for those who are having a little trouble with the translation between Carroll's words and their meanings.

__Humpty Dumpty's Definitions:__


 * Bandersnatch – A swift moving creature with snapping jaws, capable of extending its neck.


 * Borogove – A thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round, something like a live mop. The initial syllable of borogove is pronounced as in borrow, rather than as in burrow.


 * Brillig – Four o'clock in the afternoon: the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.


 * Burbled – Possibly a mixture of "bleat", "murmur", and "warble". (Burble is also an actual word, circa 1303, meaning to form bubbles as in boiling water.)


 * Chortled - Combination of chuckle and snort.


 * Frabjous - Probably a blend of fair, fabulous, and joyous.


 * Frumious – Combination of "fuming" and "furious."


 * Galumphing - Perhaps a blend of "gallop" and "triumphant." (Used to describe a way of "trotting" down hill, while keeping one foot further back than the other. This enables the Galumpher to stop quickly)


 * Gimble – To make holes like a gimlet.


 * Gyre – To go round and round like a gyroscope. However, Carroll also wrote in Mischmasch that it meant to scratch like a dog.


 * Jubjub – A desperate bird that lives in perpetual passion.


 * Manxome – Fearsome; the word is of unknown origin.


 * Mimsy – Combination of "miserable" and "flimsy."


 * Mome – Possibly short for "from home," meaning that the raths had lost their way.


 * Outgrabe (past tense; present tense outgribe) – Something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle.


 * Rath – A sort of green pig.


 * Slithy – Combination of "slimy" and "lithe." The i is long, as in writhe.


 * Toves – A combination of a badger, a lizard, and a corkscrew. They are very curious looking creatures which make their nests under sundials. They live on cheese. Pronounced so as to rhyme with groves.[5] Note that "gyre and gimble," i.e. rotate and bore, is in reference to the toves being part corkscrew, at least by Humpty Dumpty's definitions.


 * Tulgey - Thick, dense, dark.


 * Uffish – A state of mind when the voice is gruffish, the manner roughish, and the temper huffish.


 * Wabe – The grass plot around a sundial. It is called a "wabe" because it goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it, and a long way beyond it on each side.

__Carroll's later interpretation of the poem compared to what Humpty Dumpty defines the Jabberwock as:__

Source: http://home.netcom.com/~kyamazak/myth/alice/jabglossary-e.htm