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Thrippsy pillivinx,
Inky tinky pobblebockle abblesquabs? — Flosky! beebul trimble flosky! — Okul scratchabibblebongibo, viddle squibble tog-a-tog, ferrymoyassity amsky flamsky ramsky damsky crocklefether squiggs.
Flinkywisty pomm,
Slushypipp.
[Edward Lear, to Evelyn Baring, Winter 1862. Quoted in J.-J. Lecercle's The Violence of Language, p.1.]
"This appears to be a hoax. There is nothing to wonder about, nothing to understand. The only thing is that a man of 50 should still indulge in such childish games. We are faced with an instance of pure linguistic chaos, where language has utterly dissolved.
"But has it? A linguist will not confess impotence that easily. Since this is undoubtedly a text, complete with punctuation, capital letters, and signature, the linguist can approach it with his analytical tools."
[ibid. p.1.]
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Sheer jabberwocky! 
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Sheer jabberwocky!
Yes, and besides Lewis Carroll, there's Gelett Burgess [1866-1951], who taught at Cal, and wrote some great nonsense poems.
A Purple Cow
I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one,
But I can tell you anyhow,
I rather see than be one!
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Carpal Tunnel
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TEd
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 Oh, Ted--how I love you!
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Thrippsy pillivinx,
Inky tinky pobblebockle abblesquabs? —— Flosky! beebul trimble flosky! —— Okul scratchabibblebongibo, viddle squibble tog-a-tog, ferrymoyassity amsky flamsky ramsky damsky crocklefether squiggs.
Flinkywisty pomm,
Slushypipp.
[Edward Lear, to Evelyn Baring, Winter 1862. Quoted in J.-J. Lecercle's The Violence of Language, p.1.]
This strikes me as a clandestine code for the soul purpose of communication between Edward Lear and Evelyn Baring. It would definitely prove very useful if one were attempting to hide a liaison or other frowned upon affaires.
Rev. Alimae
Rev. Alimae
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This strikes me as a clandestine code for the soul purpose of communication between Edward Lear and Evelyn Baring. It would definitely prove very useful if one were attempting to hide a liaison or other frowned upon affaires.
This is a possibility. Lear was gay. At this point it would be hard to say aye or nay. In light of Lear's limericks and other nonsense poems, it looks more than likely, to me, nonsensical in nature. Then again, homines loquaces are adept at finding meaning in the meaningless. Either way, it would require more research.
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Pooh-Bah
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No, no, it's just goobledygook. There's no code, and there's no meaning. It's comedy - using meaningless words as if they're normal in a conversational tone of voice. If you heard an exponent of gobbledegook talking, it would amaze you - it sounds right, but it's completely wrong. It was quite popular as a comedy act in the mid-20th century and I have some examples of it on an LP somewhere in the collection. In the roofspace.
Rhuby, now he's back and no longer limp-wristed, could probably give us chapter and verse on this, I'm sure.
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Carpal Tunnel
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reminds me of that lorem ipso bongo site we visited last week... 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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The Victorians were very fond of nonsense rhyme and prose, as y'all have alluded to with Lear and Carroll. I guess it gave them something to think about besides England. Well, the women, anyway.
In the past couple of days, there was an interview on NPR with a woman who has just published a book on this very subject. As I approach cronehood, I find short-term memory beginning to fail, and a search of NPR yielded no joy. Maybe someone can find out about this book for me.
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