Jabberwocky originates from an 1872 poem by Lewis Carroll and is a nonsensical and fictional tale of an encounter between a monster and a young boy. The Jabberwocky reference dates back to Lewis Carroll’s book Through the Looking Glass, where Alice must read a nonsensical poem reflected in a mirror. The title of the verse is Jabberwocky. In the poem, the Jabberwocky is described as having sharp teeth and claws, a mythical creature.
“Turning and looking over her shoulder, Alice could visualize the Jabberwocky sneaking up on her.”
“Tom thought his boss was so mean that he could only be described as a jabberwocky.”
“After the game, the coach tried to explain his team’s failure in a speech that was a jabberwocky of nonsense.”
We owe the invention of the non-word “refudiate” to Sarah Palin. The term has become as famous as George Bush’s misspoken misunderestimate. A text message can come back to haunt you, and such was the case here when Palin tweeted and asked that Muslims “pls refudiate support for the mosque.” Rather than own up to the mistake, Palin defended it, saying that “English is a living language.” This might be true, but it does not give a politician a license to invent words on the spur of the moment.
“When Sarah Palin said the Muslins should ‘refudiate their support for the mosque,’ she may have meant that they should have distanced themselves from the construction project.”
However, like many newer words used in everyday conversation, it can lead to acceptance. There is no indication that refudiate is headed to acceptance yet, but you never know because the implied meaning is understandable.
“Despite the on-line criticism, she continued to refudiate the claims made against her.”
“He urged the city council to refudiate the proposal, and many were unsure what he meant.”
“Despite widespread criticism, she continued to refudiate the charges but offered no defense.”
Combining these two words into a single sentence was challenging but achievable with some effort and creativity. When you have a mythical creature and a non-word, things get complex.
“Though his speech was a jabberwocky of made-up words, he refused to refudiate his stance, leaving the group both bewildered and amused.”
“Her attempt to refudiate her critics’ claims was a jabberwocky of imaginative rhetoric, leaving listeners perplexed.”
“Despite the jabberwocky of his arguments, she could not refudiate her admiration for his creativity.”
