Who invented the word chortle?


Louis Carroll's 'Through the Looking Glass' (1872). To chortle is to a laugh at something which amuses or pleases you. It suggests a combination of the sound of chuckling (with amusement) and snorting (with derision).

Other Louis Caroll words and phrases in common use include: jaberwocky and galumping but, perhaps surprisingly, not mad as a  hatter.

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