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An Unpleasant Discovery

Page 916

Entrepôt
a place where stolen goods are stored and sold from

frustum
This is "the part of a conical solid left after cutting off a top portion with a plane parallel to the base" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

More of Gately's Past

Page 916

proclavity
Gately means "proclivity"

Page 917

fuchsia
hot pink

boot-knife
defined here

highatus
i.e., hiatus

Page 918

VO
a type of whiskey by Seagram's, the VO standing for Seagram's Very Own family blend; for cognac, the same abbreviation is for Very Old, denoting a minimum aging time of at least four years (see more on cognac labels

32 mb²
this would, presumably, be 1024 megabytes, or 1 gigabyte This is strange on many counts. First, a megabyte is normally denoted as MB, not mb. Lowercase 'm' commonly means 'milli' or one-thousandth and lowercase 'b' would refer to bits instead of bytes. Second, the superscript 2 on an indicator of units typically refers to a two-dimensional unit as in, for example, square feet. Why not just say 1GB?

pinwheel-eyed
Gately is thinking of the spiraling eyes often seen in hypnotized or narcotized cartoon characters, a convention much like that of indicating a dead cartoon character with small crosses in the place of the eyes.

Page 919

LISLE
a fine, hard-twisted cotton thread used for hose, gloves, etc.

EMBRASURE
an opening in a thick wall for a window

lissome
agile; nimble

Page 920

CIRCUMAMBIENT
surrounding; encompassing

head
toilet; bathroom

goopy sleet
Cf. "sleep-goop film" from Page 918

Pressburger
Until the city was renamed Bratislava (currently the capital of Slovakia), a person from that Pressburg was called a Pressburger.

Page 921

Something-with-six-syllables-that-started-with-Sterno
possibilities: "Sternocleidomastoid," a muscle in the neck, or "Sternoclavicular," a joint where the clavicle, part of the sternum, and the cartilage of the first rib meet

16 mm. siphuncular
0.63 inches; siphuncular basically means "tubular"

4 ml.
The proper abbreviation for milliliters is mL.

Endnote 373

viscid
sticky; adhesive

inspissated
thickened by evaporation to become more dense

Page 921 (cont.)

scratch golfer
one with a handicap of zero

edema
swelling due to excess fluid

discreditated
Presumably he means "discredited."

Morbid Trauma Quarterly
not a real publication

hemoptysis
coughing up blood

pertussive
accompanied by coughing

Page 922

30 kg
about 66.14 lbs

bupkis
Yiddish for "absolutely nothing" (spelled "bupkus" on page 878)

embrasure
an opening in a thick wall, mentioned earlier

woodie
erection

myopic
near-sighted

Turner
probably a reference to Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), a British painter

innerdicted
i.e., interdicted

Page 923

post-mortem
Latin: after death

stucco
Read about it here.

Page 924

Night-Errand
i.e., knight-errant

papoose
While the word technically means "baby," Gately's usage is probably closer to that explained here.

Page 925

W. T. Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) was an American army general, responsible for burning Atlanta during the U.S. Civil War.

dipsoid
alcoholic

Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (born 1925), was Prime Minister of the U.K. from 1979 to 1990.

Margaret Thatcher

cherry
a term for a virgin

simper
to smile self-consciously

highball
a family of mixed drinks

Page 926

Carry Nation
Carrie A. Nation (1846-1911) was an American proponent of prohibition of alcohol.

exoskeletally
in a way so that it is outside the skeleton

Zegna
a clothing company founded by Ermenegildo Zegna

MILKEN
Michael Robert Milken (born 1946) is a former stockbroker who served several years in prison for securities fraud.

Beamer
a BMW

almometer
i.e., Alma Mater

Page 927

septuagenarian
in one's seventies

tiger's eyes
a type of gemstone

doublets
tight-fitting jackets

Plasma spheres
another name for a plasma lamp

involuted
complex, intricate

howitzer
a short type of cannon

Green-Cardless
not having permanent resident status and, thus, an illegal alien

moll
the girlfriend of a criminal

truncheon
Baton caried by police officers in the United Kingdom from 1829 until the early 1990s. In Northern Ireland, however, all police officers carry firearms (more information here).

Belfast Bobbie
This is an oxymoron. 'Bobby' is an English slang term for a policeman (after Robert Peel), but the armed Northern Ireland police force (the Royal Ulster Constabulary) were never known as 'Bobbies'.

Old Sod
A term for the "old country" among U.S. immigrants of Irish origin.

bagmen
people who collect payments in organized crime

cervical massage
neck massage to reduce muscle tension

wpm
words per minute

shillelagh
an Irish hand weapon

Page 928

Bulldog
mascot of Yale University

Post-Coital Vestibulitis
Vestibulitis is inflammation of the vestibule, or vaginal opening, and thus a woman's affliction, although the related (but rare) pudendal neuralgia can occur in men; the more common symptom of the latter is pain when sitting.

vertiginous
As in related to vertigo, the sensation of imbalance or dizziness

proprioception
the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body. (Wikipedia)

'debriefed'
i.e., had their briefs (or panties) removed

VLR
visitor's locker room

pyrotechnic
explosive, like fireworks ("pyrotechnic glandular atmosphere" must imply an orgasmic situation)

conoid
conic; cone-like

vas deferens
the male conduit for semen from the testis to the ejaculatory duct, from which it is propelled through the urethra

Bruins
mascot of Brown University, though they actually just call themselves the "Bears"

Page 929

wrench in the ointment
a mixup of "monkey wrench in the works" and "fly in the ointment," both meaning ruining someone's original plans

Dworkinite
Andrea Dworkin was a radical feminist, known for criticism of pornography, which later extended to a denunciation of all heterosexual intercourse which she saw as coercive and degrading to women.

Phalanx
From the Ancient Greek military formation comprising a group of soldiers standing closely together, meaning a close-knit organized group moving forward.

filigreed
finely and elaborately ornamented work, usually made out of wire

N.O.W.
National Organization of Women

power forward
the one of the two forwards in basketball who more often will drive to the net

ursine
pertaining to bears

ersatz
an inferior substitute

assassination
Obviously President Limbaugh was assassinated in the recent past.

Page 930

obsequity
excessive compliance

Gaelic
i.e., the Irish language

C-notes
hundred dollar bills

375 sky-blue grams
about 13.23 ounces

Page 931

Endnote 376

$660.00/g
about $18,000 an ounce

Y.W.-Q.M.D.

Page 931 (cont'd)

adulterant
an impurity

fillip
to smack one's finger against by pressing the finger against the thumb and releasing

gigantism
excessive growth

Ward-and-Wally
referring to Theodore Cleaver's father and older brother in the CBS-ABC television series Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963)

smack
slang term for heroin

Page 932

beeline
a direct route traveled quickly

craven
cowardly

gloaming
dusk

Page 933

entr'actes
the periods between dramatic performances

"The wraith is back...except now with him is another, younger, way more physically fit wraith in kind of faggy biking shorts and U.S. tank top who's leaning way over Gately's railing and... fucking licking Gately's forehead with a rough little tongue..."
It's Lyle. However, Lyle, being alive and well, must be able to achieve status as a wraith via meditation (this adds significance to the "Lyle Meditates" section on pg. 700).

Page 934

"...digging some dead guy's head up..."
See Hamlet, Act V, Scene i.

See also pages 16-17, where Hal reflects: "I think of John N.R. Wayne...standing watch in a mask as Donald Gately and I dig up my father's head."

"...asks if they knew him..."
"Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio..." (Hamlet).

While Leaving St. Elizabeth's...

Page 934

"...a grotesquely huge woman whose hose bulged..."
It's Helen Steeply.