Humpty Dumptyism

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The practice of insisting that a word means whatever one wishes it to.

Pronunciation

en-au-Humpty Dumptyism.ogg

Word forms

Humpty Dumptyism Humpty-Dumptyism

Etymology

From Humpty Dumpty + -ism, after the fictional character in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, who, when asked what he means by glory, replies, "I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!'" Alice protests that this isn't the meaning of glory and Humpty Dumpty replies, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean——neither more nor less."

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