Pages 755-785

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755 · Speaking of E.T.A...

Page 755

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

Page 756

Felicity Zweig
"Felicity" means happiness, while Zweig is German for "stick" or "branch."

Page 757

Gilbert Treffert
still not a real player

Endnote 316

Opheliac
resembling Hamlet's girlfriend — see Hamlet IV.v

Page 760

Montague Semantics
This is a form of natural language semantics.

Endnote 317

wildly expensive hdcover
It's a real book and the hardcover goes for $105.85. It has been issued in softcover for $29. The publication information is either wrong or varies.

Plc
public limited company

Page 760 (cont'd)

ten meters
about 32.8 feet

plastron
1. The starched front of a shirt.

2. A large pad worn by a fencer to protect the chest.

3. The part of a tortoise's shell that covers the underside.

Page 761

cowlick
a patch of hair standing on end

pennon
a pennant or flag or banner

Peripatetic
walking around

Page 762

swotting
i.e., swatting

Page 763

Page 764

intuiting
knowing without having been told

Page 765

Bic
A manufacturer of inexpensive ball-point pens. Probably blue, here.

St. Pamphile
This is a town close to Québec City; Pamphile is St. Pamphilus.

Page 766

Page 767

maundering
talking in a rambling, foolish way

Page 768

Page 769

tumid
swollen

769 · Mario and Hal at Night

Page 769

"Thank you Sir may I have another"
a line from Animal House

Page 770

segue
a smooth transition from one thing to another

Page 771

unbent
not having yielded or submitted

Page 772

Panglossian
Pangloss is a character in Voltaire's Candide, who is wont to say "in the best of all possible worlds."

Page 773

true
on target

mendaciously
in a manner of one who is lying

rococo
ornate or florid in speech

tersely
in a manner using few words

Page 774

Eve Arden
Eve Arden (1908-1990) was an American actress.

774 · Marathe and Kate G. Talk

Page 774

Page 775

Big Book
the AA handbook

Page 776

Page 777

Provincial
Switzerland does not have provinces; it has cantons.

Page 778

Swiss metal helmets
Kate is probably thinking "Swedish" as in a Viking's helmet.

schüssch
He probably means schuss, i.e., skiing.

Page 779

restenosis
recurrence of stenosis, i.e., narrowing of blood vessels

Garçon!
French: Boy! (used in reference to the waiter)

Page 780

m'épouse au future
French: future spouse

Jaarvik
misspelling of "Jarvik"

Page 781

Swisshead
She may be using this particular epithet to mean "one who has holes in his head," à la Swiss cheese.

Page 782

I voot make ze hreply zat
i.e., I would make the reply that — Kate making fun of Marathe's accent

782 · Hal and Mario Continued

Page 782

Irish Spring
i.e., a strong-smelling brand of soap

Page 783

poppy-seed bagel
conventional wisdom telling that eating such bagels would cause one to test positive for opiates

snuffle
to sniff as in trying to detect something

Indy-type
they clear the system very quickly

Ginsu
a brand of steak knives, once sold on late-night television commercials

Calli tea
Read about this here.

Page 784

a perfect score
since Infinite Jest was published in 1996, it is safe to assume Wallace means a score of 1600, which was a perfect score at the time of Infinite Jest's publishing - a perfect score on the SAT is now a 2400, since the addition of a Writing Test on top of the original Math and Verbal sections.

Page 785

pores
i.e., pours over books, reads them carefully

Endnote 321