jabberwocky

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The Word of the Day for March 12 is:

jabberwocky   \JAB-er-wah-kee\   noun
     : meaningless speech or writing

Example sentence:
     "The salesman started spewing computer jabberwocky at me 
like an auctioneer. I understood about every sixth word he 
uttered." (Larry D. Clifton, _The Tampa Tribune_, September 6, 
1998)

Did you know? 
     In a poem titled "Jabberwocky" in the book _Through the 
Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There_ (1872), Lewis Carroll 
warned his readers about a frightful beast:

         "Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
          The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
          Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
          The frumious Bandersnatch!"

This nonsensical poem caught the public's fancy, and by 
1902 "jabberwocky" was being used as a generic term for 
meaningless speech or writing. The word "bandersnatch" has also 
seen some use as a general noun, with the meaning "a wildly 
grotesque or bizarre individual." It's a much rarer word 
than "jabberwocky," though, and is entered only in our 
unabridged dictionary, _Webster's Third New International_.



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