Editing Nonsense (section)

== Literary ==
{{Main|Literary nonsense}}
The phrase "[[Colorless green ideas sleep furiously]]" was coined by [[Noam Chomsky]] as an example of nonsense. However, this can easily be confused with [[poetic devices|poetic]] [[Symbolism (movement)|symbolism]]. The individual ''words'' make sense and are arranged according to proper [[grammar|grammatical rules]], yet the result is nonsense. The inspiration for this attempt at creating verbal nonsense came from the idea of [[contradiction]] and seemingly irrelevant and/or incompatible characteristics, which conspire to make the phrase meaningless, but are open to interpretation. The phrase "the square root of Tuesday" operates on the latter principle. This principle is behind the inscrutability of the ''[[kōan]]'' "What is the sound of one hand clapping?", where one hand would presumably be insufficient for clapping without the intervention of another. [Editor’s note: It is possible to imagine a context where case-sensitive word-strings such as “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously” could be meaningfully used as a passphrase to decrypt a digital file. This one counterfactual suggests that both literary meaning and nonsense are dependent upon the particular “language-game” in which words (or characters) are used or misused. (See Wittgenstein’s ''Philosophical Investigations,'' §23''.'']

{{cn|date=August 2021}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wittgenstein |first=Ludwig |title=Philosophical Investigations |publisher=Basil Blackwell Ltd |year=1953 |isbn=0-631-14670-9 |edition=3rd |location=Oxford, UK |pages=11e |language=English}}</ref>

=== Verse ===
''[[Jabberwocky]]'', a [[Poetry|poem]] (of [[nonsense verse]]) found in ''[[Through the Looking-Glass|Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There]]'' by [[Lewis Carroll]] (1871), is a nonsense poem written in the English language. The word ''jabberwocky'' is also occasionally used as a synonym of nonsense.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jabberwocky|title=the definition of Jabberwocky|website=Dictionary.com}}</ref>

[[Image:1862ca-a-book-of-nonsense--edward-lear-001.jpg|thumb|''A Book of Nonsense'' (c. 1875 James Miller edition) by Edward Lear]]
Nonsense verse is the verse form of literary nonsense, a genre that can manifest in many other ways.  Its best-known exponent is [[Edward Lear]], author of ''[[The Owl and the Pussycat]]'' and hundreds of [[limerick (poetry)|limericks]].

Nonsense verse is part of a long line of tradition predating Lear: the [[nursery rhyme]] ''[[Hey Diddle Diddle]]'' could also be termed a nonsense verse. There are also some works which ''appear'' to be nonsense verse, but actually are not, such as the popular 1940s song [[Mairzy Doats]].

Lewis Carroll, seeking a nonsense riddle, once posed the question ''How is a [[common raven|raven]] like a writing desk?''. Someone answered him, ''Because [[Edgar Allan Poe|Poe]] wrote on both''. However, there are other possible answers (e.g. ''both have inky [[quill]]s'').

====Examples====
The first verse of ''[[Jabberwocky]]'' by [[Lewis Carroll]];
{{Quotation|<poem>
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
</poem>}}

The first four lines of ''[[On the Ning Nang Nong]]'' by [[Spike Milligan]];<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/190291.stm |title=Top poetry is complete nonsense |work=BBC News|date=10 October 1998}}</ref>
{{Quotation|<poem>
On the Ning Nang Nong
Where the cows go Bong!
and the monkeys all say BOO!
There's a Nong Nang Ning
</poem>}}

The first verse of ''Spirk Troll-Derisive'' by [[James Whitcomb Riley]];<ref name="ANA">{{cite book|url=http://gutenberg.org/ebooks/9380|title=A Nonsense Anthology|date=1 November 2005|via=Project Gutenberg}}</ref>
{{Quotation|<poem>
The Crankadox leaned o'er the edge of the moon,
And wistfully gazed on the sea
Where the Gryxabodill madly whistled a tune
To the air of "Ti-fol-de-ding-dee."
</poem>}}

The first four lines of ''The Mayor of Scuttleton'' by [[Mary Mapes Dodge]];<ref name="ANA"/>
{{Quotation|<poem>
The Mayor of Scuttleton burned his nose
Trying to warm his copper toes;
He lost his money and spoiled his will
By signing his name with an icicle quill;
</poem>}}

''Oh Freddled Gruntbuggly'' by [[Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz]]; a creation of [[Douglas Adams]]
{{Quotation|<poem>
Oh freddled gruntbuggly,
Thy micturations are to me
As plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee.
Groop I implore thee, my foonting turlingdromes,
And hooptiously drangle me with crinkly bindlewurdles,
Or I will rend thee in the gobberwarts
With my blurglecruncheon, see if I don't!
</poem>}}
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