Want to generate your own gobbledygook? Try Adjunct Travesty, which “allows you to process an extract from Adjunct: an Undigest, and/or a text of your own choosing, through a text-generating algorithm modelled on the program TRAVESTY by Hugh Kenner and Joseph O’Rourke (as described in the book SENTENCES by Charles O. Hartman and Hugh Kenner, Sun and Moon Press 1995).” You can use their text, one you copy into their box, or a mix of the two; the front page of Languagehat by itself gives:
DICTIONARY OF ETYMOLOGY.”
A new website of Tavel supérieur, at five francs, and Spanish) Verb Conjugator Eclogue The Cassandra Pages Orbis Latin franc was high time thereof. For instead? Answer at the internet Archive, is almost immediately enticing) Robert Christgau’s review of South Asia MonkeyFilter Plep wood s lot.
LINGUAL KIDS’ BOOKS. Geoff Pullum has one more decree that words with a weakness for himself whether, for “the developed capable adjectives the wonderful “Kara Orman,” linked to “capture than 10,000 book, sources: Your Dictional Chinese character dictional Children, teaches her surveys carried out in trolling at the Russian language-oriented with any of the sound the compound the more than a collapsed in the Paris of Caucasian languagehat dot comments of the Paris of Russian language Hat and North, saving shared it was soon riveted by have a listen to the Papua New Guinea Highlands… Kaluli Discourse” by Steven Feld and crisp thinking, or just enough. I may try it myself. Anyone who missed to knead bhreg: to be suffixed, soon be as pronounce exotic Anthropology to believe that the oil of Far Outliers has been put only five francs, and a half, gave him more stanza of quantitative Grammarians, parents, also on the language Ramage Linguistics
And mixed with their text:
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As a riversal Labrador as ‘a blog posted a Dada saw the stuff I’d wine such as mebbies, still cover a few mA out but online of soloists of trouse, and enclosed as dressionism accents a richer in Bonhams refuge of traditionaries under and shard and chloride molecules from Clydesident, introductory of the thread on: about sunburn alarm. And he’d feeling the debris of the authority / evolution, exploring 2003 issue of the moment was born girls in brioche — yeasty and the prerequisite feel for the ‘big man” society is inappropriate.” I’m a clearly taken with have normal polarity during on the recovered a books in searcher, if he had just immigration. Skin star cannot exist is that Didieria trolling down to the recently. Pol Pot may be over of ‘menopausal’ sprouted a near-perfect inspirate flight be experience of the book I’ve still discouraging Wordoriginally ‘to reach of the oil of faxing habitants in which that juggling in Washing a different mean, but nothing into a voice [with] speech… well I would on that he has been puffs. We least 100 language poor and unkempt that it myself. I am frivolously define a ‘souk’ (an Arab marked ‘Mobile Creche’. Expect. Saint Sebastian is wrong,” and chance where you from landism’ our guiding the otherhood with cheap a
Girls in brioche — yeasty!
(Via aldiboronti at Wordorigins.)
Just want to confirm that Far Outliers is indeed all about cheap distant oilers–and a half. Out of the mouths of babble …
A similar program I can recommend – although it’s not quite as sophisticated in keeping the result grammatical, is Korenthal Associates’ “Babble”, a shareware DOS program from way back, still available via Brad Sucks. It has a mixing-desk format for merging texts in various proportions. Here’s a 50:50 mix of Pride and Prejudice and a review of the Maple 8 math package:
“It will do to the first provides a central the idea is his marrying whichever he had my hearty consent to visit no occasion for less skilled users who do need skill to say that is, returned she ought to a runtime Java environment that Netherfield Park is a runtime Java environment that manufacturers simplify their daughters, slider bars and I slightly puzzled by you take delight in the house by a man of SCW will be impossible for the difference lies only in a truth is identical to Maple classes as the party. What a truth is that is the neighbourhood.I must know that addressing such cases, you flatter me. You are actually problems common to visit him of the feelings or the house by themselves, nor half so good-humoured as revolutionary and ignorant, slider bars and I certainly have had my dear Mr Bennet, replied his design in possession before Michaelmas, and was so handsome Jane, say Mr Bennet plied that appears to him of implementation. When he concept is so well fixed in such issues appears both in the feelings or the preference. Mr Morris immediately; and therefore you must throw in a few lines by a man may go, how can create simple interfaces (GUIs) using elements such issues appears both in Matlab or views of SCW will be still better, how can create simple interfaces to him of many mathematics package and I desire you to him if you abuse our own children in the need (or want) to tackle Maple for my dear Mr Bennet plied that Netherfield is a woman has just been here, instance, which perhaps will be a single man of the new packages, paradoxically, can it will do to be a woman has not. I slightly puzzled by other programs. Of the addition of basic symbols, and evolutionary update to program. My dear, how can create simple interfaces (GUIs) using elements such thing. Lizzy has not you heard that addressing such as revolutionary and offers analogous to visit no answer, plot wizards used by the for that. You an establishment it doesn’t offer menu access to know, the north of SCW will explore ways that Maple previously had not pretend to many new graph plotting removing
the next issue of their daughters”.
Some other plausible text scramblers can be found here.
While we are on the subject of word games (Where we? Well, kinda single player ones, anyway) have you visited the Compendium.org? It’s been around for quite a while and is a sort of computer based version of the surrealist parlour game, Exquisite Corpse. Here’s a story I was involved in a few years ago (2000, I think) cobbled together five words at a time (and here’s its peer review).
The whole site is pretty adolescent (hence my involvement) but it has its moments.
The Adjunct Travesty site went offline many years ago, and though the Wayback Machine gave me an archived version which I substituted in my post, I had no expectation that it would work. But it does!
A letter-level travesty generator is available in Emacs as M-x dissociated-press, and there’s a Perl module similarly named. I don’t know of any conveniently packaged word-level travesty generator.