Difference between pages "Pages 219-258" and "Pages 87-127"

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=☽ April 30th, YDAU - Marathe & Steeply=
  
=☽ November 7th, YDAU - Joelle goes to Molly Notkin's party=
+
==Page 87==
  
==Page 219==
+
'''payloaders'''<br />
 +
a type of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loader_(equipment) construction equipment]
  
[[Image:MIT.png|thumb|caption|MIT Seal|150px|right]]
+
==Page 88==
  
'''striated'''<br />
+
'''Fauteuil de rollent'''<br />
marked with stripes or streaks
+
: French for ''wheelchair'' is ''fauteuil roulant''.
  
'''Cukor'''<br />
+
'''Brockengespenst'''
George Dewey Cukor (1899-1983) was an American [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002030/ film director].
+
  
'''Murnau in Méliès's fiberglass lap'''<br />
+
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brocken_spectre.
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (1888-1931) was a German expressionist filmmaker who later worked in Hollywood. He made the classic vampire film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/ "Nosferatu"] (1922). Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès (1861-1938) was a French filmmaker, famous for the 1902 silent [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000417/ "A Trip to the Moon"] (featured in Martin Scorsese's 2011 film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970179/ "Hugo"]).
+
  
'''cummerbund'''<br />
+
==Page 89==
the band of fabric worn around the waist with a tuxedo
+
  
'''M.I.T.-crested'''<br />
+
'''Bureau des services sans spécificité'''<br />
see right
+
French for ''unspecified'' is ''non spécifié''; ''sans spécificité'' means ''without specificity'', i.e., generic.
  
==Page 220==
+
'''c'était la guerre'''
  
'''low-pH chemist'''<br />
+
It was war.
i.e., he worked with acids
+
: ''c’était de bonne guerre'' (it was fair game) seems more fitting, possibly what DFW meant.
  
'''piebald'''<br />
+
==Page 90==
having patches of black and white
+
==Page 91==
 +
'''agnate'''<br>
 +
Paternal, related on the father's side. In this case agnate seems to mean that the shadows come from the same source, the setting sun.<br>
  
'''G.W. Pabst'''<br />
+
'''samizdat'''<br>
Georg Wilhelm Pabst (1885-1967) was a Bohemian-born Austrian filmmaker.
+
самиздать From the Russian verb "to publish on one's own" or "to self-publish."  Originally used to denote underground publications in the Soviet Union, now used more generally for dissident activity[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samizdat]
  
'''sorghum'''<br />
+
==Page 92==
a type of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghum grain] used in the production of molasses, alcholic beverages, and animal feed
+
'''stenographer-cum-''jeune-fille-de-Vendredi'''''<br/>
 +
secretary who takes diction AND devoted assistant. ''Jeune-fille-de-Vendredi'' is French for "young girl Friday."  "Man Friday" (or "girl Friday") is a term that means a very competent and loyal servant or assistant, and originates from the Friday of ''Robinson Crusoe''.
  
'''tumefies'''<br />
+
'''amaneunsis'''<br />
swells
+
Misspelling of ''amanuensis'' (secretary).
  
'''sororal'''<br />
+
==Page 93==
another word for "sisterly"
+
  
'''sub-rosa'''<br />
+
=Feral Hamsters=
From the Latin "under the rose," this word means secretly held.
+
  
==Page 221==
+
==Page 93==
  
'''sienna-glazed'''<br />
+
'''uremic'''<br />
glazed with an earth-based pigment
+
  
'''polyresin'''<br />
+
of or involving excess nitrogenous waste products in the urine
a resin compound used to make figurines, among other things
+
  
'''staccato'''<br />
+
'''somatic'''<br />
in music, notes that are sounded in a detached and distinct manner
+
  
'''cataract'''<br />
+
of or relating to the body, esp. as distinct from the mind.
In the non-ophthalmic sense, this word means "waterfall."
+
  
==Page 222==
+
'''Champaign IL'''<br>
 +
He probably attends the [http://www.uiuc.edu/ University of Illinois] main campus at Urbana-Champaign, formerly Champaign-Urbana.
  
'''NOTRE RAI PAYS'''<br />
+
'''Ward and June'''<br>
perhaps idiomatic French (literally "our spoke [''or'' ray] country") for "our home away from home," indicating Québec's colonial status with respect to motherland France; potentially meant to be translated as "our shining land".
+
The mother's and father's names on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_It_To_Beaver ''Leave It to Beaver'']
  
'''.473-liter'''<br />
+
'''pedalferrous'''<br>
16 ounces, a pint
+
pedalfer is a soil type composed of aluminum and iron oxides. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedalfer apparently a neologism, the word would mean "of or pertaining to foot metal," i.e., fast driving
  
'''Big Red Soda Water'''<br />
+
'''fallow'''<br />
a [http://www.bigredltd.com/ real brand] similar to cream soda, only red.  This was originally only sold in Central/South Texas and Kentucky and is still popular in that region, though available elsewhere.
+
  
'''Chore Boy'''<br />
+
plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation or to avoid surplus production
a brand of [http://www.choreboyscrubbers.com/ scrubbing pads].  The copper version of these pads can be used as a filter for smoking crack.
+
  
'''two-k. square'''<br />
+
'''fulvous'''<br>
0.77 square miles
+
in color, yellow-gray to yellowish-brown
  
'''selvage'''<br />
+
'''teratogenic'''<br>
the finished edge of a piece of fabric, so done to prevent fraying
+
having an ill effect on the development of a fetus
  
'''The afternoon's meshes.'''<br />
+
=Marathe & Steeply, cont.=
recalls an experimental film by Maya Deren and her husband Alexander Hammid, "Meshes of the Afternoon" (1943)
+
  
'''delimits'''<br />
+
==Page 93==
establishes the boundaries of
+
  
==Page 223==
+
''''''n sûr'''''<br>
 +
An elision of ''bien sûr'', French for "of course"
  
=Chronology of O.N.A.N.'s Revenue-Enhancing Subsidized Time™=
+
'''electrolysis'''<br />
  
==Page 223==
+
the removal of hair roots or small blemishes on the skin by the application of heat using an electric current.
  
See [[Subsidized Time]].
+
==Page 94==
  
==Endnote 78==
+
'''Sterling UL35 9 mm machine pistol with Mag Na Port silencer'''<br>
 +
Sterling is a real British gun manufacturer and [http://www.magnaport.com/ Mag-Na-Port] is real also, but this particular gun model is apparently made-up.
  
'''G.F.R. Co.'''<br />
+
'''Charleston'''<br>
perhaps [http://www.gfr.cc/ Global Food Resources]
+
a dance popular in the 1920s
  
'''Zanesville OH'''<br />
+
'''mesquite'''<br>
a town 55 miles east of Columbus
+
the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesquite mesquite] plant
  
'''Vienna VA'''<br />
+
==Page 95==
a suburb of Washington, D.C., about 15 miles due west of the city
+
  
=Joelle, cont.=
+
=YDAU - ETA Locker Room=
  
==Page 223==
+
==Page 95==
  
'''Colonel Shaw and the MA 54th'''<br />
+
'''Barbicide'''<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gould_Shaw Robert Gould Shaw] was a Bostonian killed in the Civil War while commanding the all-black Massachusetts 54th Regiment.  A relief sculpture [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gould_Shaw_Memorial memorial] to him is located on Beacon Street (not Boylston Street) in front of the Massachusetts State House.
+
a brand name of disinfectant used for combs and hairbrushes
  
 +
'''Tolstoy's sentence'''<br>
 +
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."
  
==Page 225==
+
'''Michael Pemulis, ..., clear his throat deeply'''<br />
 +
this grammatical error appears shortly after a discussion of a class on grammar
  
'''tumbrel'''<br />
+
==Page 96==
a cart for hauling manure or for hauling victims to the guillotine during the French Revolution
+
  
'''imprecated'''<br />
+
'''No cathode gun. No phosphenic screen.'''<br>
called down curses upon someone
+
A cathode gun is an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_gun electron gun] used in a cathode ray tube. "Phosphenic" refers to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene phosphenes].
  
'''Delphina'''<br />
+
'''UHF'''<br>
name of a [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04701a.htm beatified Catholic virgin]
+
Ultra High Frequency
  
==Endnote 79==
+
==Page 97==
  
[[Subsidized Time|Year of the Trial-Sized Dove Bar]]
+
'''acutance'''<br>
 +
the edge contrast of an image.  Hal appears to be correct insofar as contrast is more or less the same as resolution.  Acutance is related to a pulse's slope and height.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acutance
  
==Page 225 (cont'd)==
+
'''halation'''<br>
 +
blurring of a visual image by glare
  
'''Veedersburg, Indiana and Powell, Wyoming'''<br />
+
'''quiescent'''<br>
Veedersburg is about 70 miles west-northwest of Indianapolis; Powell is about 90 miles south of Billings, Mont.
+
still or at rest
  
'''parallax'''<br />
+
=Marathe & Steeply, cont.=
This is "the difference between the view of an object as seen through the picture-taking lens of a camera and the view as seen through a separate viewfinder" (''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'').
+
  
==Page 226==
+
==Page 97==
  
'''8-gram'''<br />
+
'''digitate'''<br>
a bit over a quarter of an ounce
+
“having deep radiating divisions” (OED)
  
'''wildly carbuncular wife'''<br />
+
=ETA Locker Room, cont.=
This is a reference to Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor (1879-1964), wife of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor (the quote has also been attributed to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Braddock#Trivia Bessie Braddock])
+
  
'''P.M.U.K.'''<br />
+
==Page 97==
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
+
  
'''Lend-Lease'''<br />
+
==Page 98==
a program between the beginning of World War II and U.S. entry after the bombing of Pearl Harbor whereby the U.S. government provided materiel to Britain (and later the Soviets) in return for military bases
+
  
'''scopophobic'''<br />
+
'''Zoltan'''<br>
scopophobia is the morbid fear of being seen or stared at by others
+
Zoltán was a 10th century ruler of Hungary.
  
'''he was indeed inebriated...while she...would tomorrow still be hideously and improbably deformed.''' <br />
+
'''Csikzentmihalyi'''<br />
Many versions of this witty exchange between Winston Churchill and a woman have been propagated over the the years. It may or may not have actually occurred.
+
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (''sic'') is a psychologist best known for his concept of "flow", a psychological state where one "is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity", e.g. "being in the zone" while playing sports.
  
=Helen P. Steeply's (putative) c.v.=
+
'''Idris Arslanian, new this year, ethnically vague'''<br>
 +
Idris is an Arabic name, corresponding in the Qur'an to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enoch%2C_ancestor_of_Noah Enoch] in the Bible. The last name Arslanian sounds Armenian, though ''Arslan'' is a Turkish word for "lion."
  
==Page 227==
+
'''R.A.'''<br>
 +
Resident Assistant
  
'''1.98 M., 104 KG., A.B., M.J.A.'''<br />
+
'''Tex Watson'''<br>
1.98 meters is about 6'4" tall. 104 kg is around 230 lbs. She's enormous.
+
Besides a character in ''Infinite Jest,'' Tex Watson was the nickname of Charles Watson, one of the chief murderers in the Charles Manson Family.
  
A.B. is the older Latin equivalent (''Artium Baccalaureus'' or ''Artium Baccalaureatus'') of B.A., i.e., Bachelor of Arts. M.J.A. is Master of Justice Administration.
+
'''ephebes'''<br>
 +
An ephebe is an adolescent male.
  
'''''Decade Magazine'''''<br />
+
'''attritive'''<br>
probably not a real publication  <!--  A list of articles from this publication can be found [http://www.caribouschools.org/secondary/chs/library/Social%20Studies/Decade%20Project/Decadeindex.htm here].  --Note, this was the former text here, which is a broken link that I don't think had any relation to the magazine, presumably of DFW's invention. -->
+
[OED] gradually wearing away or weakening something or someone
  
'''''Southwest Annual'''''<br />
+
'''suppliants'''<br>
probably not a real publication
+
A suppliant is a petitioner.
  
'''''Ladies Day'''''<br />
+
==Page 99==
also not a real publication
+
  
'''Erythema AZ'''<br />
+
'''sienna'''<br>
not a real town, but erythema is a [http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9363881/erythema real disease]
+
[or siena] a yellowish- to reddish-brown pigment
  
=Joelle, cont.=
+
'''louvered'''<br />
 +
fitted with angled slats, the better to permit passage of light or air
  
==Page 227==
+
'''thoracic'''<br>
 +
having to do with the chest
  
'''A.B.D.'''<br />
+
'''atavistically'''<br>
"All But Dissertation," a term used to refer to people who have completed their doctoral studies with the exception of their dissertations.
+
Atavism means reversion to an earlier evolutionary type; i.e., Hal's complexion resembles his grandparents or earlier ancestors more than his parents
  
[[Image:Homburg.jpg|thumb|caption|Homburg Hat|150px|right]]
+
'''piebald'''<br>
 +
having patches of different colors
  
'''Homburg'''<br />
+
==Page 100==
A homburg is a stiff felt hat characterized by a single dent running down the center of the crown and a brim fixed in a tight, upwards curl. It is superficially similar to the trilby or fedora; trilbys and fedoras, however, have soft, "snappable" brims and can have various designs "pinched" into the crown, whereas the shape of a homburg is fixed. (see right)  [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homburg_(hat) Wikipedia]
+
  
'''Wiesbaden'''<br />
+
'''cognomen'''<br>
a city of Germany above 25 miles west of Frankfurt (Main)
+
a nickname
  
[[Subsidized Time|Y.T.S.D.B.]]
+
'''inflation-generative grammar'''<br>
 +
i.e. a set of rules to generate phrases of increasing emphasis
  
==Page 228==
+
==Page 101==
  
'''the A.M.'s interruptus'''<br />
+
'''semion'''<br>
Presumably this means the end of the morning, although the only common English usage of "interruptus" is in the Latin phrase ''coitus interrruptus'', i.e., "pulling out." (See the  [http://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?title=Pages_157-181#Page_171 Consummation of the Levirates].
+
from context, it means sign or gesture, evincing with semaphore a common ancestor. [A semion is technically part of an anyon, 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."
  
The A.M.'s interruptus could refer to her "quitting" her drug use that morning.
+
'''Umbrian'''<br>
 +
From the Italian ''reggione'' of Umbria, in central Italy. Hal is Italian on his father's side, as well as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pima Pima] Native American. His mother, of course, is French-Canadian.
  
'''Maya Deren'''<br />
+
'''Brylcreemed'''<br>
Born Eleanora Derenkowsky, Maya Deren (1917-1961) was a Ukrainian-born American director [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0220305/].
+
Used as a verb here, [http://www.brylcreemusa.com/ Brylcreem] is a brand name of men's hair grooming product.
  
==Page 229==
+
'''zygomatics'''<br>
 +
the cheekbones, so-called, or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygomatics zygomatic bones] of the face
  
'''glycine'''<br />
+
==Page 102==
one of the 20 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycine amino acids] found in proteins; however, DFW probably meant to say 'glassine bags'
+
  
'''Rutherford Keck and Crosby Baum'''<br />
+
'''haul ashes'''<br>
These both seem to be invented people....  Continuing with the optics theme, Keck is a major observatory on the big island of Hawaii. Rutherford could refer to a British nuclear physicist who pioneered an erroneous model of the atom and discovered the concept of radioactive half-life.
+
For a history of this term, click [http://www.wordwizard.com/ch_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6859 here]http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=haul%20your%20ashes
  
'''Smothergill'''<br />
+
'''Johnny Mathis's "Chances Are"'''<br>
...as does this...
+
listen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEH3uqbpsm8 here] <!-- original link was broken. -->
  
'''Miriam Prickett'''<br />
+
==Page 103==
...and this.
+
  
[[Subsidized Time|Y.D.A.U.]]
+
'''Luther's 16th-century shoes, awaiting epiphany'''<br>
 +
Martin Luther (1483-1546), German father of the Reformation, was a notorious sufferer of constipation.
  
'''Franciscan bald spot'''<br />
+
'''hobnailed boots'''<br>
The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciscan Orders of Friars Minor] were known to shave the tops of their heads in medieval and early modern times.
+
boots assembled with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobnail hobnails]
  
==Page 230==
+
==Endnote 43==
 +
'''Crohn's'''<br>
 +
The disease is named for Burrill Bernard Crohn (1884-1983), American gastroenterologist.
  
'''paps'''<br />
+
==Page 103, cont.==
breasts or nipples
+
  
'''diphthong'''<br />
+
'''carminative'''<br>
In linguistics, a diphthong is a vowel combination involving a smooth transition from one vowel to another in the same syllable. "Splitting the diphthong" in "beautiful" is pronouncing it bee-yoo-ti-ful.
+
combatting or expelling flatulence
  
'''febrile'''<br />
+
'''gout'''<br>
feverish
+
a disease characterized by the collection of uric acid in the joints
  
'''scopophiliac'''<br />
+
'''Port Washington'''<br>
An individual affected with the desire to look at sexually stimulating scenes especially as a substitute for actual sexual participation.  From the translation of the Freudian notion of Schaulust, "pleasure in looking," in the sense of both seeing and being seen, as well as "curiosity." Freud distinguished between two frequently encountered forms of this partial drive: one active, "voyeurism," and the other passive, "exhibitionism," neither of which he would necessarily rank among perversions. [cf. scopophobic (p.226) & scopophilia (p.832)]
+
There are three cities by this name in the U.S.: In New York, Wisconsin, and Ohio.
  
[[Subsidized Time|Y.T.S.D.B.]]
+
==Page 104==
  
'''Boaz'''<br />
+
==Page 105==
the name of cities in both Alabama and West Virginia
+
  
==Page 231==
+
'''woppsed up'''<br>
 +
a created word, apparently something like "wadded up"
  
'''Vogelsong'''<br />
+
=Marathe & Steeply, cont.=
"Vogel" = German for "bird", i.e. something like: bird song ("song" is not German)
+
  
'''Emerson College'''<br />
+
==Page 105==
a [http://www.emerson.edu/ college] in Boston
+
  
'''ectoplasm'''<br />
+
'''Tristan and Isolde'''<br>
the supposed emanation of the soul from the body; here used as a metaphor for vomit
+
star-crossed lovers from Arthurian myth
  
'''afflatus'''<br />
+
'''Lancelot and what's-her-name'''<br>
inspiration; a divine imparting of knowledge or power
+
Guinevere
  
'''dithers'''<br />
+
'''Agamemnon and Helen'''<br>
behaves in a nervous or agitated way
+
Steeply has this one wrong. Helen abandoned her husband, Menelaus, the brother of Agamemnon, to flee to Troy with Paris, younger brother of Hector.
  
'''jaundice'''<br />
+
'''Dante and Beatrice'''<br>
yellowing of the skin caused by liver disease
+
Beatrice is Dante's guide through heaven in the third part of the ''Divine Comedy'', ''Paradiso''
  
'''b & w'''<br />
+
'''Narcissus and Echo'''<br>
black and white
+
The story of these doomed lovers from Greek mythology is [http://thanasis.com/echo.htm here].
  
'''Bouvier'''<br />
+
'''Kierkegaard and Regina'''<br>
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's maiden surname
+
Regina Olsen was the short-term fiancée of Kierkegaard.
  
'''''f''-stop'''<br />
+
'''Kafka and that poor girl afraid to go the postbox for the mail'''<br>
This is "the ratio of the focal length (''f'')) of a lens or lens system to the effective diameter of its aperture" (''American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition'').
+
The story being referred to can be read [http://www.litkicks.com/BeatPages/msg.jsp?what=KafkaDoll here].
  
'''''Berliner'''''<br />
+
'''Menelaus was husband, him of Sparta'''<br>
Technically, it's called the ''Berliner Pfannkuchen'' (doughnut).
+
Menelaus, King of Sparta, was the husband of Helen. Agamemnon was the King of Argos and Menelaus's brother.
  
==Page 232==
+
'''Helen and Paris. He of Troy.'''<br>
 +
Paris, a Trojan prince, kidnapped Helen from Menelaus, precipitating the Trojan War.
  
'''''Ich bein ein Berliner'''''<br />
+
'''The horse: the gift which was not a gift'''<br>
''Bein'' is the wrong word. It's a noun in German and means "leg". The first-person singular of ''sein'' ("to be") is ''bin''. Still, the wrong spelling may be related to Kennedy's wrong pronounciation of this sentence. And yes, it's true "Berliner" is a German word for a special kind of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliner_%28pastry%29 pastry]. [You find a quite interesting episode related to this topic in Pynchon's "Against the Day"...]
+
a reference to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Horse Trojan horse]
  
'''TA'''<br />
+
==Page 106==
Teaching Assistant
+
  
'''''À du nous avons foi au poison'''''<br />
+
'''electrolysistic'''<br>
French (roughly): We have faith in poison
+
resulting from electrolysis, the removal of hair using electric shocks
  
'''Eve Plumb'''<br />
+
'''sangfroid'''<br>
She played Jan Brady on ''The Brady Bunch''.
+
From French for "cold blood," this word means "coolness," as in composure under pressure
  
'''Henderson'''<br />
+
==Page 107==
Florence Henderson, who played Carol Brady
+
  
'''Davis'''<br />
+
==Page 108==
Ann B. Davis, who played Alice, the maid
+
  
'''Peter'''<br />
+
'''creosote'''<br>
the middle son, played by Christopher Knight
+
There are several types of creosote, described [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creosote here].
  
'''Greg'''<br />
+
'''crepuscular'''<br>
the eldest son, played by Barry Williams
+
active in the twilight, as bats, deer, many mosquitos
  
'''''De gustibus non est disputandum'''''<br />
+
==Endnote 45==
Latin: There's no accounting for taste (literally, "tastes are not disputable")
+
  
'''Eisenstein and Kurosawa and Michaux'''<br />
+
==Endnote 304==
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (1898-1948) was a Latvian-born Russian-Jewish filmmaker, famous for his film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015648/ Battleship Potemkin]. Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) was perhaps the most prominent Japanese filmmaker of the twentieth century. Oscar Micheaux (1893-1951) was an African-American filmmaker whose ouevre can be viewed [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0584778/ here].
+
  
'''draw a bead'''<br />
+
[[Notes_and_Errata_-_Pages_983-1079#Endnote_304_.C2.B7_The_Train_Game|Notes and Errata - Endnote 304]]
slang for taking aim at a target with a rifle
+
  
'''ten m.'''<br />
+
==Page 109==
Ten meters is equal to 32.8 feet.
+
  
==Page 233==
+
'''gibbous'''<br>
 +
bulging outwards: the shape of the moon when it is neither full, nor crescent, nor half, i.e., when it is more than half full
  
'''Heideggerian'''<br />
+
'''Quonsets'''<br>
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) was a prominent twentieth-century German philosopher and proponent of existentialism.
+
short form for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quonset_hut Quonset huts]
  
'''''a priori'''''<br />
+
=November 3rd, YDAU - Advice to Little Brothers=
From the Latin for "from what comes first," these are assumptions made before observations are made. In the context of Heidegger, it refers to things that can be known without any experience of the world, usually because they involve the structure of the mind or of concepts.
+
  
'''wraith'''<br />
+
==Page 109==
another word for "ghost"
+
  
'''labile'''<br />
+
==Page 110==
unstable
+
  
'''''The Incision'''''<br />
+
'''Stan Smith'''<br>
I could locate no film by this name.
+
Born in 1946, Smith is a retired professional tennis player, having won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open once each.
  
'''qua'''<br />
+
'''dessicated'''<br>
From the Latin ablative case of the word for "who," this word means "in the character or capacity of."
+
dried out
  
'''dopamine'''<br />
+
==Endnote 46==
a neurotransmitter, primarily responsible for movement and cognition
+
  
'''blinis'''<br />
+
'''corticatization'''<br>
Russian crepes
+
probably a misspelling of [http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?query=corticalization&action=Search+OMD corticalization]
  
'''tartines'''<br />
+
==Page 111==
a type of French open-faced sandwich
+
  
'''sweetbreads'''<br />
+
'''bow-biters'''<br>
thymus gland or pancreas of young animals (calf or lamb)
+
1980's [http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Bow_Biters plastic clips] that help keep shoe laces tied
  
'''glacé'''<br />
+
'''E.N.T. oncologist'''<br>
French for "iced"
+
ear, nose, and throat; an oncologist is a cancer physician
  
'''Morris Mini'''<br />
+
'''violas'''<br>
another name for the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Minor Morris Minor]
+
A viola is a like a violin, only slightly larger and deeper in tone.
  
'''ipecac'''<br />
+
==Page 112==
derived from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipecacuanha ipecacuanha plant], a syrup produced to induce vomiting
+
  
'''clapper'''<br />
+
'''''E Unibus Pluram'''''<br>
the tongue of a bell
+
Latin wordplay on ''E pluribus unum'' ("From many, one"), the U.S. motto. This would mean "From one, many." Note that the correct Latin would be something like ''Ex uno plures'' or ''Ex uno plura'' (depending on what "many" is meant to refer to).
  
'''Dishmaster'''<br />
+
==Page 113==
see [[Subsidized Time]]
+
  
'''Makavajev'''<br />
+
'''Solipsism'''<br>
Born in 1932, [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0538445/ Dusan Makavejev] (probably misspelled) is a Yugoslavian-born film director.
+
a kind of narcissism based on the idea that one's own mind is all one can ever truly know to exist
  
==Page 234==
+
'''''ballet de se'''''<br>
  
'''Shiny Prize, Kentucky'''<br />
+
mangled French: Ballet of (itself). ballet de soi would probably be closer.
not a real town
+
  
'''1.7 meters tall'''<br />
+
==Page 114==
a little over 5'6"
+
  
'''48 kilograms'''<br />
+
==Page 115==
about 106 pounds (This makes her about 15-30 pounds below her ideal weight.)
+
  
'''phalloneurotic'''<br />
+
'''plateaux'''<br>
a portmanteau of ''phallus'' and ''neurotic'', probably intended to mean a mental disorder involving obsession with one's penis, or perhaps with penes more generally; uncertain as to which "phalloneurotic" New Yorker this refers
+
the proper French plural of "plateau," rather than "plateaus"
 +
: Indeed, but the conversation takes place orally and this X is silent in French, as is the S. The only context in which it is not silent is when there is a word beginning with a vowel after it, but even then, X is pronounced like S.
  
'''EZ-Widers'''<br />
+
'''slog'''<br>
a brand of cigarette rolling papers
+
to work with sustained effort against a natural resistance over a period of time
  
'''Cyrillic'''<br />
+
==Page 116==
employing the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_alphabet Cyrillic alphabet], as with Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Bulgarian, etc.
+
  
'''mollified'''<br />
+
'''Banzai!'''<br>
softened in feeling and temper
+
a Japanese battle cry
  
'''soft rock's grim dental association'''<br />
+
'''hangdog'''<br>
which is to say, it's the kind of music you'd hear in a dentist's office
+
browbeaten or intimidated
  
'''Kinski as Paganini'''<br />
+
==Page 117==
Klaus Kinski (1926-1991), Danzig-born German-American actor, played Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840), the Italian violinist and composer, in his final film, [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098052/ Kinski Paganini].
+
  
'''Léaud as Doinel'''<br />
+
'''croupiers'''<br>
Jean-Pierre Léaud (born 1944), a French actor, played the fictional character Antoine Doinel in five [http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0027246/ films].
+
attendants at gambling casinos
  
'''Peterson's ''The Lead Shoes'''''<br />
+
'''plasticene'''<br>
An 18-minute [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgMdkslzAC0 film] by Sidney Peterson (1949), preceded by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's great [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040725/ ''The Red Shoes''](1948) with Moira Shearer. (Cf. the color in the title of the fictitious monograph in endnote 81.)
+
misspelling of Plasticine, a brand name of plastic used for making molds
  
'''pomander'''<br />
+
'''ancipitals'''<br>
This is "a mixture of aromatic substances, often in the form of a ball, formerly carried on the person as a supposed guard against infection but now placed in closets, dressers, etc." (''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'').
+
having two sharp edges
  
==Page 235==
+
'''accretive'''<br>
 +
of or pertaining to the process of natural growth
  
'''dicky'''<br />
+
'''autonomical'''<br>
impaired
+
of or pertaining to the reflexive or autonomic nervous system [<i>archaic</i>, autonomic is much the more commonly used term in centuries 20-21]
  
'''bathetic'''<br />
+
==Page 118==
appealing to bathos, i.e., insincere pathos (emotion)
+
  
'''neat bourbon'''<br />
+
'''machine-language'''<br>
bourbon without ice
+
a coding system for computers that requires no compiling before running
  
'''Vittoria'''<br />
+
'''Orinda CA'''<br>
a reference to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_della_Vittoria Santa Maria della Vittoria], where the mentioned work by Bernini hangs
+
A small, wealthy city in Conta Costa County, immediately east of the Oakland-Berkeley metro area and about 18 miles northeast of San Francisco
  
'''recumbent'''<br />
+
'''me droogies'''<br>
reclining
+
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."
  
'''Gleem'''<br />
+
'''kertwanging'''<br>
a brand of toothpaste
+
from context, this would seem to be when an opponent is intentionally making bad calls to win points.
  
'''NoCoat scraper'''<br />
+
==Page 119==
Presumably refers to NoCoat LinguaScrapers (tongue scrapers) mentioned on [http://wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?title=Pages_127-156#Page_151 Page 151].
+
  
'''NeGram'''<br />
+
'''Mein kinder'''<br>
a brand name of nalidixic acid, used to treat urinary tract infections
+
German: "My children". But wrong grammar! "Mein" is singular, "kinder" is plural. "My children" would be "Meine Kinder"
  
'''depilatory'''<br />
+
==Page 120==
for removal of hair
+
  
'''Monostat'''<br />
+
'''Wagenknecht'''<br>
brand name of a treatment for vaginal yeast infections
+
sort of a formal German word for "chauffeur." [No, as native speaker, I do not agree. It is a quiet family name, meaning something like "cart-worker", but nobody would call a chauffeur that way!]
  
'''Parapectolin'''<br />
+
'''guilloche'''<br>
a mixture of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaolin kaolinite] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectin pectin], used to treat diarrhea
+
"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''); see below
  
==Page 236==
+
[[Image:Guilloche molding.jpg]]
  
'''Kodachrome'''<br />
+
'''A la contraire'''<br>
a brand name of camera film
+
A French mistake: Should be ''au contraire'' (masculine) [but consider the speaker, an adolescent non-wizard]
  
'''Reynolds Wrap'''<br />
+
'''gingival mound'''<br>
a brand name of aluminum foil
+
mound of gum tissue
  
'''baking soda'''<br />
+
==Page 121==
Joelle is making crack, as opposed to 'freebase cocaine' which requires ether. Crack production is procedurally distinct (and safer) from that of purer 'freebase cocaine,' but the freebase products are the same: the baking soda serves to ''free'' the cocaine ''base'' from the pure cocaine hydrochloride.  Both methods produce crystals that can be smoked.  The production method of Joelle's earlier "home made freebase cocaine" is uncertain, but conventional terminology suggests she makes the ether-based variety at home.
+
  
'''C knob'''<br />
+
'''aperçu'''<br>
the knob for cold water
+
an insight
  
==Page 237==
+
=Mario Incandenza's romantic experience=
 +
==Page 121==
  
'''Paducah'''<br />
+
'''post-prandial'''<br>
a city in Kentucky about 175 miles southeast of St. Louis, Mo.
+
after a meal
  
'''Qantas'''<br />
+
'''two hundred kilos'''<br>
an airline serving Australia and New Zealand
+
over 440 pounds
  
==Page 238==
+
'''Southpaw'''<br>
 +
left-handed
  
'''fillips'''<br />
+
==Page 122==
a sharp tap, "made by bending the last joint of a finger against the thumb and suddenly releasing it (so as to propel some small object, or merely as a gesture)" (OED)
+
  
'''mâché'''<br />
+
'''doffed'''<br/>
French for "chewed" indicating here bits and pieces of the material. e.g., papier mâché
+
doff is to take off or tip in salutation (don off)
  
'''S.O.P.'''<br />
+
'''coiffure'''<br>
Standard Operating Procedure
+
hairdo
  
'''imperial'''<br />
+
'''osseously'''<br>
a case for luggage
+
Osseous means "bone-like."
  
'''"...darkness dance on the face of the deep..."'''<br />
+
'''reticulate'''<br>
a play on [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201:2;&version=9; Genesis 1:2]
+
in a net-like or network pattern
  
'''"...that skull fragment out of the ''Hamlet'' graveyard scene..."'''<br />
+
'''chill dusk'''<br>
i.e., "infinite jest"
+
George Eliot (born Mary Anne Evans; 1819-1880), the British novelist, uses the expression in her novel [http://www.fullbooks.com/Adam-Bede.html Adam Bede].
  
'''Mad Stork'''<br />
+
'''easement'''<br>
the nickname for former NFL linebacker [http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.jsp?release_id=1046 Ted Hendricks]
+
Literally meaning the use of something legally not one's own, here it's used to mean a new path beaten through a thicket.
  
==Page 239==
+
'''kliegs'''<br>
 +
short form for a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klieg Klieg light]
  
'''banal'''<br />
+
==Page 123==
hackneyed or trite
+
  
'''Prettiest G.O.A.T.'''<br />
+
'''Betty Stove'''<br>
Though G.O.A.T. stands here for "Girl Of All Time," it's an oxymoron, because "goat" is a slang term for an ugly person.
+
Betty Stöve (born 1945) is a Dutch former professional tennis player and winner of ten Grand Slam titles
  
'''slew-footed'''<br />
+
'''Montclair NJ'''<br>
with the foot turned on the axis of the ankle
+
a suburb about twenty miles west-northwest of New York City
  
==Page 240==
+
'''Con-Edison'''<br>
 +
Consolidated Edison, the utilities company serving New York
  
'''white- party-noise'''<br />
+
'''three meters tall'''<br>
which is to say random noise generated by the party outside the bedroom
+
about nine feet, ten inches tall
  
''''We've Only Just Begun''''<br />
+
==Page 124==
a song by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols first recorded by the [http://wc04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hifrxqw5ldfe Carpenters] in 1970
+
  
'''mercuric red'''<br />
+
'''Weber Grill'''<br>
red as the color made by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merbromin MercuroChrome]
+
a real brand, you can see examples [http://www.weberstuff.com/?gclid=CK71gtmRyI8CFQIQFQodpCUq9A here]
  
=☽ - Enfield, MA=
+
'''Passaic NJ'''<br>
 +
near Montclair, Passaic is another western suburb of New York
  
==Page 240==
+
'''capering'''<br>
 +
To caper is to skip about in a playful manner.
  
Note: Most of these places exist but there is no such town (anymore) as Enfield, Mass. The real town of Enfield, Mass, was one of four disincorporated during the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir in western Mass. The others were Dana, Greenwich, and Prescott.
+
'''rondelling'''<br>
 +
To rondel (more properly, roundel) is to dance in a circle
  
'''Dicalced'''<br />
+
'''simpering'''<br>
Apparently there is a misspelling. The correct term would be [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discalced_Carmelites Discalced Carmelites], which means they go barefoot or wear sandals.
+
To simper is to smile coyly.
  
==Page 241==
+
'''hirsute'''<br>
 +
hairy
  
'''RCC'''<br />
+
'''boscages'''<br>
Roman Catholic Church
+
masses of trees or shrubs
  
'''''les trebuchets noirs'''''<br />
+
'''jetéed'''<br>
French: the black catapults
+
To jeté is to jump ballet-style.
  
'''5 km'''<br />
+
==Page 125==
about 3.1 miles
+
  
'''brachiform'''<br />
+
'''lamé'''<br>
in the shape of an arm
+
an ornamental fabric incorporating threads of gold or silver
  
'''75 hectares'''<br />
+
'''Titian'''<br>
almost 900,000 square yards
+
Tiziano Vecellio (1485-1576) was a Venetian painter.
  
'''palisades'''<br />
+
'''poison sumac'''<br>
fences
+
a tall shrub containing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol urushiol], which causes a rash similar to poison ivy
  
'''guano'''<br />
+
'''ambient'''<br>
feces, particularly of birds or bats
+
of or pertaining to the surrounding environment
  
'''four-km.'''<br />
+
==Page 126==
almost 2.5 miles
+
  
'''coaxial'''<br />
+
=April 30th, YDAU - Marathe & Steeply, cont.=
having common axes
+
  
==Page 242==
+
==Page 126==
  
'''Ø's'''<br />
+
'''les salles de danser'''<br>
This could refer to all the zeros in the presumably large number of amps in the warning signs, but it may also refer (in plural) to the internationally recognized graphic prohibition sign, i.e., the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ No symbol], although the graphic incorporates a red circle with a backslash (from top left to bottom right, rather than bottom left to top right), as for the zero symbol. The numerical symbol incorporates the forward slash to distinguish it from the capital letter O.
+
French: dancing rooms
 +
: Broken French. ''Les salles de danse'' would be correct.
  
'''A.D.E.'''<br />
+
'''Val d'Or, Québec'''<br>
one of ATSHCME's Air-Displacement Effectuators
+
city of northern Québec, 325 miles northwest of Montreal
  
=November 5th, YDAU - Hal and Orin discuss Himself's suicide=
+
==Page 127==
  
==Page 242==
+
'''eidetic'''<br>
 +
referring to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_memory photographic memory]
  
==Endnote 82==
+
=April 30th, YDAU - Still More Marathe & Steeply=
[[Notes and Errata - Pages 983-1079#Endnote 82|Endnote 82]]
+
  
==Page 243==
+
==Page 127==
  
'''caroms'''<br />
+
'''murated'''<br>
rebounds
+
a rarely used English word (found in ''OED'') meaning "surrounded by walls", from French: 'mur' = wall
 
+
'''1100 meters'''<br />
+
a little over 3,600 feet
+
 
+
'''Superstition mountains'''<br />
+
a real range east of Phoenix
+
 
+
'''precipice'''<br />
+
a cliff with a vertical face
+
 
+
'''''propitiate'''''<br />
+
to conciliate, appease or make peace with someone, particularly a god or spirit
+
 
+
'''apotropaic barn-signs'''<br />
+
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_sign Hex signs] commonly seen in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, ostensibly intended to ward off evil, but now probably used more as a decorative element
+
 
+
'''Popogatapec'''<br />
+
probably a reference to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popocat%C3%A9petl Popocatépetl]
+
 
+
'''Ahts of Vancouver'''<br />
+
another name for the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuu-chah-nulth Nuu-chah-nulth], the indigenous peoples of Vancouver Island, Canada
+
 
+
'''Micturation'''<br />
+
urination
+
 
+
==Page 244==
+
 
+
'''200-kilo'''<br />
+
about 441 pounds
+
 
+
'''apposite'''<br />
+
pertinent
+
 
+
==Page 245==
+
 
+
'''decamp'''<br />
+
to depart secretly
+
 
+
'''domino-mask'''<br />
+
This is "a large, hooded cloak with a mask covering the eyes, worn at masquerades" (''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'').
+
 
+
'''lacuna'''<br />
+
a missing part
+
 
+
'''frothy biblical saw''' <br/>
+
a trifling or empty biblical proverb
+
 
+
==Page 246==
+
 
+
'''rodneys'''<br />
+
obviously some kind of impulse buy: cigarettes
+
 
+
'''refracted'''<br />
+
bent or twisted by a change in medium. An optics term, so this is an oblique reference to filming.
+
 
+
'''Cardinal Stadium'''<br />
+
The Arizona Cardinals now play in the University of Phoenix Stadium.
+
 
+
==Page 247==
+
 
+
'''Royal Victoria'''<br />
+
This is the name of one of the docks of east London, but probably not what's being referred to here. Victoria is also the capital of British Columbia, and an island in the Pacific off the B.C. coast.  The Royal Victoria College was a women's college created as part of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
+
 
+
==Page 248==
+
 
+
'''Rog and Wilc,O.'''<br />
+
"Roger Wilco, Orin" - Roger Wilco is a radio communication meaning Roger - "I received your message./" and Wilco - "I will comply."
+
 
+
''''20 for 28 is what, 65%?''''<br />
+
It's a little over 71%.
+
 
+
==Page 249==
+
 
+
'''telemachry'''<br />
+
Maybe not the word Hal was looking for, but Telemachus was a monk who tried to stop the Roman gladiator fights and told the Romans to stop worshiping false idols instead of Christ.  He was stoned to death, though his death is sometimes said to have ended the Gladiatorial games.  So, "telemachry" could be interpreted to be trust in a higher power.
+
 
+
'''telemetry'''<br />
+
the transmission of something automatically and at a distance -- here, Hal's toenails to the wastebasket
+
 
+
==Page 250==
+
'''asphyxuated''' <br/ >
+
There's no clear reason for Orin's mispronunciation of ''asphyxiated''.  Perhaps he's combining ''asphyxia'' and ''evacuated''.
+
 
+
==Page 251==
+
 
+
'''magnitron'''<br />
+
a misspelling of "magnetron," which is "a two-element vacuum tube in which the flow of electrons is under the influence of an external magnetic field, used to generate extremely short radio waves" (''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'').
+
 
+
'''kg.s.cm.'''<br />
+
kilograms per square centimeter, as a measurement of pressure, like pounds per square inch; could just be a reference to kilogram-second-centimeter, or a form of the metric system (though the metric systems usually have 'second' last - as in CGS [centimeter-gram-second] or MKS [meter-kilogram-second]), though 'two sticks of TNT' doesn't really imply a system of units.
+
 
+
==Page 252==
+
 
+
'''synclinal'''<br />
+
sloping downward from opposite directions to meet in a common point or line
+
 
+
'''Adriatic'''<br />
+
the sea between the west coast of Italy and the Balkan peninsula
+
 
+
==Page 253==
+
 
+
'''StairMaster'''<br />
+
a brand name of exercise machines
+
 
+
'''Kübler-Ross, Hinton'''<br />
+
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. (1926-2004) was a Swiss-born American psychiatrist and specialist on death and dying. John Hinton is a British contemporary expert in the field.
+
 
+
'''Kastenbaum and Kastenbaum'''<br />
+
Robert J. Kastenbaum is another prominent scholar in the field of death and dying. I can't find another person by that name, so perhaps Hal is referring to multiple volumes by the same Kastenbaum.
+
 
+
'''Elizabeth Harper Neeld's ''Seven Choices: Taking the Steps to New Life After Losing Someone You Love'''''<br />
+
A real book, it's actually 343 pages.  (The 1997 edition is 343 pages, but an earlier publishing may have been 352.)
+
 
+
'''Wyclif and 14th-century ''langue-d'oc'' French'''<br />
+
John Wyclif was a 14th century English theologian. He made the first translation of the Bible into English, thus his importance to etymology in general. ''Langue d'oc'' is another name for the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langue_d%27oc Occitan] language. The ''OED'' actually dates the word's (acceptance) earliest usage to 1596 by Shakespeare in ''The Merchant of Venice''.
+
 
+
'''Hindi'''<br />
+
a national language of India and one of the most widely spoken
+
 
+
'''Gila monster'''<br />
+
a venomous lizard native to the Southwest U.S. and Mexico, known for its tenacious bite
+
 
+
'''hypertensive'''<br />
+
having high blood pressure
+
 
+
==Page 254==
+
 
+
'''''Leaves of Grass'''''<br />
+
the most famous volume of poetry by Walt Whitman
+
 
+
==Page 255==
+
 
+
'''unfazable'''<br />
+
incapable of being disturbed
+
 
+
'''paroxysmic'''<br />
+
characteristic of an outburst of violent emotion
+
 
+
==Page 256==
+
 
+
'''half a meter'''<br />
+
about 1.64 feet
+
 
+
==Page 257==
+
 
+
'''dewlaps'''<br />
+
loose flesh as under the jaw of a cow
+
 
+
'''"...when Luke removes his high-tech targeting helmet..."'''<br />
+
Hal is referring to a scene from [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/ Star Wars]; Luke is Luke Skywalker.
+
 
+
'''coccyges'''<br />
+
plural of coccyx, i.e., the tailbone
+
 
+
==Page 258==
+
 
+
'''jonquil-yellow'''<br />
+
another name for the flower known as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonquil narcissus] or daffodil
+
  
 
{{Top}}
 
{{Top}}
 
{{InfiniteJest PbP}}
 
{{InfiniteJest PbP}}

Revision as of 08:24, 29 March 2020

Editors: Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel. And please pay attention to formatting and grammar. Preview your changes before saving them. Thanks!

☽ April 30th, YDAU - Marathe & Steeply

Page 87

payloaders
a type of construction equipment

Page 88

Fauteuil de rollent

French for wheelchair is fauteuil roulant.

Brockengespenst

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brocken_spectre.

Page 89

Bureau des services sans spécificité
French for unspecified is non spécifié; sans spécificité means without specificity, i.e., generic.

c'était la guerre

It was war.

c’était de bonne guerre (it was fair game) seems more fitting, possibly what DFW meant.

Page 90

Page 91

agnate
Paternal, related on the father's side. In this case agnate seems to mean that the shadows come from the same source, the setting sun.

samizdat
самиздать From the Russian verb "to publish on one's own" or "to self-publish." Originally used to denote underground publications in the Soviet Union, now used more generally for dissident activity[1]

Page 92

stenographer-cum-jeune-fille-de-Vendredi
secretary who takes diction AND devoted assistant. Jeune-fille-de-Vendredi is French for "young girl Friday." "Man Friday" (or "girl Friday") is a term that means a very competent and loyal servant or assistant, and originates from the Friday of Robinson Crusoe.

amaneunsis
Misspelling of amanuensis (secretary).

Page 93

Feral Hamsters

Page 93

uremic

of or involving excess nitrogenous waste products in the urine

somatic

of or relating to the body, esp. as distinct from the mind.

Champaign IL
He probably attends the University of Illinois main campus at Urbana-Champaign, formerly Champaign-Urbana.

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

pedalferrous
pedalfer is a soil type composed of aluminum and iron oxides. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedalfer apparently a neologism, the word would mean "of or pertaining to foot metal," i.e., fast driving

fallow

plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation or to avoid surplus production

fulvous
in color, yellow-gray to yellowish-brown

teratogenic
having an ill effect on the development of a fetus

Marathe & Steeply, cont.

Page 93

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

electrolysis

the removal of hair roots or small blemishes on the skin by the application of heat using an electric current.

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

YDAU - ETA Locker Room

Page 95

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."

Michael Pemulis, ..., clear his throat deeply
this grammatical error appears shortly after a discussion of a class on grammar

Page 96

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

Page 97

acutance
the edge contrast of an image. Hal appears to be correct insofar as contrast is more or less the same as resolution. Acutance is related to a pulse's slope and height. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acutance

halation
blurring of a visual image by glare

quiescent
still or at rest

Marathe & Steeply, cont.

Page 97

digitate
“having deep radiating divisions” (OED)

ETA Locker Room, cont.

Page 97

Page 98

Zoltan
Zoltán was a 10th century ruler of Hungary.

Csikzentmihalyi
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (sic) is a psychologist best known for his concept of "flow", a psychological state where one "is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity", e.g. "being in the zone" while playing sports.

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.

attritive
[OED] gradually wearing away or weakening something or someone

suppliants
A suppliant is a petitioner.

Page 99

sienna
[or siena] a yellowish- to reddish-brown pigment

louvered
fitted with angled slats, the better to permit passage of light or air

thoracic
having to do with the chest

atavistically
Atavism means reversion to an earlier evolutionary type; i.e., Hal's complexion resembles his grandparents or earlier ancestors more than his parents

piebald
having patches of different colors

Page 100

cognomen
a nickname

inflation-generative grammar
i.e. a set of rules to generate phrases of increasing emphasis

Page 101

semion
from context, it means sign or gesture, evincing with semaphore a common ancestor. [A semion is technically part of an anyon, 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 is a brand name of men's hair grooming product.

zygomatics
the cheekbones, so-called, or zygomatic bones of the face

Page 102

haul ashes
For a history of this term, click here. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=haul%20your%20ashes

Johnny Mathis's "Chances Are"
listen here

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

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

Page 103, cont.

carminative
combatting or expelling flatulence

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"

Marathe & Steeply, cont.

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. Helen abandoned her husband, Menelaus, the brother of Agamemnon, to flee to Troy with Paris, younger brother of Hector.

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," as in composure under pressure

Page 107

Page 108

creosote
There are several types of creosote, described here.

crepuscular
active in the twilight, as bats, deer, many mosquitos

Endnote 45

Endnote 304

Notes and Errata - Endnote 304

Page 109

gibbous
bulging outwards: 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

November 3rd, YDAU - Advice to Little Brothers

Page 109

Page 110

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

dessicated
dried out

Endnote 46

corticatization
probably a misspelling of corticalization

Page 111

bow-biters
1980's plastic clips that help keep shoe laces tied

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
Latin wordplay on E pluribus unum ("From many, one"), the U.S. motto. This would mean "From one, many." Note that the correct Latin would be something like Ex uno plures or Ex uno plura (depending on what "many" is meant to refer to).

Page 113

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

ballet de se

mangled French: Ballet of (itself). ballet de soi would probably be closer.

Page 114

Page 115

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

Indeed, but the conversation takes place orally and this X is silent in French, as is the S. The only context in which it is not silent is when there is a word beginning with a vowel after it, but even then, X is pronounced like S.

slog
to work with sustained effort against a natural resistance over a period of time

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
having two sharp edges

accretive
of or pertaining to the process of natural growth

autonomical
of or pertaining to the reflexive or autonomic nervous system [archaic, autonomic is much the more commonly used term in centuries 20-21]

Page 118

machine-language
a coding system for computers that requires no compiling before running

Orinda CA
A small, wealthy city in Conta Costa County, immediately east of the Oakland-Berkeley metro area and about 18 miles 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 when an opponent is intentionally making bad calls to win points.

Page 119

Mein kinder
German: "My children". But wrong grammar! "Mein" is singular, "kinder" is plural. "My children" would be "Meine Kinder"

Page 120

Wagenknecht
sort of a formal German word for "chauffeur." [No, as native speaker, I do not agree. It is a quiet family name, meaning something like "cart-worker", but nobody would call a chauffeur that way!]

guilloche
"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); see below

Guilloche molding.jpg

A la contraire
A French mistake: Should be au contraire (masculine) [but consider the speaker, an adolescent non-wizard]

gingival mound
mound of gum tissue

Page 121

aperçu
an insight

Mario Incandenza's romantic experience

Page 121

post-prandial
after a meal

two hundred kilos
over 440 pounds

Southpaw
left-handed

Page 122

doffed
doff is to take off or tip in salutation (don off)

coiffure
hairdo

osseously
Osseous means "bone-like."

reticulate
in a net-like or network pattern

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

April 30th, YDAU - Marathe & Steeply, cont.

Page 126

les salles de danser
French: dancing rooms

Broken French. Les salles de danse would be correct.

Val d'Or, Québec
city of northern Québec, 325 miles northwest of Montreal

Page 127

eidetic
referring to photographic memory

April 30th, YDAU - Still More Marathe & Steeply

Page 127

murated
a rarely used English word (found in OED) meaning "surrounded by walls", from French: 'mur' = wall


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