Pages 127-156

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128 · Junkie Narrative

Page 128

boosting

stealing

onnings

awnings

Page 129

elemonade

eliminate

Copley

Copley Square, a neighborhood of Boston

aile

aisle

foran

foreign

trancemission

transmission

Page 130

supperst

supposed

pernts

points

Page 131

kwai9

quinine

Page 132

stoal

stole

Page 133

Page 134

thearized

theorized

Page 135

methadoan

Methadone

135* · Orin Calls Hal

Page 135

Y.D.A.U.

Page 136

Phoenician

Orin uses it to mean a native of Phoenix, but the Phoenicians were actually an ancient culture who founded the city of Carthage.

Page 137

Advent

the four Sundays preceding Christmas

137 · TK

Page 137

Year of the Whopper

Walpole

a suburb of Boston about eighteen miles from the city

Page 138

138 · State Farm E-mail

Page 138

Year of Dairy Products From the American Heartland

Page 139

blood-alcohol of .3+

If "legally drunk" is now .08 in many states, it's fair to say this guy was hammered

900 kg

fifteen pounds short of a ton

75 kg

about 165.3 pounds

Page 140

30 kg

a little over 66 pounds

140 · Hal's First Film Commentary

Page 140

Year of the Perdue Wonderchicken

Page 141

Viz.

Latin abbreviation for videlicet, meaning "that is to say"

Mirandized

read his or her rights, from the Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona (1965)

Page 142

142 · Helen's Only Published Article

Page 142

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

Jarvik IX

undoubtedly named for Robert Koffler Jarvik (born 1946), inventor of the first artificial heart placed in a human being

Page 143

Etienne Aigner

a fashionable leather goods manufacturer

Page 144

Brigham and Women's City of Boston Hospital

a real hospital, now affiliated with Harvard Medical School

144 (1) · Québecois Terrorist Groups

Page 144

Les Fils de Montcalm

French: Sons of Montcalm. Probably referring to Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Saint-Veran (1712-1759), French general during the French and Indian War who presided over the fall of Québec.

144 (2) · Decline of Videophony

Page 144

homuncular

of or pertaining to a diminutive human being

Page 145

straw boater

a type of hat (a "boater") made of straw

tumescent

swollen

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

Freddie-Mac

common name for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Company

trivalent

having a chemical valance of three

Page 146

vectored

To vector is to direct the position of (an airplane).

gumlet

By context, it would seem this word is a synonym for aglet.

Page 147

furtive

shifty or sneaky

Physiognomic Dysphoria

Loosely, it means "feeling badly about how one looks."

Page 148

snafus

plural of "snafu," a military acronym for "situation normal: all fucked up"

Page 149

ostentatious

pretentious or showy

Page 150

verve

enthusiasm or vigor

precipitant

sudden, hasty, or rash

micro-econometrist

An econometrist is an economist who uses statistical methods. A microeconomist is an economist who studies a smaller level of economics, i.e., firms and businesses rather than nations or international business.

Ludditism

Named for Ned Ludd (born Ned Ludlam), the Luddites were 19th century opposers of the Industrial Revolution.

retrograde

moving backward

Page 151

electric zirconium jewelry

Jewelry made of zircon. Electricity can be applied to a zircon to make a lamp.

NoCoat LinguaScrapers

tongue scrapers designed to remove a film coat

and c.

Et cetera or etc. is Latin for "and other things." Here Wallace has translated et and left c untranslated.

panagoraphobia

fear of going outside (agoraphobia) in any place (pan-)

151* · Urine Testing

Page 151

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

widow's peak

a hairline that dips down to a V-shaped point in front when the hair is pulled back

Page 152

Endnote 52

spectrometer

an optical instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum

E.M.I.T. and AbuScreen/RIA

Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique; Abusecreen is a brand name of drug test, and RIA stands for radioimmunoassay, "a procedure that measures minute amounts of a substance, such as a hormone or drug, by quantitating the binding, or the inhibition of binding, of a radiolabeled substance to an antibody" (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition).

Page 152 (cont'd)

cc

cubic centimeter, equal to 0.001 liters

wienerman

hot-dog salesman

Page 153

Yarmouth sail

a type of boat sail, seen here

Pepperdine

a university in Malibu, Calif.

derrick

A derrick is "a jib crane having a boom hinged near the base of the mast so as to rotate about the mast, for moving a load toward or away from the mast by raising or lowering the boom" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

foot-treadle

a level worked by foot

f/x

special effects in film

Bolex

a Swiss camera manufacturer

undulating

moving with a wave-like motion

Page 154

petrochemical

a chemical derived from petroleum or natural gas

spronging

sprong is Dutch for "to leap or bound"

Eschatonic

The name of the game is based on the same root as eschatology, i.e., the study of the end of the world.

pünch

There is no such German word.

serpentine

snake-like

Page 155

dento-dermal

by the skin of his teeth

brine

salt water

emulsion

Emulsion is colloidal suspension of one liquid in another.

differentials

first derivatives in calculus

three Canadians copulating on a snowmobile

high-water

pants hemmed too high

gratis

free of charge

ex cathedra

Latin for "from the chair" and referring to the doctrine of papal infallibility on matters of faith and morals

éclat

great brilliance or conspicuous success

Page 156

dewy-eyed

exhibiting childlike simplicity

FIENDS IN HUMAN SHAPE

how a Memphis newspaper described Union soldiers during the Civil War

Brighton

a section of Boston

natal

of or pertaining to a person's birth

Brutus

Marcus Junius Brutus (85-42 BC) was the most famous assassin of Julius Caesar (100-44 BC).

vade mecum

Latin for "go with me," this is a book for quick reference

172 · TENNIS AND THE FERAL PRODIGY

Page 172

Year of the Yushityu...

Page 173

stevedore

a person who loads and unloads cargo from boats

40 km.

almost 25 miles

Schnell

German: Quickly

Page 174

formants and fricatives, trochaically stressed

A format is, according to Wikipedia, "a peak in an acoustic frequency spectrum which results from the resonant frequencies of any acoustic system." A fricative is a phoneme produced by forcing air through tight lips. In English, fricatives are /s/, /z/, /th/, and /zh/. Trochaically means spoken in trochees, or a metrical foot on two syllables with the stress on the first (the word "trochee" is a trochee).

aperture

An aperture is an opening; here it is probably referring to the anus.

Page 175

8 1/2

a film by Federico Fellini

intensile

incapable of being stretched

Page 176

Noxzema

a skin cleaner marketed by Procter & Gamble

Contracol

not a drug currently marketed in the U.S.

Epsom salts

Magnesium sulfate, used to relieve pain, among other uses.