Pages 827-845

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827 · More With Gately in the Hospital

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Spam
a brand of spiced ham

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

strigil
an instrument for scraping the skin after bathing

extrude
to thrust out

ACCIACCATURA
defined here

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

LATRODECTUS MACTANS
a black widow spider

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 - this can be read about here

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

TESTUDO
a genus of tortoises

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

CATALEPT
a person suffering from catalepsy

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

LAERTES
a character from Hamlet who seeks to kill the title character

STRIGIL
defined here

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

CHRONAXY
alternate spelling of chronaxie

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
a Roman general of antiquity

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.

CIRCUMAMBIENTFOUNDDRAMALEVIRATEMARIAGE
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.

HELIATED
infused with helium

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shinola
appears to refer to a now-defunct brand of mid-20th century shoe polish

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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"

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," it's where one buys alcohol

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/

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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