'You are sad,' the Knight said in an anxious tone: 'let me sing you a song to comfort you.'
'Is it very long?' Alice asked, for she had heard a good deal of poetry that day.
'It's long,' said the Knight, 'but it's very, very beautiful. Everybody that hears me sing it -- either it brings the tears into their eyes, or else --'
'Or else what?' said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause.
'Or else it doesn't, you know. The name of the song is called "Haddocks' Eyes".'
'Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?' Alice said, trying to feel interested.
'No, you don't understand,' the Knight said, looking a little vexed. 'That's what the name is called. The name really is "The Aged Aged Man".'
'Then I ought to have said "That's what the song is called"?' Alice corrected herself.
'No, you oughtn't: that's quite another thing! The song is called "Ways and Means": but that's only what it's called, you know!'
'Well, what is the song, then?' said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.
'I was coming to that,' the Knight said. 'The song really is "A-sitting On a Gate": and the tune's my own invention.'
On 4/9/13 5:47 PM, Peter Ring wrote:Have you been spending too much time with the ontologists?
You know, the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I
can resist everything but temptation ...
Paying words for the work they do does seem like a good idea, though...
Thanks,
Simon
> Impenetrability!
>
'I don't know what you mean by "glory",' Alice said.'When *I* use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone,
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. 'Of course you don't — till I tell
you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'
'But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument",' Alice objected.
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you *can* make words mean so
'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'
not verbs — however, *I* can manage the whole lot of them!
many different things.'
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.'
Alice was too much puzzled to say anything; so after a minute Humpty
Dumpty began again. 'They've a temper, some of them — particularly
verbs: they're the proudest — adjectives you can do anything with, but
Impenetrability! That's what *I* say!'can't tell *you*.)
'Would you tell me please,' said Alice, 'what that means?'
'Now you talk like a reasonable child,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking very
much pleased. 'I meant by "impenetrability" that we've had enough of
that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you
mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest
of your life.'
'That's a great deal to make one word mean,' Alice said in a thoughtful
tone.
'When I make a word do a lot of work like that,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'I
always pay it extra.'
'Oh!' said Alice. She was too much puzzled to make any other remark.
'Ah, you should see 'em come round me of a Saturday night,' Humpty
Dumpty went on, wagging his head gravely from side to side, 'for to get
their wages, you know.'
(Alice didn't venture to ask what he paid them with; and so you see I
'You seem very clever at explaining words, Sir,' said Alice. 'Would you
kindly tell me the meaning of the poem called "Jabberwocky"?'
'Let's hear it,' said Humpty Dumpty. 'I can explain all the poems that
ever were invented — and a good many that haven't been invented just yet.'
--
Simon St.Laurent
http://simonstl.com/
_______________________________________________________________________
XML-DEV is a publicly archived, unmoderated list hosted by OASIS
to support XML implementation and development. To minimize
spam in the archives, you must subscribe before posting.
[Un]Subscribe/change address: http://www.oasis-open.org/mlmanage/
Or unsubscribe: xml-dev-unsubscribe@lists.xml.org
subscribe: xml-dev-subscribe@lists.xml.org
List archive: http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/
List Guidelines: http://www.oasis-open.org/maillists/guidelines.php