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Revision as of 08:06, 3 July 2010
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Don Gately Remembers
Page 902
cognomen
a nickname
pre-infarcted
an infarct is when a piece of organ tissue, usually in the brain or heart (stroke or heart attack, respectively), is deprived of oxygen for a period of time because of a blockage or thrombosis, and either dies or is significantly weakened
fullback
the running back farthest from the line of scrimmage
a 4.4 40
He could run 40 meters in 4.4 seconds.
Page 903
"...in a flaming L.A...."
This would make the year 1992.
"some Finest got home-movied..."
This is a reference to the Rodney King beating.
Orkin
a large exterminator company
screwdrivers
vodka and orange juice
brownshirts and jackboots
things worn by Nazis -- jackboots are combat boots that go to mid-calf
Zog
i.e., ZOG, for Zionist Occupation Government, the acronym coined by American neo-Nazi Eric Thomson
The Turner Diaries
Written by William Luther Pierce III (1933-2002), this is a neo-Nazi novel once called the "blueprint" for the Oklahoma City bombing.
desBois
the plural of duBois
sinsemilla
cultivated high potency marijuana
Page 904
Hefenreffer
apparently a real brand
B.M.S.
Beverly Middle School
tapir
a very long-nosed animal - see a picture here
Erlenmeyer Flasks
Read about them here.T
"...to cyclize OH..."
To cyclize something is to have it form rings. OH is the hydroxy radical.
Endnote 364
Love Boat
actually commonly used as a nickname for marijuana laced with PCP
Page 904 (cont'd)
Farberware
a brand name of pots and pans
tetrahydrofuran
a type of solvent
PVC
polyvinyl chloride
48 contigs
48 continguous United States (excludes Alaska and Hawaii)
6 provinces
presumably the six Canadian provinces that border the contiguous 48 states, i.e., British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec
Sominex
a brand name of antihistamine sleeping aid
H3C
methyl group
mnemonic brown-out
a sort of memory lapse short of a blackout
Page 905
truancy
skipping school
A.D.D.
Attention Deficit Disorder
strabysmic
cross-eyed
sieg-heil
German for "hail victory," the reference is to the Nazis.
aveil
i.e., avail
Water Lou
i.e., Waterloo
Page 906
Howl
a famous poem by Irwin Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), American poet
Chaucerian English
You can read an example here.
enervated
weakened
M.S.
multiple sclerosis
Lou Gehrig's
the more common name for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which the famous New York Yankee suffered from
Salem State U.
There is a Salem State College, but not a university.
Hal Wakes Up (Maybe?)
Page 906
Page 907
Javol
It's unclear how Hal is pronouncing this word, but he likely means Jawohl, German for an emphatic "yes."
Page 908
tu-savez-quoi
(bad) French: You know what
bacchanal
a wild party or orgy
M.M.
Michael Matthew
Shi'ite Moslems
Muslims who believe that Ali was the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad
mullah
a title of respect for one educated in Islamic law
unitard
a bodysuit or one-piece leotard
Page 909
Zorro
See right
porcine
like a swine
vantage
point of view
mano-a-tete
combination of "mano-a-mano" and "tête-à-tête", both essentially meaning one-on-one.
Page 910
50 kilos
over 110 pounds
tam-o'-shanter
a Scottish style hat sometimes with a tassel, feather, or pompon in the center
Ocean Spray
a brand name of cranberry juice
Page 911
hydrophobia
fear of water
pandemic
an epidemic that spreads through human populations across a large region (for example a continent), or even worldwide
teleologic
regarding a final cause
aridly
dryly
Endnote 366
Professor H. Bloom
Harold Bloom (born 1930) is a prominent American literary critic.
artistic influenza
not actually one of Bloom's concepts
peripatetic
walking around
Page 911 (cont'd)
clinamen
this refers to the indeterminate, unpredictable motion of atoms in an otherwise determinable system - read about it here.
tessera
this appears to refer to the curved parallelogram-shaped individual tiles that make up mosaics - read about them here.
kenosis
this is a Greek word that means "emptiness," and is a term in Christian theology that refers to Jesus relinquishing the form of God by becoming human and dying on a cross - you can read about it here.
daemonization
the word "daemon" is a variant of two words: "demon," with all of its obvious meanings and connotations among various religions and mythologies, and "daimon," which is a Platonic term that signifies something or someone intermediate between the human and the divine, or sometimes used to mean "genius." "Daemon" is also used to refer to, in computer science, a computer program that runs idly in the background - it is not clear if this was a meaning that would be known to Wallace at the time he wrote Infinite Jest, however.
askesis
asceticism; strict self-discipline and control for religious purposes
More Gately History
Page 911
Saugus
a suburb about 10 miles north of Boston
Page 912
B&E
breaking and entering
prenominate
named beforehand
priapistic
having priapisms, or painful, long lasting erections
Teddibly Soddy
terribly sorry
vigorish
the bookie's fee for his services
Endnote 367
Pen Registers
an electronic device that records the phone numbers of outgoing calls on a particular line
Page 913
Cafergot
A medication named after its combination of caffeine and ergotamine titrate, the chemical precursor to LSD; used to treat migraine headaches. Read about it here.
Endnote 368
Cimetidine
actually an antacid -- strange that Wallace would make such an error, so perhaps it's deliberate
Page 914
Endnote 369
Mace
a brand name of pepper spray
Page 914 (cont'd)
Osco
a pharmacy chain
the Virus
i.e., HIV
Page 915
respiritic
presumably having something to do with breathing
laminating
sealing in plastic
Page 916
The B.U. punter
a.k.a. Orin Incandenza