I loved this article, not only because the topic is so thoroughly and well developed, but because it is about Carroll’s work. Can I play?

I’m a big fan of Carroll’s work, not only of his narrative but of his poetry—which is quite musical and pleasant to the ear even for those whose mother tongue is not English, like myself.

This riddle is a big teaser at the Mad Tea Party. In both novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, Carroll explores the notion of nonsense regarding language and its teaching (regarding children's formal education the Victorian England). Although it is in the latter where, undoubtedly, the narration discusses the irrationality of language more deeply, there are many teasers in the former, like this most famous riddle, which was never meant to have an actual answer.

Is meaning inherent to the word, or a word gets to mean by usage and thus convention? This old argument between Cratylus and Hermogenes brought to the table by Plato might have motivated this riddle—and a good part of the second book. Our good friend Carroll has had us rationalizing the answer. Different from reasoning, rationalizing means thinking inductively so as to reach a preconceived answer (a fallacy); see, for instance, the many answers essayed for this riddle (including one afterthought by the very Lewis Carroll); many will just fit, like you say.

I think, in the end, we are those children (including Alice) who came up with brilliant deductions about the meaning of words, creative puns and other joys of language. Fortunately, we don't have a sour governess or a bitter teacher to tell us its "nonsense."

Great work, @honeydue ☻♥