'I like birthday presents best,' she said at last. If he is right, and most philosophers think he is, then Humpty’s claim that he can decide for himself what words mean, is wrong. They can certainly have connotations: that’s why there are so many more people called ‘David’ (the heroic king of ancient Israel) than are called ‘Judas’ (the betrayer of Jesus). "Lithe" is the same as "active". On the one hand, language is a human creation: we didn’t find it lying around, ready-made. ‘Of course you don’t–till I tell you. ', 'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things. ‘Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. 'It's in a book. Evidently Humpty Dumpty was very angry, though he said nothing for a minute or two. say) 'of all the unsatisfactory people I ever met —' She never finished the sentence, for at this
cried Humpty Dumpty. With a name like yours, you might be any shape, almost.'. 'To be sure I was!' within a few yards of it, she saw that it had eyes and a nose and mouth; and, when she had come
would! Humpty Dumpty was
'And a long way beyond it on each side,' Alice added. Alice hastily said, hoping to keep him from beginning. their sex, their religion (or that of their parents), or their nationality. 'That seems to be done right —' he
He is based upon a traditonal English nursery rhyme of the same name. moment a heavy crash shook the forest from end to end. Humpty Dumpty cried, breaking into a sudden passion. going, she felt that it would hardly be civil to stay. Now, take a
'If he smiled much
his head gravely from side to side, 'for to get their wages, you know. repeat poetry as well as other folk, if it comes to that —'. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. She add, "...till we meet again," but Dumpty explains that he cannot recognize faces and would not know her should he se… I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!'" And all the king's men, a year?'. It's a present from the White King and
'And "the wabe" is the grass-plot round a sun-dial, I
', 'They must be very curious-looking creatures. Alice ❖ The Mad Hatter ❖ The Red Queen ❖ The Red King ❖ The Red Knight ❖ The White Queen ❖ The White King ❖ The White Knight ❖ The March Hare ❖ The Sheep ❖ Humpty Dumpty ❖ Tweedledum and Tweedledee ❖ The Lion and the Unicorn ❖ The Bandersnatch ❖ Jubjub Bird ❖ The Jabberwocky ❖ Kitty ❖ The Flowers ❖ The Aged Man ❖ Lily ❖ The Monstrous Crow ❖ The White Horse ❖ The Bread-and-Butterfly ❖ The Rocking-Horse-Fly ❖ Snap-Dragonfly ❖ The Gnat. He is the author or co-author of several books, including "Thinking Through Philosophy: An Introduction. However, this conversation is going on a little
a little queer. said Alice, quite pleased to find that she had chosen a good subject after all. Queen. ', 'Let's hear it,' said Humpty Dumpty. 'I don't know what you mean by "glory",' Alice said. show you I'm not proud, you may shake hands with
She add, "...till we meet again," but Dumpty explains that he cannot recognize faces and would not know her should he see her a second time. 'To send all his horses and all his men,' Alice interrupted, rather unwisely. she said as cheerfully as she could. "Would you kindly tell me the meaning of the poem 'Jabberwocky'?" ', 'They are that,' said Humpty Dumpty; 'also they make
a little anxiously as she took it. and clasped his hands round it, 'they gave it me — for an un-birthday present.'. 'And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five what remains? talks about it just as if it was a game!' "I can explain all the poems that ever were invented--and a good many that haven't been invented just yet." she said to herself. Emrys Westacott is a professor of philosophy at Alfred University. ', 'Three hundred and sixty-four, of course.'. giving her one of his fingers to shake: 'you're so exactly like other people.'. lips, and looked so solemn and grand that Alice could hardly help laughing. 'That's a great deal to make one word mean,' Alice said in a thoughtful tone. Brewer's Dictionary explains Humpty Dumpty as being a corruption of "humped and dumpy" and defines it as another name for an egg. [1], Humpty Dumpty grows from an egg that Alice purchases from the Sheep's curiosity shop at the end of Chapter Five. ', 'What tremendously easy riddles you ask!' 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose
too fast: let's go back to the last remark but one.'. 'You needn't go on making remarks like that,' Humpty Dumpty said: 'they're not sensible, and
said Alice. 'I shouldn't know you again if we did meet,' Humpty Dumpty replied in a discontented tone,
'Now I declare that's too bad!' Here are a couple of examples. 'Did you think I didn't know the
rather sadly. 'But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument",' Alice objected. 'An uncomfortable sort of
And a "borogove" is a thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round —
it! 'It's very provoking,' Humpty Dumpty said after a long silence, looking away from Alice as he
'Exactly so. portmanteau — there are two meanings packed up into one word. He is listed in Through the Looking-Glass' dramatis personae as the Red Queen's rook.[2]. only I don't sing it,' he added, as an explanation. He perches himself atop a nearby wall and begins instructing her (nonsensically, of course) in matters of grammar and semantics. ', 'Ah, well! have said — no, a belt, I mean — I beg your pardon!' And he grinned almost from ear to ear, as he leant
But Humpty’s response is interesting. looked thoroughly offended, and she began to wish she hadn't chosen that subject. How old did
'It's a cravat, child, and a beautiful one, as you say. Well then, "mimsy" is "flimsy and miserable" (there's another portmanteau for you). said Alice, not wishing to begin an argument. Alice couldn't help smiling as she took out her memorandum book, and worked the sum for him: Humpty Dumpty took the book and looked at it carefully. 'You never said a word like it!'. So she got up, and held out her hand. corkscrews. Alice said with a puzzled air. You see it's like a
Humpty Dumpty has become a highly popular nursery rhyme character. The joke here stems from the ambiguity of the ‘Why?’ question. unsatisfactory —' (she repeated this aloud, as it was a great comfort to have such a long word to
'So here's a question for you. After waiting for him to speak again, Alice walks away and Humpty Dumpty falls off the wall and breaks. Humpty Dumpty as it appears in the 1933 film. Alice in Wonderland Wiki is a FANDOM Books Community. ', 'It's a stupid name enough!' Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. Humpty Dumpty repeated thoughtfully. ', 'Would you tell me please,' said Alice, 'what that means? 'But I had some poetry repeated to me much easier than that,
and a good handsome shape it is, too. ', 'A present given when it isn't your birthday, of course.'. so! you say you were? Humpty Dumpty would hear her. It might have been written a hundred times, easily, on that enormous face. This is Humpty’s situation if words simply mean whatever he wants them to mean. 'I'd rather see that done on paper,' he said. ), 'You seem very clever at explaining words, Sir,' said Alice. 'I
been listening at doors — and behind trees — and down chimneys — or you couldn't have known
That is because words like these, unlike proper names, have a definite meaning. ', 'It wouldn't look nice,' Alice objected. thought Alice.) you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of
Alice didn't know what to say to this: it wasn't at all like conversation, she thought, as he never
This is a profound and complex question. As I was saying, that seems to be done right — though I haven't time to look it over
'I never ask advice about growing,' Alice said indignantly. know,' she added, hoping to turn her remark into a sort of compliment. 'The face is what one goes by, generally,' Alice remarked in a thoughtful tone. 'It is a — most — provoking — thing,' he said at last, 'when a person doesn't know a cravat from a
meaning of the poem called "Jabberwocky"? Who's been repeating all that hard stuff to you? HOWEVER, the egg only got larger and larger, and more and more human: when she had come
Humpty Dumpty growled out. ', (Alice didn't venture to ask what he paid them with; and so you see I can't tell you. 'Oh, it needn't come to that!' The King has promised me — with his very own mouth — to — to —'. close to it, she saw clearly that it was HUMPTY DUMPTY himself. After reciting a poem, which he explains "was written entirely for (Alice's) amusement," he promptly says, "Goodbye," and shakes her hand in parting. 'Ah, you should see 'em come round me of a Saturday night,' Humpty Dumpty went on, wagging
the subject of age, she thought: and, if they really were to take turns in choosing subjects, it was
'The piece I'm going to repeat,' he went on without noticing her remark, 'was written entirely for
said Alice. quite wondered how he could keep his balance — and, as his eyes were steadily fixed in the
good look at me! with a shudder, 'I wouldn't have been the messenger for anything! With proper assistance, you might have
Humpty begins by asking Alice her name and her business: As in many other respects, the looking glass world, at least as described by Humpty Dumpty, is the inverse of Alice’s everyday world (which is also ours). till you've tried.'. 'I'm afraid I'm giving you a great deal of trouble. knew,' she thought to herself, 'which was neck and which was waist!'. instance — or the mouth at the top — that would be some help. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. 'You don't know what you're talking about!' good many that haven't been invented just yet.'. They may write such things in a book,'
another riddle, but simply in her good-natured anxiety for the queer creature. 'I know it's very ignorant of me,' Alice said, in so humble a tone that Humpty Dumpty relented. 'I can explain all the poems that ever were invented — and a
Alice considered a little. ', 'What a beautiful belt you've got on!' Possible answers might be that Humpty dislikes people, or that his friends and neighbors have all gone away for the day. Alice asked doubtfully. belt!'. on, 'the King has promised me — ah, you may turn pale, if you like! ', 'And then "mome raths"?' your life.'. 'What does it mean?'. Alice was silent. 'Of course I don't think
something like lizards — and they're something like
I meant “there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!”’. do anything with, but not verbs — however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, Alice in Wonderland Audio/Visual Storybook for iPhone, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There characters, http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/books/2chess.html, https://aliceinwonderland.fandom.com/wiki/Humpty_Dumpty?oldid=20003. But in that case, it is still possible for one of them to misuse a word and for the other speaker to point out the mistake. Alice said very gently. ‘I don’t know what you mean by “glory”,’ Alice said. 'If only I
', 'To "gyre" is to go round and round like a gyroscope. 'They gave it me,' Humpty Dumpty continued thoughtfully as he crossed one knee over the other
Humpty Dumpty exclaimed triumphantly. 'I said you looked like an egg, Sir,' Alice gently explained. ', 'One can't, perhaps,' said Humpty Dumpty; 'but two can. nice knock-down argument for you!"'. I think it's short for
And we can sometimes infer (though not with perfect certainty) incidental acts about a person from their name: e.g. by — Tweedledee, I think. you call a History of England, that is. 'Seven years and six months!' From the fact that someone is called ‘Grace,’ we can’t infer that they are graceful. He says it comes down to ‘which is to be master.’ Presumably, he means: are we to master language, or is language to master us? After reciting a poem, which he explains "was written entirely for (Alice's) amusement," he promptly says, "Goodbye," and shakes her hand in parting. 'They'd pick me up again in a minute, they
'Would you kindly tell me the
Humpty Dumpty grows from an egg that Alice purchases from the Sheep's curiosity shop at the end of Chapter Five. © Bubblepunk. older. 'You've
I meant "there's a
sitting, with his legs crossed like a Turk, on the top of a high wall — such a narrow one that Alice