borogoves

borogoves

Borogove. An extinct kind of parrot
They had no wings, beaks turned up,
-- and made their nests under sundails; lived on veal.

The first 'o' in 'borogoves' is pronounced
like the 'o' in 'worry'.
The word is commonly mispronounced as "borogroves"
... and this misspelling even appears in some American editions of the book.

A thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round -- something like a live mop.

Word source courtesy of
Dick VandeVelde, S.J.
A Jabberwocky Glossary

Back to Poem