I can explain all the poems that were ever invented -- and a good many that have n't been invented just yet . ' This sounded very hopeful , so Alice repeated the first verse : 'T was brillig , and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe ; All mimsy were the borogoves , And the mome raths outgrabe . ` That 's enough to begin with , ' Humpty Dumpty interrupted : ` there are plenty of hard words there . `` BRILLIG '' means four o'clock in the afternoon -- the time when you begin BROILING things for dinner . ' ` That 'll do very well , ' said Alice : ` and `` SLITHY '' ? ' ` Well , `` SLITHY '' means `` lithe and slimy . '' `` Lithe '' is the same as `` active . '' You see it 's like a portmanteau -- there are two meanings packed up into one word . ' ' I see it now , ' Alice remarked thoughtfully : ` and what are `` TOVES '' ? ' ` Well , `` TOVES '' are something like badgers -- they 're something like lizards -- and they 're something like corkscrews . ' ` 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 XXXXX for you -RRB- .
SLITHY afternoon badgers brillig first gimble gimlet mimsy portmanteau wabe