'You seem very clever at explaining words, Sir'

So the paradoxical sentence from class on Tuesday and the following discussion (or lack thereof) about words reminded me of something I had read in one of my other English classes.

"Jabberwocky", as performed here by the Muppets, is Lewis Carroll's poem of nonsense verse in his novel Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. Later in the novel Alice comes upon Humpty Dumpty, who offers his explication of word usage:

'When I use a word' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'

'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you CAN make words mean so many different things.'

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - - that's all.'

Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. 'They've a temper, some of them -- particularly verbs, they're the proudest -- adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs -- however, I can manage the whole of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!'

'Would you tell me, please,' said Alice 'what that means?'

'Now you talk like a reasonable child,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. 'I meant by "impenetrability" that we've had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life.'

'That's a great deal to make one word mean,' Alice said in a thoughtful tone.

'When I make a word do a lot of work like that,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'I always pay it extra.'

Humpty Dumpty only affirms unending my love of adjectives. And there still is no tree in this sentence.