IJ211

From Literature Concordances

211 · The Incredibly Potent DMZ

1 Page 211
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3 Page 213
4 Page 214
5 Page 215
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7 Page 217
8 Page 218
9 Endnote 76
10 Page 218 (cont'd)
11 Page 219
12 Endnote 77

Page 211

film-noir

According to Wikipedia, film noir (French for "dark film") is "a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s."

psychosensual

Where as psychosensual would have a more sexual connotation...

psychosensory

...psychosensory would be the more correct word, as it would apply to sensory stimulation, not necessarily sexual.

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Page 212

CIA-era military experiments

probably a reference to MKULTRA

hydrangea

several species of flowering plants

gistless

having no essential heart of the matter

Decoct

as opposed to "concoct"

spectrometer

an optical instrument used to conduct spectroscopic analysis on matter to determine its constituent elements

Ram Das

This is probably a reference to Baba Ram Dass (born 1931 as Richard Alpert), an American-Jewish spiritual leader, author of Be Here Now, and large influence on Pete Townshend.

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Page 213

frustum

A frustrum 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).

Lamb's Breath cannabis

a type of potent marijuana

20-g.

a 20-gram amount (about .7 ounces)

Sierpinski

Wacław Franciszek Sierpiński (1882-1969) was a Polish mathematician and one of the innovators of set theory.

gasket

a sealing ring

mullioned

having separate panes, when used for a window

philatelic forceps, a loupe

Philatelic refers to stamp collecting. A loupe is used primarily by a jeweler to view flaws in diamonds.

Bunsen burner

a laboratory burner invented in part by Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (1811-1899), a German chemist.

titration

the process of determining the strength of a compound

WATS

Wide Area Telecommunications Service: "bulk-rate telephone service that enables a subscriber to make an unlimited number of long-distance telephone calls within a given service area for a fixed monthly charge or to receive calls from given areas with no charge to the caller" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)

cross-key

to type in at the same time as search terms on a computer

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monograph

a scholarly study on a particular subject, usually published as a book

Leavenworth

the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Leavenworth, Kan.

Ethel Merman

an American actress, also known for Broadway roles

AWOL

Absent Without Leave, a military term

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Page 215

Motrinish

I.e., like Motrin, the original brand name of ibuprofen

fools-rush-in

A reference to An Essay on Man, a length poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744), a British poet of great renown: No Place so Sacred from such Fops is barr'd, Nor is Paul's Church more safe than Paul's Church-yard: Nay, fly to Altars; there they'll talk you dead; For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.

Zen

referring to Buddhism ultimately, although here is applies more to perfection or transcendence

Nuck

a pejorative term for a French-Canadian, presumably shortened from "Canuck"

dumbshow

Here it means sign language or mime, but the term has a longer history in theater, where it refers to a preview of a part of a play done without lines.

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Tenuate Dospan

Tenuate is a brand name of diethylcathinone, an appetite suppressant and mild amphetamine; Dospan is used for the time-release pills.

otiose

superfluous or useless

"... the way W. Penn in his Quaker Oats hat in like the 16th century must have felt trading a few trinkets to babe-in-the-woods Natives for New Jersey..."

William Penn (1644-1718) was the British-born founder of the colony (and later state) of Pennsylvania. For the hat, see right. Penn obviously lived later than the 16th century and he had no involvement in the founding of New Jersey, which Pemulis seems to be conflating with the purchase of Manhattan by the Dutch for about $24 worth of jewelry.

opportunity-cost

In economimcs, this is what one loses in income, pleasure, etc., from engaging in another activity rather than the one that would have paid said income, pleasure, etc. Wallace (or Pemulis) is using the term incorrectly.

rotator cuff

the group of muscles and tendons that stabilize the shoulder

stolid

unemotional or impassive

contre-pied

Literally French for "against-foot," this term is used to apply to a direction taken by dogs in pursuit of an animal they are no longer chasing.

purgatorial

referring neither to heaven nor hell

128-256 Alphabetville

Because of his injury, Schacht was ranked in the lower 128 seeds in the tournament just after his hurt his knee. (Why this is called "Alphabetville," I don't know.)

11/5

Assuming the ranks are respective and in order, Pemulis is ranked eleventh and Hal is ranked fifth (in the same tournament).

arachnodactylic

having fingers like spiders

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Order but not the same Family

Like "phylum," these are also taxonomical terms. Human beings are Homo sapiens, with Homo being the genus and sapiens being the species. Dogs and cats are in the same order: Carnivora (meat-eaters); but they are in difference families: Dogs are in Canidae and cats in Felidae. However, the hyena, which resembles a dog, is actually in the Felidae family. Q.e.d.

Acton

town in Massachusetts about 25 miles west-northwest of Boston

the Xerox Inc. of North American tennis academies

This demonstrates that Port Washington Academy is big, but Xerox is far from the biggest corporation in the U.S.

Port Washington

It's made clear here that this is the town on Long Island. This is the "East Egg" of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, in Nassau County on the north shore of Long Island, very close to New York City.

vivisected

cut apart while still alive

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twins Siamese

The Vaught twin-sister tennis players are actually conjoined at the head.

Akron

a city in Ohio and rubber capital of the world

Charleston

the dance, not the city

bell-lap

a term from track, this is the final lap of a race

12/12's Boards

probably SATs or something like them

meninges

the tissues that encase the brain

glade

a clearing in a forest

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Endnote 76

Attention Deficit Disorder

i.e., hyperactivity

port or starboard

left or right

bell curve

the curve formed by the normal distribution of IQs -- a concept fraught with problems of political correctness, racism or racialism, and different concepts of what "intelligence" is

glabrous

having a surface devoid of hair

RAM

Random Access Memory

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