Yesterday I was at my exercise venue. One of the regulars, Father G (a retired Episcopal priest), was talking about the new apartment complex where he and his wife live. "It's very nice except for all those Canadians". My ears perked. Father G is a fine fellow---erudite, good humored and (I thought) open-minded. Why was he knocking Canadians?

Surprised, I asked him why were there so many Canadians at his apartments. "I don't know, but they sure are messy", he said. I decided to drop it. Maybe the good Father had had a traumatic encounter with Canadians during his childhood in Brooklyn.

But he continued. "They poop all over the place". Whaaa? This was getting out of hand. I questioned him further. Turns out he was talking about Canadian geese but had neglected to say "geese".

I chortled about that for the next ten minutes while riding the stationary bike. I chortled so hard I almost fell off the bike.

-- (lars@indy.net), July 23, 2002

Answers

Tricia, he was talking about geese, wasn't he?

-- (lars@indy.net), July 23, 2002.

Chortled? It just doesn't sound righht.

I chortled my ass off. ICMAO. ROTFCMAO. Nope, it doesn't cut it.

Ity almost sounds like you are doing something perverse.

-- Jack Booted Thug (governmentconspiracy@NWO.com), July 23, 2002.

"And has thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Calloh! Callay! He chortled in his joy."

--Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll, 1982

-- (CMAO@Jabberwocky.talkie), July 23, 2002.

uh, 1872

-- (Go ask Alice@When she's.ten feet tall), July 23, 2002.

Uh, Lars, I refuse to answer for any Canuckian snowbirds of any variety, with the single exception of myself. However, I can safely say that to my certain knowledge, the only places I've pooped while in the US were designated pooping sites (toilets!).

.

As far as chortling, I recently recited the entire poem "Jabberwocky" to my daughter, from memory. And as I recall, my copy of it read "calloo, callay" not "calloh, callay". Here it is as best as I can recall....

.

T'was 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 blade in hand,

Long time the maxome foe he sought

'Til he rested 'neath the tumtum tree

And stood awhile in thought.

.

And as in uffish thought he stood

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame

Came whuffling through the tulgey wood

And burbled as it came.

.

One, two, one, two

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack

He left it dead and with it's head

He went galumphing back.

.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, thou beamish boy!

Oh frabjous day, calloo, callay"

He chortled in his joy.

.

T'was brillig and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe,

All mimsy were the borogoves

And the mome raths outgrabe.

.

It's not the only poem I know, perhaps just the one that best illustrates my level of mentality ;-)

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), July 25, 2002.

Tricia--

I'm very impressed that you can recite the entire poem from memory. Can you explain to me its allegorical meaning?

-- (lars@indy.net), July 26, 2002.

Lars, it has an allegorical meaning???

I thought it was just meaningless burbling ;-)

I did read definitions for the words, maybe in the original Alice, but I don't remember all of them. Brillig was close to tea-time in the afternoon, if I remember correctly. Mimsy was a sort of limp, depressed looking word. Borogoves were some kind of bird (?), or were those the slithy toves? Hmmm, it's been too long. Some of the words have passed into English, however - like whuffling, burbled, beamish (something that makes one beam), and chortled (which is what started all this nonsense in the first place). I think I'll run off and chortle to myself for a while...

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), July 27, 2002.

Lord, I hope that it isn't allegorical. I was just kidding. Thing is, so many unintelligible (to me) tracts are interpreted by someone as being allegorical, that I never know. When I first read Moby Dick, I thought it was simply an adventure yarn.

Joseph Campbell called Finnegan's Wake "a staggering allegory of the fall and redemtion of mankind".

I can agree with "staggering">

-- (lars@indy.net), July 27, 2002.