Pages 418-442

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418 · Marathe & Steeply on Economic Competition

Page 418

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

Page 419

capricious
subject to acting on a whim

Caillou Bay
You can see a map of southern Louisiana here.

Cajun
a French-speaking people dwelling in the woods of Louisiana, having emigrated there from French Canada two hundred years ago

Taurus PT9
You can see this pistol here.

unsafetied
The gun's safety is off.

longshoremen
Dock workers who load and unload ships.

caricaturesque
pertaining to a depiction of someone that exaggerates certain facial or bodily characteristics

Page 420

subsumption
the act of placing something under a more comprehensive category

rôle
This is how we used to spell "role" in English and how it's still spelled in French.

Edmonton
the capital of Alberta

Page 421

malice
desire to do harm

Page 422

vacuous
lacking in ideas or intelligence

Maxwell House
a brand of coffee

M. Kemp
as in Monsieur Kemp, i.e., Jack Kemp, implying he was assassinated with a bomb in his house

Very Large Satan
or "Great Satan," if you will

Page 423

utilitaire
utilitarian, i.e., providing the greatest good for the greatest number

Comme on dit
French: Like they say

Page 424

chasm
a gorge or deep cleft in the earth's surface

Page 425

Habitant soup aux pois
Habitant is Québecois French for "farmer," though it seems like a brand name here. Soup aux pois is pea soup, very popular in Québec.

parodically
in a sarcastic or mocking way

Page 426

Safeway
a chain of supermarkets

burrs
protruding, ragged edges

Page 427

ami
French: friend

un autre
an other, i.e., an outsider

supine
on one's back

Page 428

ponderous
awkward or unwieldy

Endnote 173

Endnote 304

Page 428 (cont'd)

Veuillez Recycler Ce Contenant
French: Please Recycle This Container

en ce moment
French: at this moment

Page 429

D'éclaisant
not a real French word

maffick
to celebrate boisterously

Page 430

Entre nous
French: Between us

430 · The Rest of the Eric Clipperton Story

Page 430

Page 431

slider
a breaking pitch in baseball that curves down and out, with much more speed than a typical curveball

Year of the Whopper

Forest Lawn NNY
a town in New York state, on Lake Ontario

cuirass
a piece of armor covering the heart

PowerBook
an IBM brand of laptop computer

vig
interest, as on a loan from a loan shark

Page 432

CPR
Cardiopulonary resuscitation

Winchester
a city in Massachusetts about 8.5 miles northwest of Boston

counsel
purpose, plan, or design

whey
the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained

Page 433

miasma
a noxious atmosphere

cordite
a propellant used in place of gunpowder in firearms

Crawfordsville, Indiana
a town about 45 miles northwest of Indianapolis

Veedersburg IN
this town lies 22 miles west of Crawfordsville on Route 74

brandykinetic
with slowed movements due to neurologic dysfunction

Page 434

vicissitude
a change or variation in the course of something

votaried
filled with devotion

434 · Gately's Other Job

Page 434

Jamaica Plain
a section of Boston

cab of his 4 X 4
A 4 X 4 is a pick-up truck and the cab is where people sit.

sub-table
under the table, i.e., off the books so that taxes don't have to be paid

Page 435

colostomy
a procedure by which feces exit the body via a hole in a person's side into a bag, rather than via the anus

Kaposi's Sarcoma
a type of viral cancer that causes skin lesions

B&E
Breaking and Entry, i.e., burglary

finski
slang: $5 bill

Kools
a brand of menthol cigarettes

Page 436

mobilely upward
that is to say, upwardly mobile

witticism
a funny remark

436 · More O.N.A.N. History

Page 436

Davis
a city in California about 15 miles west of Sacramento

Quik
a powder mix used to make chocolate milk

Page 437

NaCN
sodium cyanide

rivet
a type of pin or bolt; DFW is likely playing off the phrase "dead as a doornail" here

acrostics
These are "set(s) of words arranged in a square such that they read the same horizontally and vertically" (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language).

dewimpled
like defrocked, except for a nun

Page 438

Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V (1741-1801) was an American general during the Revolutionary War who turned traitor for the British.

Endnote 176

Minister of Environment and Resource-Development Enterprises
The initials spell merde, which is French for "shit."

macrocartographic
immense and involved with maps

Page 438 (cont'd)

Sino-temporal-endorsement
Chinese-style-time-sponsorship; a reference to China's use of animal signs to date the years (Year of the Dog, Pig, Rat, etc.); the obvious inspiration or model for Subsidized Time.

Year of the Whopper

orts
scraps of food

CONCORD
the capital of New Hampshire

CLEMSON
a university in South Carolina

Rantoul IL
a town 125 miles south-southwest of Chicago

Ithaca NY
a town in upstate New York, home to Cornell University

Page 439

camp
deliberately artificial or vulgar -- sometimes referring specifically to gay humor

robber-baron
Wikipedia defines robber-barons as "businessmen and bankers who dominated their respective industries and amassed huge personal fortunes, typically as a direct result of pursuing various allegedly anti-competitive or unfair business practices."

Ollster
a nickname for Oliver, like "Ollie"

"...one slim cat with an outsized leg..."
i.e., Orin Incandenza

Page 440

placative
intending to pacify or calm

quadrennial
occurring every four years

pulchritudinous
good-looking

chapeau
hat

Page 441

cheri
French: my dear

Cerberus
in Greek mythology, the three-headed dog that guards Hades

Achilles' tendon
a tendon in the back of the leg, near the foot

Page 442

canter
an easy gallop

Ixnayish
Remove -ish, and you have Pig Latin for "nix."

H.U.D.
Housing and Urban Development