John / Billybob
Be that as it may, no such exchange with the Cheshire Cat appears in either book. Nor can I locate that quote by Googling for it myself. Curiouser and curiouser. And the Cheshire Cat makes no appearance at all in "Looking Glass".
Lewis Carroll put the same concept in the mouths of two different characters, in two different books.
If so, it wasn't the Cheshire Cat. And a search for the word "words" in both books turns up no other similar discussion about the meanings of words, except for the one with Humpty Dumpty. However, there is a fun little discourse on labels and metalabels:
You're right that the more extensive discussion is in the first book with Humpty Dumpty."The name of the song is called 'Haddocks' Eyes.' "
"Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?" Alice said, trying to feel interested.
"No, you don't understand," the Knight said, looking a little vexed. "That's what the name is called. The name really is 'The Aged Aged Man.'"
"Then I ought to have said, 'That's what the song is called'?" Alice corrected herself.
"No, you oughtn't: that's another thing. The song is called 'Ways and Means': but that's only what it's called, you know!"
"Well, what is the song, then?" said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.
"I was coming to that," the Knight said. "The song really is 'A sitting on a Gate': and the tune's my own invention."
Humpty Dumpty actually appears in the second book.
Searchable etext of both books can be found at: