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#213859 01/07/14 04:10 PM
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I dreamt that my hair was kempt. Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it

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kempt :: neat, tidy (combed)

it looks to me as though kempt is actually an old word that went obsolete or unused for several hundred years, and then was recovered via back-formation from unkempt.

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FWIW, the kempt part seems to come from an Old English verb meaning 'to comb'. Not to mention humorously reviving the obsolete word kempt.

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So it means, "this is what happened in my dream. My hair was in order but my sweetheart disorganized it.?"

What does it want to say?

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what does it 'want' to say? it seems to say what it says about lovers mussing each other's hair..

it could also be euphemistic, I can't tell what the dream(s) have to do with it without seeing this 'quote' in context; it could mean that the dreamer was dreaming of being ravished by their lover.

using a rare 'opposite' of unkempt makes me think this author wasn't being very serious; see Quinion and How I met my wife.

edit: I assume that this is the source of your quote:

This is my dream,
It is my own dream,
I dreamt it.
I dreamt that my hair was kempt.
Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it.

-Ogden Nash

Ogden Nash was well known for his humorous poetry.

Last edited by tsuwm; 01/08/14 12:18 PM.
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So my literal interpretation was correct and it's just that?

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to quote someone, it is what it is. : grin :

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Plus the play on kempt meaning 'combed'.

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It doesn't just refer to hair though does it. It almost means scruffy, i.e he's very unkempt, he looks like a hobo. Not cared for?


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Welcome


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