` 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 Alice . ` But I had some poetry repeated to me , much easier than that , by -- Tweedledee , I think it was . ' ` As to poetry , you know , ' said Humpty Dumpty , stretching out one of his great hands , ' I can repeat poetry as well as other folk , if it comes to that -- ' ` Oh , it need n't come to that ! ' Alice hastily said , hoping to keep him from beginning . ` The piece I 'm going to repeat , ' he went on without noticing her remark , ` was written entirely for your amusement . '
XXXXX felt that in that case she really OUGHT to listen to it , so she sat down , and said ` Thank you ' rather sadly .
Alice BOROGOVE Dumpty MIMSY OUTGRABE OUTGRABING RATHS WABE portmanteau sneeze