Pages 87-127

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93 (1) · Feral Hamsters

Page 93

Champaign IL

He probably attends the University of Illinois main campus.

Ward and June

The mother and father's names on Leave It to Beaver

pedalferrous

apparently a neologism, the word would mean "of or pertaining to foot metal," i.e., fast driving

fulvous

in color, yellow-gray to yellowish-brown

teratogenic

having an effect on the development of a fetus

93 (2) · Marathe & Steeply continued

Page 93

'n sûr

An elision of bien sûr, French for "of course"

Page 94

Sterling UL35 9 mm machine pistol with Mag Na Port silencer

Sterling is a real British gun manufacturer and Mag-Na-Port is real also, but this particular gun model is apparently made-up.

Charleston

a dance popular in the 1920s

mesquite

the mesquite plant

Page 95

95 · ETA Locker Room

Page 95

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

Barbicide

a brand name of disinfectant used for combs and hairbrushes

Tolstoy's sentence

The question probably referred to the opening lines of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina: "HAPPY families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

No cathode gun. No phosphenic screen.

A cathode gun is an electron gun used in a cathode ray tube. "Phosphenic" refers to phosphenes.

UHF

Ultra High Frequency

acutance

the edge contrast of an image

Page 97

halation

blurring of a visual image by glare

quiescent

still or at rest

97 (1) · Marathe & Steeply (cont'd)

Page 97

digitate

having fingers

97 (2) · ETA Locker Room (cont'd)

Page 97

Page 98

Zoltan

Zoltán was a 10th century ruler of Hungary.

Idris Arslanian, new this year, ethnically vague

Idris is an Arabic name, corresponding in the Qur'an to Enoch in the Bible. The last name Arslanian sounds Armenian, though Arslan is a Turkish word for "lion."

R.A.

Resident Assistant

Tex Watson

Besides a character in Infinite Jest, Tex Watson was the nickname of Charles Watson, one of the chief murderers in the Charles Manson Family.

ephebes

An ephebe is an adolescent male.

suppliants

A suppliant is a petitioner.

Page 99

sienna

yellowish- to reddish-brown

thoracic

having to do with the chest

atavistically

Atavism means reversion to an earlier evolutionary type.

piebald

having patches of different colors

Page 100

cognomen

a nickname

inflation-generative grammar

a grammar that generates air

Page 101

semion

A semion is technically part of an anyone, the latter of which is defined in the OED as "a particle having characteristics intermediate between those of fermions and bosons in two-dimensional space." However, it seems Wallace uses the word as a form closer to "semiotics." A later search reveals that semion is Greek for "sign."

Umbrian

From the Italian reggione of Umbria, in central Italy. Hal is Italian on his father's side, as well as Pima Native American. His mother, of course, is French-Canadian.

Brylcreemed

Used as a verb here, Brylcreem was a brand name of men's hair grooming product.

zygomatics

the zygomatic bones of the face

Page 102

haul ashes

For a history of this term, click here.

Johnny Mathis's "Chances Are"

available on these recordings

Page 103

Luther's 16th-century shoes, awaiting epiphany

Martin Luther (1483-1546), German father of the Reformation, was a notorious sufferer of constipation.

hobnailed boots

boots assembled with hobnails

Endnote 43

The disease is named for Burrill Bernard Crohn (1884-1983), American gastroenterologist.

Page 103 (cont'd)

carminative

antispasmodic

gout

a disease characterized by the collection of uric acid in the joints

Port Washington

There are three cities by this name in the U.S.: In New York, Wisconsin, and Ohio.

Page 104

Page 105

woppsed up

a created word, apparently something like "wadded up"

105 · Marathe & Steeply (cont'd)

Page 105

Tristan and Isolde

star-crossed lovers from Arthurian myth

Lancelot and what's-her-name

Guinevere

Agamemnon and Helen

Steeply has this one wrong.

Dante and Beatrice

Beatrice is Dante's guide through heaven in the third part of the Divine Comedy, Paradiso

Narcissus and Echo

The story of these doomed lovers from Greek mythology is here.

Kierkegaard and Regina

Regina Olsen was the short-term fiancée of Kierkegaard.

Kafka and that poor girl afraid to go the postbox for the mail

The story being referred to can be read here.

Menelaus was husband, him of Sparta

Menelaus, King of Sparta, was the husband of Helen. Agamemnon was the King of Argos and Menelaus's brother.

Helen and Paris. He of Troy.

Paris, a Trojan prince, kidnapped Helen from Menelaus, precipitating the Trojan War.

The horse: the gift which was not a gift

a reference to the Trojan horse

Page 106

electrolysistic

resulting from electrolysis, the removal of hair using electric shocks

sangfroid

From French for "cold blood," this word means "coolness."

Page 107

Page 108

creosote

There are several types of creosote, described here.

Crepuscular

active in the twilight, as bats

Endnote 45

Endnote 304

Page 109

gibbous

the shape of the moon when it is neither full, nor crescent, nor half, i.e., when it is more than half full

Quonsets

short form for Quonset huts

109 · Advice to Little Brothers

Page 109

Y.D.A.U.

Page 110

Stan Smith

Born in 1946, Smith is a retired professional tennis player, having won Wimdledon and the U.S. Open once each.

dessicated

dried out

Endnote 46

corticatization

probably a misspelling of corticalization

Page 111

E.N.T. oncologist

ear, nose, and throat; an oncologist is a cancer physician

violas

A viola is a like a violin, only slightly larger and deeper in tone.

Page 112

E Unibus Pluram

A Latin pun on E pluribus unum ("From many, one"), the U.S. motto. This would mean "From one, many."

Page 113

Solipsism

a kind of narcissism based on the idea that one's own mind is all one can ever truly know

ballet de se

French: Ballet of (itself)

Page 114

Page 115

plateaux

the proper French plural of "plateau," rather than "plateaus"

slog

to drive with blows

Page 116

Banzai!

a Japanese battle cry

hangdog

browbeaten or intimidated

Page 117

croupiers

attendants at gambling casinos

plasticene

misspelling of Plasticine, a brand name of plastic used for making molds

ancipitals

double-edged

accretive

of or pertaining to the process of natural growth

autonomical

of or pertaining to the reflexive nervous system

Page 118

machine-language

a coding system for computers that requires no compiling before running

Orinda CA

city of northern California, in the Bay Area, about 18 miles east-northeast of San Francisco

me droogies

Struck is speaking in Nadsat, the language of Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange, which is based on Russian. Droogies is Nadsat for "friends."

kertwanging

from context, this would seem to be a thrashing (at tennis), particularly hitting the ball at your opponent

Page 119

Mein kinder

German: My children

Page 120

Wagenknecht

sort of a formal German word for "chauffeur."

guilloche

This is "an ornamental pattern or border, as in architecture, consisting of paired ribbons or lines flowing in interlaced curves around a series of circular voids" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

A la contraire

A French mistake: Should be au contraire (masculine)

gingival mound

mound of gum tissue

Page 121

aperçu

an insight

Y.D.A.U.

two hundred kilos

over 440 pounds

Southpaw

left-handed

Page 122

coiffure

hairdo

osseously

Osseous means "bone-like."

reticulate

netted

chill dusk

George Eliot (born Mary Anne Evans; 1819-1880), the British novelist, uses the expression in her novel Adam Bede.

easement

Literally meaning the use of something legally not one's own, here it's used to mean a new path beaten through a thicket.

kliegs

short form for a Klieg light

Page 123

Betty Stove

Betty Stöve (born 1945) is a Dutch former professional tennis player and winner of ten Grand Slam titles

Montclair NJ

a suburb about twenty miles west-northwest of New York City

Con-Edison

Consolidated Edison, the utilities company serving New York

three meters tall

about nine feet, ten inches tall

Page 124

Weber Grill

a real brand, you can see examples here

Passaic NJ

near Montclair, Passaic is another western suburb of New York

capering

To caper is to skip about in a playful manner.

rondelling

To rondel (more properly, roundel) is to dance in a circle

simpering

To simper is to smile coyly.

hirsute

hairy

boscages

masses of trees or shrubs

jetéed

To jeté is to jump ballet-style.

Page 125

lamé

an ornamental fabric incorporating threads of gold or silver

Titian

Tiziano Vecellio (1485-1576) was a Venetian painter.

poison sumac

a tall shrub containing urushiol, which causes a rash similar to poison ivy

ambient

of or pertaining to the surrounding environment

Page 126

126 · Marathe & Steeply (cont'd)

Page 126

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

les salles de danser

French: dancing rooms

Val d'Or, Québec

city of northern Québec, 325 miles northwest of Montreal

Page 127

eidetic

referring to photographic memory

127 · Still More Marathe & Steeply

Page 127

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

murated

a rarely used English word (found in OED) meaning "surrounded by walls"

127* · Guru on the Towel Dispense

Page 127

yogic full lotus

the cross-legged sitting position

crustacean

the branch of animals including lobsters, shrimp, and other similar shellfish

Page 128

DEUS PROVIDEBIT

Latin: God will provide. The line appears in the Vulgate (Latin) version of the Bible at Genesis 22:8, where Abraham tell Isaac, whom he intends to sacrifice, that God will provide an animal for the sacrifice.