Pages 398-418
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The ONANtiad, cont.
Page 398
Page 399
LOVE CANAL
an area near Buffalo, N.Y., famous for its high amount of toxic waste and the effects it had on the residents there
EPA
Environmental Protection Agency
Berlin, NH
a town in New Hampshire very close to the Canadian border
Rumford, ME
Rumford is in Maine, less than 50 miles due east of Berlin, N.H.
MONTPELIER
the capital of Vermont
Lancaster NH
a city about twenty miles west of Berlin, N.H.
INFARCTION
tissue death owing to abrupt cessation of blood supply, a heart attack is a myocardial infarction, a stroke is a cerebral infarction
ANEURISM
a misspelling of "aneurysm," it's a bursting of a weakened dilated blood vessel, if within the skull, usually causing a subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding into the space in which the cerebrospinal fluid circulates)
SALEM MA
a city 15 miles up the coast from Boston
FROM SYRACUSE TO TICONDEROGA, NY
This line would go right through Adirondack Park in New York.
FROM TICONDEROGA, NY TO SALEM, MA
The lower corner of Vermont lies below this line.
Page 400
claque
a group of sycophants
hale
healthy
Kevlar
a synthetic fiber used in, among other things, bulletproof vests
Page 401
aspersion
a disparaging remark
Page 402
saprogenic
causing or caused by putrefaction or decay
Bôf
defined by the Cambridge Online French-English dictionary as an interjection "expressing a lack of interest or enthusiasm"
maroon
malaprop: moron
benighted
in a state of pitiful or contemptible intellectual or moral ignorance
cojones
Spanish for "testicles"
Page 403
faute-de-mieux
for lack of something better.
redemisement
see discussion of "redemised" at page 319
scenario
"Scenarios" is the correct plural.
Page 404
Tyrolean hats
The Tyrolean hat, named after the region of Tyrol, is associated with the Austrian Alps. Tyrolean hats have a cord wrapped around the base of the crown and a feather or brush on the side as trim. For an example, see right.
H.E.W.
the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
rife
abounding
Eminent nondomain
"Eminent domain" is the right of the government to seize private property to serve a greater good. This would be the opposite, i.e., the right of the government to divest or cede private property to serve the greater good.
bien sûr
French: of course
U.S.O.
United States Organizations, an organization dedicated to entertaining troops at war
Page 405
coup de grâce
French: death blow
recalcitrant
hard to deal with or manage
¿Qué?
Spanish: What?
Yukon
a territory of northwest Canada that borders Alaska's western border
Brinksmanship
According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, this is "the technique or practice of maneuvering a dangerous situation to the limits of tolerance or safety in order to secure the greatest advantage, esp. by creating diplomatic crises."
1/3-rpm
This is one-third of a revolution per minute. LPs go literally 100 times faster.
'Flight of the Bumblebee'
an interlude in The Tale of Tsar Saltan, an opera by Russian composer Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Page 406
IMBROGLIO
a misunderstanding or disagreement between persons or nations
SIN CITY
Las Vegas
F.E.C.
Federal Elections Commission
Page 407
S.A.C.
Strategic Air Command
BK
Burger King
catastatic
of or pertaining to the climax of a play, movie, etc
puppet-à-clef
A roman à clef is a novel based on a true story with the actual names of characters changed (similarly for film à clef). So, the puppet show has changed the names of the Clipperton story.
radon
a chemical element, radioactive, gaseous at normal temperatures, that can contaminate homes and other structures in contact with soil
Page 408
Maddox OH
doesn't appear to be a real place
Hartford
the capital of Connecticut
Page 409
Elmer's
a brand of white water-based glue, with no known abuse potential
Endnote 158
renumeration
Context indicates that the word should be remuneration. A misspelling, context also precludes a malaprop.
Endnote 159
Durban
the second most populous city in S. Africa, on the country's southeast coast
Page 409 (cont'd)
Clipperton même
French: Clipperton himself
Page 410
transverse aberration
this is the aberration of light across a field
Endnote 159
testatory codicil
A testator is someone who has a will, and a codicil is a supplement to a will.
Page 410 (cont'd)
Sunkist
a brand of fruit, fruit drinks, fruit flavored candy, &c.
Hal's History of Television Before Subsidized Time
Page 410
incipient
beginning to develop
Page 411
Szechuan
alternate spelling of Sichuan
Sherman statutes
a reference to the anti-trust act introduced by Sen. John Sherman of Ohio (1823-1900)
TCI
Tele-Communications, Inc. (now defunct)
Malone
John C. Malone (born 1941), now CEO of Liberty Media
TBS
Turner Broadcasting System, founded by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born 1938)
CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Wikipedia)
Page 412
American Council of Disseminators of Cable
Look at the first letters of the capitalized words.
HDTV
High-Definition Television
Page 413
liposuction
a surgical procedure whereby fat is literally sucked out of the body
P.T.A.s
Parent-Teacher Associations
PACs
Political Action Committees
REM
Rapid Eye Movement
kabal
an alternate spelling of "cabal," meaning a small group of secret plotters
spinal camel-straw
the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back(bone)
b&w
black and white
Page 414
avuncular
suggestive of an uncle
Preparation H
a brand-name hydrocortisone ointment for hemorrhoids (choose your h)
Überad
a super advertisement, using the German über ("super") as a prefix
MLB
Major League Baseball
Page 415
Ch. 11 protection
Chapter 11, a section of the bankruptcy code under which one could file for protection from creditors
Dow turned Grizzly
i.e., a bear (downward-moving) market environment began
'Happy Days'
a once-successful television series on ABC
La Honda CA
a tiny town in San Mateo County, California
Icarian
In the manner of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun with wings crafted from feathers and wax by his father Daedalus. The heat from the sun melted the wax, whereupon Icarus fell into the sea and drowned.
penultimate
next-to-last
mogulette
a minor mogul, or perhaps a female mogul
Blockbuster's Huizenga
the entrepreneurial company founder H. Wayne Huizenga
half-gainer
NOAD: a dive in which the diver leaves the diving board facing forward, does a half-somersault backward, and enters the water head first facing the board.
Tobin Bridge
the bridge that connects Charleston and Chelsea, Massachusetts, over the Mystic River
Page 416
ken
range of sight or vision
vox- and digitus-populi
Vox populi means "voice of the people" in Latin. Digitus populi would be "finger of the people."
Page 417
CPU
Central Processing Unit
tentacularly
as with tentacles
Baby Bells
the seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) that came out of the Bell System divestiture, a result of the outcome of an antitrust lawsuit (1974) against the monopolistic AT&T
GTE
General Telephone and Electronics
Hobbesianly
in a way suggesting that people are very much in a state of nature, i.e., without rules or laws; derived from English philosopher Thomas Hobbes
!
Used in the 2 times the square root of area formula, the exclamation point denotes a factorial.
This formula becomes very complicated, if the factorial's argument is not an integer, which is likely to be the case when taking the square root of a random number (area).
mimetic
used here, meaning as close to reality as possible
equatorial
lying on the Equator
Page 418
mycological
regarding the study of mushrooms
ennui
listlessness or dissatisfaction through a lack of occupation or excitement
Endnote 168
Wagnerian
in the style or manner of Richard Wagner, the German operatic composer
