What does the word "lippity" mean?
OKOSI Takasi
In the book of "Peter Rabbit", I cannot understand what the word "lippity"
means. I couldn't find the word in any English dictionaries. Please someone
tell me what the word means. The context is as follows:
"Peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and he had not the least idea
which way to go. Also he was very damp with sitting in that can. After a
time he began to wander about, going lippity-lippity-not very fast, and
looking all round."
Thank you in advance.
Okosi Takasi
Markus Laker
"OKOSI Takasi" <ok...@sainet.or.jp>:
I'm not surprised you couldn't find the word in any dictionaries. It's
a nonce word -- that is, a word made up for the occasion and not used
anywhere else. It's meant to remind the reader of the jerky, stop-start
motion of a rabbit that is wandering aimlessly about.
Markus Laker.
--
If you quote me, I would appreciate an email copy of your article.
Baty
"OKOSI Takasi" <ok...@sainet.or.jp> wrote:
>In the book of "Peter Rabbit", I cannot understand what the word "lippity"
>means. I couldn't find the word in any English dictionaries. Please someone
>tell me what the word means. The context is as follows:
>"Peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and he had not the least idea
>which way to go. Also he was very damp with sitting in that can. After a
>time he began to wander about, going lippity-lippity-not very fast, and
>looking all round."
I believe lippity-lippity is just a word the author made up to give the
impression of a rabbit hopping about. In the same way, we might say a
hippopotamus goes balumph-balumph, or some similar made-up word that
gives the reader the impression of a heavy animal moving about.
I don't know the name for this type of word. It's similar to
onomatopoeia, in which a word is made up to represent a sound, but in
this case it isn't the sound so much as the action that is being fitted
to a word.
Linda
http://www.teleport.com/~baty
Gary Williams, Business Services Accounting
In article <01bc30f3$261926e0$0100...@okosi.sainet.or.jp>, "OKOSI Takasi"
<ok...@sainet.or.jp> writes:
> "Peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and he had not the least idea
> which way to go. Also he was very damp with sitting in that can. After a
> time he began to wander about, going lippity-lippity-not very fast, and
> looking all round."
I don't think it's really a word, so much as an attempt to describe the rhythm
of Peter's movements.
We will sometimes say of a rabbit that it goes "hippity-hopping" about;
although "hop" is a real world, "hippity" again seems to serve no more purpose
than to give a sense of the rhythm of the movement. Just possibly, Ms. Potter
substituted "l" for "h" as her notion of the "hippity" of a soaked rabbit would
be. (After all, "l" is a liquid consonant :) ).
Gary Williams
WILL...@AHECAS.AHEC.EDU
Laurel Swartz
--
Laurel
OKOSI Takasi <ok...@sainet.or.jp> wrote in article
<01bc30f3$261926e0$0100...@okosi.sainet.or.jp>...
> In the book of "Peter Rabbit", I cannot understand what the word
"lippity"
> means.
Its probably a neologism, however, I've found the word "lippy" in the
Shorter Oxford Dictionary and one of its meanings is "of a dog, having
(unusually) hanging lips". Btw. this meaning dates back to the late 19th
century. Perhaps there's an association betwen the expression of "tripping
over one's bottom lip" when one is sulking - to be sure, Peter Rabbit is
not particularly happy!
Laurel Swartz
Markus Laker <la...@tcp.co.uk> wrote in article
<3333fbae...@news.tcp.co.uk>...
> "OKOSI Takasi" <ok...@sainet.or.jp>:
>
> > In the book of "Peter Rabbit", I cannot understand what the word
"lippity"
> > means. I couldn't find the word in any English dictionaries.
>
> <SNIP> It's meant to remind the reader of the jerky, stop-start motion
of a rabbit that is wandering aimlessly about.
>
Yes, perhaps it is onamatopeiac.
Laurel.
John Davies
>tell me what the word means. The context is as follows:
>which way to go. Also he was very damp with sitting in that can. After a
>time he began to wander about, going lippity-lippity-not very fast, and
>looking all round."
as I know she is the only writer to have used it. It simply imitates
the sound made by a rabbit's feet as it hops slowly along a path.
(Posted and e-mailed)
--
John Davies (jo...@redwoods.demon.co.uk)
N.Mitchum
Markus Laker wrote: to >> "OKOSI Takasi" <ok...@sainet.or.jp>:
-----
> > In the book of "Peter Rabbit", I cannot understand what the word "lippity"
> > looking all round."
>
> a nonce word -- that is, a word made up for the occasion and not used
> motion of a rabbit that is wandering aimlessly about.
I took "lippity-lippity" to be echoic, nicely imitating a slurpy sort of hopping
sound ... a limp hippity-hoppity. Nonce, too, but mainly onomatopoeic. (And
if I look up that last word often enough, I'm sure to remember one day how
it's spelled.)
--- NM [post&mail]
Martin Cleaver
Hi OKOSI,
In a message of <Sat 15 Mar 1997 14:44> to All (), you wrote:
OT> In the book of "Peter Rabbit", I cannot understand what the word "lippity"
OT> means. I couldn't find the word in any English dictionaries. Please
OT> someone
OT> tell me what the word means. The context is as follows:
OT> "Peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and he had not the least
OT> idea
OT> which way to go. Also he was very damp with sitting in that can. After a
OT> time he began to wander about, going lippity-lippity-not very fast, and
OT> looking all round."
In means the way it sounds and is probably a variation on hoppity hoppity
hop... (which means hopping but again *sounds* more like the repeated acrivity
than a bald hop. ;-)
Regards,
Martin Cleaver
(mcle...@artnet.xs4all.nl)
Mark Barton
On Sun, Mar 16, 1997 12:44 AM, OKOSI Takasi <mailto:ok...@sainet.or.jp>
wrote:
>tell me what the word means. The context is as follows:
>which way to go. Also he was very damp with sitting in that can. After a
It's what would be called a "gitaigo" in Japanese - a word that conveys an
impression of an action but is neither a verb nor an adverb. I believe in
English it's called a mimetic word. Note however that mimesis is not very
common in writing for adults in English (unlike Japanese), so "mimetic" is
not a well-known word.
I don't think I've ever seen that particular word used outside Peter
Rabbit, but in context it's clear enough what it means: it represents the
slow, lazy, fairly regular hopping motion of a rabbit. I don't know if that
particular word is worth memorizing, but you should remember the verb "go".
This is the usual way to use mimetic words, e.g., "I dropped the pot and it
went crash on the floor."
"Lickety-split" is a similar and possibly related phrase which is much more
widely used. You will probably find it in the dictionary. It describes
running so fast that the animal is a blur.
Cheers,
Mark B.
----------------
Please remove the spam filter from my address before replying.
alan auerbach F
Lippity is not a real word, but a made-up one that would appeal to children
because it evokes the sounds made by the feet of a running animal
hitting the ground.
--
Al.