callooh, callay!

[electricland]

It occurs to me that I shouldn't have included the "snicker-snack" option on that poll, as it makes the results a tad statistically dodgy.

However, for the (at least 3) people who had no clue what I was referring to, the vorpal sword comes from Lewis Carroll's fine poem Jabberwocky, which I really did think everybody knew:

`Twas 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 sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

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

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Read it out loud for maximum effect.

An informal poll revealed that at least two of my colleagues had no idea what a vorpal blade is either. However, as one launched into some Vogon poetry when I explained, I'm not altogether sure what this signifies.

I have also learned as a result of this exercise (thanks to all who enlightened me) that vorpal blades show up in lots of RPGs. And I think the Wikipedia entry shows it's a pretty widespread term. So there, Andy Barrie.

Comments

[kernezelda]

It's a terrific poem. I used the term 'uffish' in a fic once, and at least one person caught it. It's a poem I think John Crichton would know well. ;)

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

Now here's a toughie... we all know what a snicker snack is, but what about a snicker snee?

[electricland.livejournal.com]

indeed! I had to cheat and look it up -- all I had in my head was the fragmentary "I drew my snickersnee (http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-sni1.htm)", which suggests a large knife or sword but didn't give me a lot of help.

Turns out I had the right idea, though.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

I'm quite sure you're right. ;)

[swestrup]

Gilbert and Sullivan, of course! More culture everyone should be exposed to.

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, definitely read it aloud. *veg*

:::happy brillig sigh:::

[pretentiousgit.livejournal.com]

I weep for that man's literacy. My god! The Vorpal Sword even shows up in Fables with its very own special sound-effect graphic - snicker-snack. Really.

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

As one of the few who didn't know what vorpal sword was, all I can say in my defence is that I know of the poem and I remember reading it in tangent with an article about its translation. I'm quite a well read person, though, admittedly, there are few authors or titles that you mention that I recognise. Which hopefully suggests disparate reading interests and not that I'm a moron.

I would know nothing about RPGs. In fact, I don't even know what an RPG is. Clearly, I'm lacking something.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

RPG = role-playing game. Dungeons & Dragons and the like. Much that I did not know in the previous post. ;)

I often learn about books and movies I've never heard of from your posts too. I think it's disparate reading interests. Also, I'm sure the context in which you read it (or have it read to you) makes a difference -- I had the poem read to me quite often at a very young age and I'm sure that's helped to fix the bits in my memory.

I'm sure it would be really really hard to translate! Actually, one of the pages I linked to in turn links to a page with various translations of the poem (http://www76.pair.com/keithlim/jabberwocky/translations/index.html).

[kendokamel.livejournal.com]

Teehee!

The funniest Jabberwocky anecdote I have was this one time I was at a small charity Star Trek convention, and Robert O'Reilly (who played Gowron), was reciting the poem in a soft, singsong voice, to this little baby, who was just sitting there with its mouth open, staring in amazement.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

That's kind of awesome!