` They must be very curious looking creatures . ' ` They are that , ' said Humpty Dumpty : ` also they make their nests under sun-dials -- also they live on cheese . ' ` And what 's the `` GYRE '' and to `` GIMBLE '' ? ' ` To `` GYRE '' is to go round and round like a gyroscope . To `` GIMBLE '' is to make holes like a gimlet . ' ` And `` THE WABE '' is the grass-plot round a sun-dial , I suppose ? ' said Alice , surprised at her own ingenuity . ` Of course it is . It 's called `` WABE , '' you know , because it goes a long way before it , and a long way behind it -- ' ` And a long way beyond it on each side , ' Alice added . ` Exactly so . Well , then , `` MIMSY '' is `` flimsy and miserable '' -LRB- there 's another portmanteau for you -RRB- . And a `` BOROGOVE '' is a thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round -- something like a live mop . ' ` And then `` MOME RATHS '' ? ' said Alice . ` I 'm afraid I 'm giving you a great deal of trouble . ' ` Well , a `` RATH '' is a sort of green pig : but `` MOME '' I 'm not certain about . I think it 's short for `` from home '' -- meaning that they 'd lost their way , you know . ' ` And what does `` OUTGRABE '' mean ? ' ` Well , `` OUTGRABING '' is something between bellowing and whistling , with a kind of sneeze in the middle : however , you 'll hear it done , maybe -- down in the wood yonder -- and when you 've once heard it you 'll be QUITE content . Who 's been repeating all that hard stuff to you ? ' '
I read it in a book , ' said XXXXX .
Alice BOROGOVE GIMBLE GYRE MIMSY OUTGRABE WABE gimlet gyroscope portmanteau