Pages 508-530
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Contents
November 10th, YDAU - Eschaton Fallout
Page 508
Page 509
Antron
a real company
lividity
brightness of color
escutcheon
a shield-shaped emblem
premie
born prematurely
cumuli
plural of "cumulus," a type of cloud
fluffy cumuli arrayed patternlessly against an overenhanced blue sky, incredibly disorienting ... makes him feel high-altitude and disoriented and sometimes plummeting
this pattern appears on the cover of the book
D.D.S.
Doctor of Dental Surgery
insouciant
blithely unconcerned
Endnote 209
Brisbane
the capital of the Australian state of Queensland
Page 510
Jamaica Way six-laner
a parkway in the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain. It's an undivided road with four lanes of traffic, not six.
Mannington
a flooring company
pro bono
without pay
Page 511
Dr. Dolores Rusk
Allusion to Vladamir Nabokov's Lolita, a novel about the long-term molestation of a 12-year-old girl named Dolores (also known as Dolly, Lolita, Lola, Lo and L).
distaff
the female branch or side of the family, the 'family' in this case being ETA
Phielyism
this is in reference to coach R. Bill ('Touchy') Phiely on the previous page
mnemonic
having to do with memory
Brewster's Angle
an angle of incidence at which light with a particular polarization is perfectly transmitted through a surface, with no reflection. Read more [here]
serrated
having a jagged edge
tulle
a fine, often starched net of silk, rayon, or nylon
Page 512
cyanosis
blueness of the skin caused by deoxygenated blood
J.D.
Juris Doctor, a law degree
Sinistral
left-handed
Short Beach CT
a suburb of New Haven, Conn., about seven miles to the southeast
Page 513
athwart
side by side with
THIRD RAIL
In many subway systems (notably New York's), the third rail is the electrified rail that powers the train(s) and carries an extremely hazardous level of voltage.
from stage right
in the other words, from the left (or "house left," which is equivalent to "stage right")
terry
a pile fabric used to make bath towels and robes
Page 514
schnauzer
a breed of dog notable for its beard-like facial hair
I-93
Interstate 93, which runs from St. Johnsbury, Vt., to the suburbs of Boston
Neponset
a neighborhood of Boston
Page 515
Q.v.
abbreviation for the Latin quod vide, meaning "which see"
VIII-Amendment
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects citizens against cruel and unusual punishment.
diction
choice of words
raison d'être
French: reason for being
Page 516
O.N.A.N.F.L.
Organization of North American Nations Football League
Coatlicue
This is the name of an Aztec goddess, one who gave birth to the moon and stars. The reference here is perhaps to Avril.
fulcra
plural of "fulcrum"
stadia
plural of "stadium"
75-meter
about 246 feet
Page 517
dot-matrix printer
one of the earliest-generation computer printers
Ludditism
a philosophy that is strongly against advances in technology, named for Ned Ludd
needly sound
Dot-matrix printers are very loud.
Page 518
Philo IL
town about 150 miles south-southwest of Chicago
transverse colon
the part of the large intestine that runs horizontal across the stomach, parallel to the ground
2 m.
about 6.6 feet
Page 519
Dynamic Duo
usually refers to Batman and Robin
Page 520
Page 521
viscera
internal organs
Page 522
100-mm. rodney
A "rodney" is a cigarette. 100 millimeters is a standard length of a "long" cigarette, and is roughly 4 inches long
Page 523
Granny Smith
a type of sour, green-skinned apple
distended
swollen in the stomach
complicit
involved in a plot or scheme
ital
italic type
Pawtucket
a town in Rhode Island 5 miles north-northeast of Providence
A.A.A. baseball
a level of minor-league baseball
Page 524
M.M.P.I.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: a common mental health personality test
Nunn Bush
A brand of dress shoes
Fuck the Core
i.e., fuck the (Marine) Corps
Page 525
Slobodan
Endnote 221 tells us that this student is Latvian, but this is a Slavic name, and Letts are not Slavs.
Auburndale
a suburb about 10 miles west of Boston
"...best of British luck to you..."
From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable comes this definition: 'Best of British Luck' — an ironic expression of encouragement, implying that the required luck may not materialize... an elaborated form of 'the best of luck.'
Sieg Heil
German for "Hail, Victory," this phrase was used by the Nazis, particularly with the right-handed upright salute particular to fascists.
Page 526
respire
to breathe
mandible
jawbone
Page 527
dais
a raised platform, like a lectern, for speaking or presentation
seagrass
seaweed that grows in shallow beds
ottoman
a footrest that goes with a chair
laddered
having a run (in a stocking)
sallet
a light helmet, usually with a visor
dolefully
in a sorrowful manner
Pre-dawn & dawn; May 1st, YDAU - Steeply & Marathe discuss myths of deadly pleasure
Page 528
St-Rémi-d'Amherst
a town in Québec about 80 miles northwest of Montreal
M-o-r-t-s
Morts is the French masculine plural for "dead."
Page 529
Endnote 222
cont. id.
probably "contemporary idiomatic" as spelled out in the previous line
Basque
The Basque language, spoken in part of northern Spain and southwestern France, is unrelated to any other European language and possibly any other living language.
obstreperous
noisy or hard to control
coeval
contemporaneous or equally old
Page 529 (cont'd)
discomfit
to confuse or disconcert
Circe
a goddess from Greek mythology
pregnancy by rain
referring to Zeus's seduction of Danae
rape by fowl
and Zeus's seduction of Leda
Page 530
saguaro cactus
a large, tree-sized species of cactus native to the Sonoran Desert
phantom pains
refers to pain common in amputees - also can refer to sensations that the amputated limb is still existent, and painful
wens
a harmless cyst, especially on the scalp or face, containing the fatty secretion of a sebaceous gland