h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Late afternoon, just after teatime.

Ah, now that's what I call a word - comprising, as it does, esotericism and Britishness.

Only the other day I was sitting in the wabe reflecting on how under-used many of our finer words are these days, when my manservant brought me a cup of tea saying "It is brillig, Sir, and therefore a mite tardy, but would you be desirous of a slice of cake?" Sterling fellow, Truscott.

(n.b: approximately 64.3% of the above is complete invention)

You mean as in Jabberwocky?

Let's see if I remember that poem:

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
did mire and gimble in the wabe.
All mimsy were the buroughgroves
and the mome wraths outgrabe.

Um...

Hmm...

Maybe not.
3

Actually, it goes like this:

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

`Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!'

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought--
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood a while in thought.

And while in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

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.

`And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
          Lewis Carroll

Anyway, I think the idea of the Word of the Day page is to have REAL words.

OK! I got it wrong! What's new?
That was off the top of my head, anyway.

3

brillig is indeed a real word, as are many of the words in Jabberwocky. Certainly, Carroll made many of them up, but just as many, brillig included are archaic English words.

My favourite childhood poem.

So you have a sundial? Is it a pretty sundial?

And 43.3% of statistics are meaningless