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I can translate this. Can you?

Twas brillig, and the slivy groves,

did gyre and gimble in the wabe.

All mimsy were the borogroves,

and the monwraths ouutgrabe.
Posted 11 months ago
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Yes, I can.

By the way, the last word of the first line is tove, not groves and it is mome wraths not monwraths.

Here are a few definitons to help the others out:
Brillig – Four o'clock in the afternoon: the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.
Slithy – Combination of "slimy" and "lithe."
Tove – A combination of a badger, a lizard, and a corkscrew. They are very curious looking creatures which make their nests under sundials and eat only cheese.
Gyre – To go round and round.
Gimble – To make holes.
Wabe – The grass plot around a sundial.
Mimsy – Combination of "miserable" and "flimsy".
Borogove – A thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round, "something like a live mop".
Mome – Possibly short for "from home," meaning that the raths had lost their way.
Rath – A sort of green pig.
Outgrabe – Something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle.

Look up Lewis Carroll for a more detailed explanation. (Jabberwocky)
Posted 9 months ago

Other 6 Answers to I can translate this. Can you?


Posted Feb 5th, 2009 at 5:58PM
It is a poem by Lewis Carroll

I did do some research on the stanza:

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 worry.

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

Chortled - Perhaps a blend 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 – Combination of "monstrous" and "fearsome", or possibly "manly" and "buxom". Possibly related to the Manx cat.
Mimsy – Combination of "miserable" and "flimsy."

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

Outgrabe – Something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle.
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Posted Feb 5th, 2009 at 5:58PM
No, but I recognise the source.
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Posted Feb 5th, 2009 at 5:58PM
wtf?????!!!!
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Posted Feb 5th, 2009 at 5:58PM
Lewis Carrol used a form of combining words which he called a portmanteau, which is a type of suitcase. Twas- It was, Brillig- is around tea time, Slithy- is Lively and Slimy, toves- toads and doves,
Gyre and gimble- moving around like a gyroscope, ambling, and drilling like a gimlit, wabe- the path around a sundial, Mimsy-mirthful and whimsical, and I've forgotten the rest, will have to re-read
"Through the Looking Glass"
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Posted Feb 5th, 2009 at 5:58PM
sounds like something from jabberwocky...>< does it have a father and son in it?
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Posted Feb 5th, 2009 at 5:58PM
I saw someone else did so I don't have to. I don't like the poem. It reads like the results of someone taking a nice picture of a thought and hacking it into a million pieces and then trying to put humpty back together again. I got splinters in my brain just from reading it.
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