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☽ (AS OF) YDAU - The Enfield Tennis Academy

Page 63

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
Which is to say, as of 2009

pre-Method actor
He was an actor before the dawn of the Method.

dipsomaniacal
Characterized by an uncontrollable urge to consume alcohol, describing James O. Incandenza's father

Endnote 23

Notes and Errata - Endnote 23

Page 63 (cont'd)

G. Ford - early G. Bush
Roughly 1974 to 1989.

S.A.C.
Strategic Air Command.

neutron
A subatomic particle with no charge.

gamma-refractive
Referring to a certain index of refraction, i.e., a measure of how much the speed of light is slowed down under certain conditions.

lithium-anodized
Anodizing is the process of making something electrically passive via electrolytic chemical deposition, or oxidation of the surface layer. Presumably lithium-anodized implies this process is done with the alkali metal lithium.

Page 64

cold annular fusion
Cold fusion is a low-energy nuclear reaction. That it is annular means it is ring-shaped. Cold fusion is highly controversial. Regular fusion experiments take place in a tokamak, which is shaped like a torus (donut).

Tableaux
This is the French pluralization of "tableau,"

homolosine-cartography
This is map-making based on an equal distribution of land, created by John Paul Goode (1862-1932), an American geographer. Goode did this to replace the Eurocentric Mercator projection.

optative
descriptive of a mood of verbs in Greek and other languages, expressing a wish or choice, more or less equivalent to the English "if only."

U.S.T.A.
United States Tennis Association.

après-garde
French for "rear guard," it's the opposite of avant-garde.

No. French for "rear gard" is arrière-garde, there is no such thing as après-garde in French. DFW makes either a mistake or a pun — likely the latter — because the notion of a rear guard is here transposed to time instead of space.

recondite
Esoteric, arcane, abstruse.

Endnote 24 - JOI's Filmography

See Notes and Errata - Endnote 24

Page 64 (cont'd)

Macdonald Chair
Sir William C. Macdonald (1831-1917) was one of the most important donors in the history of McGill University. There is a Macdonald Chair in Chemistry.

Royal Victoria College of McGill University
now an all-women's residence at McGill University in Montreal.

Reflective vs. Reflexive Systems
These are two systems of cognition, the latter is associative, rapid in processing, and subconscious, while the former is rule-based and thus slower.

Personnes à Qui On Doit Surveiller Attentivement
French: People Whom We Must Watch Closely.

Proper French for this would be Personnes que l’on doit surveiller attentivement.

Throppinghamshire Provincial College, New Brunswick, Canada
There is no such college, though New Brunswick is a province of Canada.

recondite
Esoteric, arcane, abstruse.

mordantly
in a caustic manner.

feck
efficacy; force; value.

CNS-rendingly
A play on the term 'heart-rending'. CNS is an acronym for central nervous system.

Page 65

F.C.
Perhaps "formerly Canadian."

A.E.C.
Atomic Energy Commission.

ARPA-NET
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, development by the U.S. Dept. of Defense, was a forerunner of the Internet.

L'Islet County
A county of Québec at the northern end of the Appalachian Mountains.

hyperfloration
Overgrowth of flowers or plants.

festschrift
A Festschrift (in German meaning roughly "a celebratory piece of writing") is a collection of essays dedicated to an important scholar. A festschrift usually marks the retirement, an important birthday, or the death of the recipient.

anticonfluential
neologism, against things coming together

chiaroscuro
Distribution of light and shade in a photo or painting. It normally refers to a strong contrast between light and shade, as in work by Caravaggio or Rembrandt

elegaic
Misspelling of elegiac (related to mourning).

annulation
The formation of rings, marked by rings, formed by rings

hypertrophied
Grown exceedingly large.

November 1st, YDAU - Denver, CO - The Cardinals

Page 65

tacks
Follows a zigzag course. In sailing, tacking is a change of direction through the direction of the wind.

Mile-High
The stadium in which the Denver Broncos played until 2001.

100 meters over the 40
I.e., the 40-yard line on the football field. One hundred meters is slightly longer than the length of the field.

nongarish
Not garish, i.e., not excessively ornate.

Page 66

zither
A harp-like instrument, hand-held, associated with angels.

water-drops
Being dropped into water, presumably because the football team in Seattle is the Seahawks.

Oiler
The former football team of Houston, now the Tennessee Titans.

Brown
The Browns are the football team of Cleveland.

☽ - Pemulis's lecture

Page 66

organopsychedelic
An organic molecule which, when ingested, produces a psychedelic effect.

isoxazole-alkaloid
Isoxazole is explained here; an alkaloid is a naturally occurring, nitrogen-containing, plant-produced compound.

Amanita muscaria, a.k.a. the fly agaric mushroom
a poisonous and psychoactive fungus, usually red with white spots. It was used as an entheogen in Siberia. It has also been proposed that this is the "Soma" of the Rig Veda. (Wikipedia)

synesthesia
A condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound produces the visualization of a color. (thefreedictionary)

Page 67

methoxylated
Addition of a methoxy group. Wikipedia redirects here or "methoxylation."

phenylkylamine
Possibly a made-up substance, similar to synthetic substance, phenylalkylamine, and the psychotropic alkylamines

rock and bob Hasidically
A Hasid or Chasid is an Orthodox Jew who wears sidelogs, dark clothes, etc. The bobbing is a nod to what Hasidim (and some Jews of other traditions) do when praying or studying religious texts.

titrated
To titrate is "to ascertain the quantity of a given constituent by adding a liquid reagent of known strength and measuring the volume necessary to convert the constituent to another form" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

As used here, a doper expression meaning to try a bit of the drug to ascertain its effects before taking the whole thing (e.g. one hit of pot, half a tab of acid/LSD, test shot of heroin).

Please Play

Page 67

Endnote 26

enkephalin
A type of painkiller [DFW's note explains and embroiders]; a substance manufactured within the human body by the human body that binds to some of the same neural receptors to which bind exogenous opiates. They could be considered a subset of endorphins that bind uniquely to central nervous system tissue receptors.

Page 67 (cont'd)

psychodysleptic
Inducing a delusional mental state; hallucinatory, a neologism by Hal's criteria.

Sominex
Diphenhydramine, an over the counter sleep aid, marketed under many names in support of many claims

in medias
Latin: in the middle of. Probably an intended short form for in medias res "right into the middle (of a story)". Without res the feminine plural of medias doesn't make any sense. (Cf. note on 701 s.v. in violent medias res)

convolved
rolled or coiled together.

oblique
Neither perpendicular nor parallel.

deliquesce
To become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air.

☽ YDAU - Kate Gompert in the Psych Ward

Page 68

hale
free from disease or infirmity.

Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) was a French painter.

Yevtuschenko's Field Guide to Clinical States
This book does not exist. One famous famous person with the name Yevtuschenko (sic) is Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko (born 1933), Russian poet most famous for his composition Babi Yar, about the mass murder of 35,000 Jews by the Nazis at this location in Ukraine during World War II.

Page 69

hypocapnia
Reduced carbon dioxide in the blood as a result of hyperventilation.

emery board
A disposable nail file.

Wellesley Hills
A section of the town of Wellesley, Mass., 15 miles west-southwest of Boston.

Newton-Wellesley Hospital
A real hospital.

Parnate
A brand name of tranylcypromine, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) antidepressant that is among the oldest class of antidepressants and that have a load of serious side effects. Usually used as a last resort.

dysphoria
A mental state of feeling horrible.

diurnal
During the day. Opposite of nocturnal.

w/w/o
With and without.

CO
Carbon monoxide, sometimes used from engine exhaust for suicide.

hemotoxicity
Poisonous blood level.

Page 70

Librium
Brand name of chlordiazepoxide, the oldest benzodiazepine and used for cocaine and alcohol withdrawal.

B.P.
Blood pressure.

Dretske
Perhaps Fred Dretske (born 1932), a philosopher of the mind.

Mydol
A misspelling of Midol.

trepidation
Hesitancy caused by fear.

facial affect
Emotions expressed on the face.

Lithonate
A brand name of lithium.

Page 71

plexor
Another name for a reflex hammer

plangent
Loud and resounding.

wasn’t an M.D. yet but a resident
On the contrary, a resident is an M.D. or D.O. in the first years after medical school, undergoing advanced training.

Page 72

Page 73

carpopedal
Involving both the hands and feet.

tetanic
Pertaining to tetanus, lockjaw caused by contamination of a wound, usually by C. tetani, which elaborates a toxin that locks jaw muscle and most other muscles as well. In the context here, reference is being made to similar muscle contractions of much less intensity that can be seen with high blood pH from overbreathing.

Page 74

Page 75

circumorals
Muscles around the mouth.

thigmotactic
Having to do with thigmotaxis, i.e., the movement or an organism as a response to a mechanical stimulus.

dentate
Having teeth.

synclinal
Sloping downward from opposite directions, so as to meet at a single point, like this: \ /.

Sinse
Short for sin semilla, Spanish for "without seeds," it's a type of marijuana.

duBois
Fake etymology for "doobie," a term for a marijuana cigarette.

One kid makes you ask him to please commit a crime
Michael Pemulis (Page 156)

And one particular guy with snakes in a tank in a trailer in Allston
Tommy Doocey or Bruce Green (Page 39)

Page 76

uremic
Smelling like urine, because of a condition whereby waste products normally excreted in the urine are retained in the blood.

Endnote 30

boric acid
Also used as a detergent and a barrier against insects.

Page 76 (cont'd)

Page 77

the T
Local public transit in the Boston metro area.

Page 78

"That old cartridge, Nichols and the big Indian..."
She's referring to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; "Nichols" is Jack Nicholson.

(April 2nd, YDAU) - Medical Attaché Update #3

Page 78

0145h.
It's been six hours and eighteen minutes since the medical attaché put the cartridge in his player.

Page 79

rictus
A gaping grimace.

Schtitt & Mario discuss the game

Page 79

Nick Bolletieri
An actual tennis coach.

epaulets
Military shoulder decorations on clothing.

a philosopher instead of a king
Although Plato stresses, in the Republic, that kings should be philosophers (and vice-versa), this is obviously rarely the case.

Lebensgefährtins
Wallace's endnote 31(p. 994) claims this "means technically 'soulmate' or 'spouse'", but a more accurate translation would be 'life partner'. NB: 'Lebensgefährtin' is the feminine form of the noun. NB2: Schtitt's use of '-s' to indicate plural is incorrect for 'real' German (the correct form being Lebensgefährtinnen); it is difficult to claim whether or not it is intentional on Wallace's part.

F.R.G.
Federal Republic of Germany, which is the technical name for Germany today, but referred to West Germany in the days of divided Germany (1945-1989).

leptosomatic
Having a slender, frail build.

pedagogical
Having to do with teaching.

Page 80

post-prandial
Following a meal.

calliopsis
Another name for Plains correopsis.

quincunx

briers' yeasty musk
The yeasty smell arising from the brier patches.

bradykinetic
Describing abnormally slow movement.

varicocele
a varicose condition of the spermatic veins of the scrotum

plosivity
Referring to a plosive or linguistic stop, i.e., a sound in a language characterized by the stopping of the breath: examples include not only the phonemes /p/ and /b/, but /t/, /d/, etc..

Euclid
Euclid of Alexandria was a 4th century BC Greek mathematician and "father of geometry."

Page 81

tympana
Plural for the Latin tympanum, i.e., "drum," here it is a drum-shaped architectural design.

TE OCCIDERE POSSUNT SED TE EDERE NON POSSUNT NEFAS EST

The euphemistic translation aside, this literally means (in Latin): They can kill you but they cannot eat you; it's a crime.

discursive
Rambling in speech.

wonk
A wonk is "a person who studies a subject or issue in an excessively assiduous and thorough manner" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

Page 82

simpatico
In agreement.

diagnate
perhaps a combination of "diagonal", referring to Cantor's diagonal proof, and "agnate"

Endnote 34

Mandelbrotian
Referring to Benoît B. Mandelbrot (born 1924), French-American-Jewish mathematician.

post-Gödelian
Coming after Kurt Gödel (1906-1978), Austrian-American mathematician and philosopher.

Page 82 (cont'd)

Hopman and van der Meer and Bollettieri
Harry Hopman, Dennis van der Meer, and Nick Bollettieri, highly regarded tennis instructors. Bollettieri and van der Meer each founded tennis boarding schools in the United States.

fractal
A fractal is "a geometrical or physical structure having an irregular or fragmented shape at all scales of measurement between a greatest and smallest scale such that certain mathematical or physical properties of the structure, as the perimeter of a curve or the flow rate in a porous medium, behave as if the dimensions of the structure (fractal dimensions) are greater than the spatial dimensions" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary). Wikipedia entry...

aleatory
Of or pertaining to accidental causes.

Lieber Gott nein
German: Dear God, no.

Gymanasium
The equivalent of a U.S. college-preparatory high school.

appetitive will
That part of the will that desires physical things.

Page 83

palestra
An ancient Greek school of wrestling.

experialist
Like "imperialist," but rather than incorporating outside things into itself, an experialist entity exports things outside itself that are not wanted; in the case of O.N.A.N., toxic waste.

Verstiegenheit
Literally German for "eccentricity" -- or extravagance. But this word is really old-fashioned and would be not used by a contemporary German speaker.

Platz
German: a public square. But also just "place".

Page 84

pirouetting
Whirling on the toes.

Page 85

YDAU - Tiny Ewell in Detox

Page 85

D.T.
Used here as a verb, the acronym refers to delirium tremens.

Page 86

12°C
~54°F

Page 87

screaming meemies
used to describe anxiety or aprehension (i.e., the "heebie-jeebies" or the "willies"); originally a nickname for a type of German rocket used in WWII, which emitted a high-pitched noise as it flew. (Wikipedia)

skallycap
another name for a tam

(April 2nd, YDAU) - Medical Attaché Update #4

Page 87

Seventh Day Adventist
a Protestant denomination marked (in its name) by the fact that they observe their sabbath on Saturday, i.e., the "seventh day"