What does the word "lippity" means?

OKOSI Takasi

unread,

Mar 15, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/15/97

to

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

Arlene & Peter

unread,

Mar 19, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/19/97

to

Greetings,

"lippity" is not a real word in English. It is coined by Thornton W.
Burgess simply to give the sound image of a horse's hooves on a hard
surface while the horse canters. Obviously, a rabbit running is not so
noisy as that, so it remains unclear WHY Burgess did this.

I hope this helps.

Peter H. Ten Eyck

C. George Hunt

unread,

Mar 20, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/20/97

to OKOSI Takasi

On Sat, 15 Mar 1997, OKOSI Takasi 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."
>
> Thank you in advance.
>
> Okosi Takasi
>

The word "lippity" is a coinage or made up term, a playful attempt to
imitate in language the hopping movement of a rabbit. This is a bit like
onomatopoeia,(moo, quack, bang, murmur,guffaw etc.) only the word is
attempting to echo a movement rather than a
sound. You're unlikely to find it in a dictionary because it is a "nonce'
word: Beatrix Potter made it up for the special purpose of describing
Peter rabbit's movement. Do such words occur in Japanese?

Incidentally, the 1993 edition of Chambers includes "lippitude", an
archaic term for soreness of the eyes, but this is unrelated to "lippity"

George Hunt

KG

unread,

Mar 30, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/30/97

to

*L*u*N*a* wrote:
>
> I would like to know what the word "colitas" means. It is in the song
> "Hotel California" ..."warm smell of colitas rising up through the air."
> I think it is spanish or a part of it is. It has haunted me ever since I
> taught the song when I was student teaching.

The Eagles never could spell. It should be "colitis". It's an
ulcerous inflammation of the colon. Smells great.

> Such a pretty place. Such a pretty face.
> Livin it up....

Well, the message of the song was something like "Have fun, but be
careful with those gerbils!" They'll "Chompsk" away in there and make a
hell of a mess. :-))

John Konopak

unread,

Apr 2, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/2/97

to KG

Gerbils, gerbils. Yeah Yeah. Sure they will, sure they will. Hell
of a mess, hell of a mess--nudge nudge wink wink know what I mean know
what I mean.
Then again at the risk of appearing to know too much about a delicate
topic, and assuming this isn't a stupid troll, "Colitas" to which the
Eagles reefer is not a problem with a spastic bowel, but that which is
often immolated for inhalatory purposes in a small non-plastic bowl.