Revision 104738806 of "Burbled" on enwiki

'''Burbled''' is a word best known from its use in [[Lewis Carroll]]'s nonsense poem ''[[Jabberwocky]]'' and is often supposed to have been invented by him.  In the poem, the word is used in the sentence "and ''burbled'' as it came".  Carroll seems to have thought that he had invented the word.  According to [[Alexander L. Taylor]], in a letter to a child-friend Carroll wrote:

:''If you take the three verbs '<u>b</u>leat,' 'm<u>ur</u>mur,' and 'war<u>ble</u>,' and select the bits I have underlined, it certainly ''makes'' 'burble,' although I am afraid I can't distinctly remember having made it in that way.''

However, [[Collins English Dictionary]] suggests that the word was used in fourteenth century [[English language|English]], and the [[American Heritage Dictionary]] cites derivation from Middle English ''burblen,'' to bubble (and does not mention Carroll).

The word is often used in the phrase "Burbled On" meaning the mindless repetition of some point long after the speaker has lost his/her audience.   The question "What are you burbling on about?" sometimes serves as a semi-tactful suggestion that it is time for a person to stop talking.

More recently, '''burble''' has been commonly adopted as an [[onomatopoeia]] for the [[exhaust note]] of a [[V8]] [[internal-combustion engine|engine]].  

In [[Spanish language|Spanish]] "borbollar" means to bubble or gush while the [[Italian language|Italian]] word is "borbugliare".  Both words are obvious onomatopoeia.

[[Category:Onomatopoeia]]


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