Revision as of 21:39, 27 March 2011

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More With Gately in the Hospital

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Spam
a brand of spiced ham

holding his cheek and jaw when he talks like cutout photos of the late J. Benny
Comedian Jack Benny (1894-1974) would often hold his chin with his hand while addressing an audience. See Benny's statue in Cucamonga where he is holding his cheek and jaw [1].

tallly insubstantial ghostish figure
'tall' used adverbially with 3 successive "L"s. cute.

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phantasms
apparitions or specters

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quanta
plural of quantum, an indivisible entity of energy

Heisenbergian
Werner Karl Heisenberg (1901-1976) was a German physicist and one of the fathers of quantum mechanics.

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velour
a felt that looks like velvet

ACCIACCATURA
Comes from the Italian verb acciaccare, "to crush". The acciaccatura (sometimes called short appoggiatura) is perhaps best thought of as a shorter, less melodically significant, variant of the long appoggiatura, where the delay of the principal note is scarcely perceptible – theoretically subtracting no time at all." (Wikipedia)

ALEMBIC
a device used for distillation made up of a tube connecting two containers

LATRODECTUS MACTANS
"Latrodectus mactans, the (southern) Black widow, is a highly venomous species of spider in the genus Latrodectus. They are well known for the distinctive black and red coloring of the female of the species and for the fact that she will occasionally eat her mate after reproduction. The species is native to the United States of America and Mexico. The female black widow's venom is particularly harmful to humans (males almost never bite humans). The injection of venom from these species is a comparatively dangerous or lethal bite." (Wikipedia)

NEUTRAL DENSITY POINT
it's not clear what this refers to, but it's quite possible it refers to a concept in optics similar to the concept applied in a Neutral Density Filter, given Infinite Jest's optics motif.
"In photography and optics, a neutral density filter or ND filter can be colorless (clear) or grey filter. An ideal neutral density filter reduces and/or modifies intensity of all wavelengths or colors of light equally, giving no changes in hue of color rendition.
The purpose of standard photographic neutral density filters is to allow the photographer greater flexibility to change the aperture, exposure time and/or blur of subject in different situations and atmospheric conditions." (Wikipedia)

CHIAROSCURO
a term originally used in drawing and painting, chiaroscuro is also used in photography and cinematography for techniques of contrasting light and dark

PROPRIOCEPTION
the sense of the relative position of the parts of the body

TESTUDO
Latin for "tortoise." May refer to a genus of tortoises, a type of harp, or a military formation.

ANNULATE
Having or consisting of rings or ringlike segments.

BRICOLAGE
the creation of an artistic work from a diverse range of things that are around

CATALEPT
a person suffering from catalepsy, a condition of rigidity and unresponsiveness

GERRYMANDER
the breaking up of territory into electoral districts so that one political party has a majority in as many districts as possible

SCOPOPHILIA
Translation of the Freudian notion of Schaulust, "pleasure in looking," in the sense of both seeing and being seen, as well as "curiosity." Freud distinguished between two frequently encountered forms of this partial drive: one active, "voyeurism," and the other passive, "exhibitionism," neither of which he would necessarily rank among perversions. [cf. scopophobic (p.226) & scopophiliac (p.230)]

LAERTES
a character from Hamlet who blames Hamlet for the deaths of his father and sister (Polonius and Ophelia), and seeks to avenge them by killing Hamlet with a poisoned sword

EXTRUDING
to push or thrust out

STRIGIL
"A strigil was a small, curved, metal tool used in ancient Greece and Rome to scrape dirt and sweat from the body before effective soaps became available." (Wikipedia)

LORDOSIS
a condition where a person has a forward-curving spine

IMPOST
a tax or duty that is imposed - this word was use by Tiny Ewell while he was speaking to (or rather, at) Gately on page 815

SINISTRAL
left-handed

MENISCUS
A concavo-convex lens, or other crescent-shaped body.

CHRONAXY
"In the mathematical description of the functioning of the nervous system, the chronaxie (or chronaxy) is the minimum time over which an electric current double the strength of the rheobase needs to be applied, in order to stimulate a muscle fiber or nerve cell." (Wikipedia)

POOR YORICK

The (dead) jester in Hamlet. The quote referred to is by Hamlet, holding Yorick's skull after Yorick's remains are uncovered: 'Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest'

LUCULUS
Lucullus (two l's) was a Roman general of antiquity (Wikipedia)

MONTCLAIR
the model of car owned by James Incandenza's father, Mario

DE SICA
Vittorio De Sica (1902-1974) was an Italian filmmaker, probably most famous for The Bicycle Thief.

NEO-REAL
"Italian neorealism is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors. Italian neorealist films mostly contend with the difficult economical and moral conditions of post-World War II Italy, reflecting the changes in the Italian psyche and the conditions of everyday life: poverty and desperation." (Wikipedia)

CRANE DOLLY
A camera dolly with a crane that holds the camera.

CIRCUMAMBIENTFOUNDDRAMALEVIRATEMARRIAGE
Circumambient means walking around. "Found Drama" was one of James Incandenza's contributions to film artistic history. Levirate marriage is a tradition in several cultures whereby the younger brother of a deceased man marries the dead brother's widow. (See also Consummation of the Levirates on p. 171)

HELIATED
When someone inhales helium, their voice becomes high-pitched.

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shinola
a now-defunct brand of mid-20th century shoe polish, preserved in the expression, "You don't know shit from Shinola."

epiphanyish
An epiphany is a divine manifestation, or by extension, a sudden, deep insight.

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Vertical Hold
refers to a setting on a television that adjusts the picture's vertical stabilization

'Ren and Stimpy'
the main characters in a once-popular animated television series

'Oo Is 'E When 'E's at 'Ome'
or "Who Is He When He's at Home?", which is apparently a common Irish saying

'Exposed Northerners'
Wallace is punning on the name of the once-popular television show Northern Exposure.

Nom
Gatley means "Norm," as in the Cheers character "Norm Peterson"; "Nom" is how a North Shore native such as Gately might pronounce the name.

fractional
comparatively small or insignificant

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figurants
performers with no spoken lines

The Sorrow and the Pity
a film about the Nazi occupation of France

Heineken Maneuver
Gately means "Heimlich Maneuver."

Schwulst or Altman
The only Schwulst I can find is Lance Schwulst, who is probably not the person referred to. Robert Bernard Altman (1925-2006) was an American filmmaker.

agora
a place of congregation, originally marketplaces in Ancient Greece

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DEXTRAL
right-handed

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acerbic
acidic; sharp or biting

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shell-game
a con game

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Mennonite
an Anabaptist denomination named for Menno Simons (1496-1561), a Frisian religious leader

avers
declares

vapid
lacking liveliness or spirit

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packy
short for "package store," a Massachusetts euphemism for "liquor store"

pre-metric
in the alternate timeline of Infinite Jest, it's obvious that U.S. Customary systems of measurement are finally abandoned, at some point (perhaps during Reconfiguration), for the global standard of the Metric System (ed.: optimism on Wallace's part, one might say) - the weights the M.P. used were marked with U.S. "pounds" (lbs) instead of Metric kilograms (kg).

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fencing
to sell stolen goods

beeswax
i.e., business

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lit
landed

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ü
a German diphthong, somewhere between /u/ and /ee/

Al-Anon
Al-Anon/Alateen, Al-Anon Family Groups - support group for families/friends of alcoholics.

Stetson with feather

Stetson w/ feather
Stetson hats or Stetsons refers to the brand of hat manufactered by the John B. Stetson Company of St. Joseph, Missouri. The word 'Stetson' is sometimes used as a genericized term for a cowboy hat. Although the Stetson company makes other styles of brimmed hat, the Stetson name has become synonymous with a style it pioneered, featuring a high crown and wide brim, popularly known as a Cowboy hat. Wikipedia

penchant
a predilection

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