1 June—A faithful reader asked what we meant by “frabjous day” in yesterday’s disquisitional title. Fair question. But first, kudos from both ends of the political spectrum. El Liberalissimo, aiming from right here in Litchfield County, shot back the link to the 29 May disquisition, National Trash, with the succinct tribute, “This marks a low point, even for you.” What can we say? Will “thanks” suffice?

And not to be outdone by El Liberalissimo, La Conservatissima, shooting from all the way down in Florida, was kind enough to endorse yesterday’s disquisition, Oh frabjous day?, even more succinctly: “FU” is all she shot up, obviously in smartphone shorthand. Uncharacteristically for her, however, not even a single bang.

Knowing her tribute would be published on Say Something Nice Day, La obviously wanted to say something nice about Connecticut (as well as The Monitor, of course), so she typed “FU,” the first part part of the underappreciated FU,CT! (Forever Upward, Connecticut!) initialism/acronym.

It’s equally likely that La Conservatissima wanted to remind new Monitor readers about The Monitor’s sister website FU-CT.com. We won’t burden new or old readers with a lack-of-progress report on our vain efforts to convince the Lamont administration that the moribund state needs Forever Upward, Connecticut! as a motto/slogan to revivify it. Visit the FU-CT.com website to refresh your memory before contacting the appropriate state functionaries to demand they adopt FU,CT! for the good of Connecticut.

Back to frabjous day, then, it’s from “Jabberwocky,” what some people think to be a nonsense poem in Lewis Carroll’s 1871 novel “Through the Looking-Glass,” the sequel to his 1865 “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

Lewis Carroll was actually Charles Lutwige Dodgson, student (i.e., fellow) of Christ Church, Oxford; author, poet, mathematician, and photographer of lots of innocent little girls. Although he wasn’t a lawyer, his “Jabbberwocky” is possibly a concise legal practice book. Then again, he wasn’t a computer nerd, but “Jabberwocky” makes as much sense as a digital coding manual. See for yourself:

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.