revise
have a look at the word list
from catch 22 by joseph heller
orpid—sluggish; slow and dull; lethargic; apathetic.
macabre—literally, dance of death; grim; horrible; gruesome.
invidiously—inciting ill will, odium, or envy.
laconic—brief or terse in speech or expression.
furtive—stealthy; sneaky; surreptitious.
wraith—ghost; the spectral figure of a person seen as a premonition of death.
lithe—flexible; supple; limber.
enigma—a perplexing, usually ambiguous statement; a riddle.
debauch—to lead astray morally; to corrupt or deprave.
excoriate—to strip, scratch, or rub off the skin; to chafe.
milk run—a mission so easy and safe that it’s compared to the daily delivery of milk.
reticent—habitually silent or uncommunicative.
enervating—depriving of strength, force or vigor.
moue—(French) “a pouting grimace”; a wry face.
fetid—having a bad smell, as of decay; putrid.
Capisci? —(Italian) “Do you understand?” (Note: Other Italian phrases in the chapter are translatable by context or through Yossarian’s response.)
libidinous—full of or characterized by lust.
dog tags—metal identification pendants worn in duplicate and resembling dogs’ identification tags; in addition to other information, they include blood type.
Marrakech—a prominent city in, and former capital of, Morocco, in northwestern Africa.
dose of clap—a case of gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease.
goldbrick—to shirk one’s duty through fakery; to malinger.
Euripedes—(480–406 b.c.) tragedian of classical Athens. The highly educated Clevinger would be familiar with him.
sarcophagus—any-stone coffin, especially one on display, as in a monumental tomb.
oscillate—to swing or move regularly back and forth.
Anabaptist—any member of a radical sixteenth-century sect of the Reformation originating in Switzerland.
déjà vu—(French) “already seen”; a feeling that one has been in a place or had a particular experience before.
jamais vu and presque vu—(French) “never seen” and “almost seen”; variations of déjà vu.
assuage—to lessen (pain or distress); to allay; to pacify.
ignominy—loss of one’s reputation; shame and dishonor.
carnal delights—in or of the flesh; bodily or sexual pleasures.
KP—kitchen police; an assignment, usually temporary, to work in the mess-hall kitchen.
didactic—used or intended for teaching or instruction.
“what’s good for the syndicate is good for the country”—Heller’s satirical twist on Charles Erwin Wilson’s classic capitalistic statement to the Senate Armed Forces Committee (1952): “What is good for the country is good for General Motors, and what’s good for General Motors is good for the country.
G-men—government men; agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
anathema—a thing or person accursed or damned; detested.
halvah—a Turkish confection consisting of crushed sesame seeds, nuts and honey.
ersatz—substitute or synthetic; artificial.
apocalyptic—here, refers to ultimate destruction; the end of the world.
strafe—to attack ground positions or troops with machine-gun fire from low-flying planes.
savoir-faire—(French) “to know [how] to do”; the ability to say or do the right thing.
ontology—the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being or reality.
a fortiori—(Latin) “for a stronger [reason]”; said of a conclusion that follows, with even stronger logical necessity, one already accepted.
ruefully—regretfully; feeling or showing remorse.
ambivalence—simultaneous conflicting feelings toward a person or thing.
Luftwaffe—here, Air Force of Nazi Germany.
bemused—plunged in thought; preoccupied.
Mae West—inflatable life jacket for use by aviators downed at sea; named after a shapely movie actress of the 1930s and 1940s.
sedulous—working hard and steadily; diligent.
medulla oblongata—(Latin) the widening continuation of the spinal cord, forming the lower part of the brain and controlling respiration as well as other bodily functions.
incorrigible—can not be corrected or improved; set in bad habits.
Mais c’est la guerre—(French) “But such is war.”
erudite—learned; scholarly; having or showing a wide knowledge.
fastidious—very critical or discriminating; refined in too dainty a way.
capricious—tending to change abruptly and without apparent reason; erratic.
inexorable—cannot be moved or influenced by persuasion; unrelenting.
PX—Post Exchange; a store or stores on military bases offering merchandise at reduced prices for service personnel.
ubiquitous—everywhere at the same time; omnipresent.
V-mail—Victory-mail; a postal service during World War II, to or from the armed forces, in which letters were reduced to microfilm, to conserve shipping space, and enlarged and printed for delivery.
requisition—a formal written order, request, or application for equipment.
Donald Duck—a cartoon character whose nephews (Huey, Dewey, and Louie) are energetic but relatively ingenuous little scamps.
obtuse—not sharp; slow to understand or perceive.
motley—here, composed of many different or clashing elements—Nately and his friends form a “motley rescue party.”
arduous—difficult to do; laborious.
languorous—lacking vigor or vitality.
perchè—(Italian) “why” or “because.”
Tu sei un pazzo imbecille!—(Italian) “You are a crazy idiot!”
obstreperous—noisy; boisterous; unruly.
Saturnalia—here, a period or occasion of unrestrained, often orgiastic, revelry.
deferential—yielding in opinion, judgment, or wishes; showing respect.
F.O.B.—a commercial term standing for “free on board”; without charge to the buyer for placing goods on board a carrier at the point of shipment.
Piltdown Man—One of the great hoaxes of the twentieth century, the Piltdown man supposedly was an early species of modern man postulated from bones found near Piltdown (Sussex, England) around 1911 but exposed as a forgery in 1953.
Messerschmitt—a german fighter plane during World War II, manufactured by Willy Messerschmitt (1898–1978).
Hapsburg—a noble German family furnishing sovereigns to Australia (1278–1918) and to Spain (1516–1700). Here, there is an ironic reference to their credit rating.
dissuade—to advise against; to convince someone not to do something.
M.P.—military police.
Q.E.D.—abbreviation for the Latin quod erat demonstrandum, meaning “which was to be demonstrated or proven,” a phrase used in mathematics.
irascible—easily angered; quick-tempered.
languid—without vigor or vitality.
chagrin—a feeling of embarrassment or annoyance because one has failed or been disappointed; mortification.
apoplexy—a cerebral accident or stroke; a condition in any organ of severe hemorrhage or infarction.
Achilles—Greek warrior and leader in the Trojan War; hero in Homer’s Iliad who temporarily refuses to fight.
cajole—to coax with flattery or insincere talk.
ululating—moaning or lamenting loudly.
cara mio—(Italian) “my dear.”
grazie, grazie—(Italian) “thank you, thank you.”
stolid—having or showing little or no emotion or sensitivity.
Old Blood and Guts—nickname for General George Smith Patton (1885–1945), commander of the Seventh and Third Armies during World War II; the comparison is sardonic.
recant—to withdraw or renounce beliefs or statements formerly held.
carabinieri—Italian police.
marchese—an Italian nobleman, ranking above a count but below a prince.
insipid—without flavor; not exciting; dull; lifeless.
vexation—a cause of annoyance or distress.
insouciant—calm and untroubled; carefree; indifferent.
flaccid—hanging in loose folds or wrinkles; flabby.
affably—pleasantly; in a friendly manner.
‘sprit de corps—(French, esprit de corps) “spirit of the corps or group”; an attitude of enthusiasm and devotion among members of a group for each other, the group, and its cause.
acrimonious—bitter and caustic in temper, manner, or speech.
sardonic—disdainfully or bitterly sarcastic and ironic.
sulfanilamide—a sulfur compound used in treatment of various bacterial infections.
gangrene—decay of body tissue when the blood supply is obstructed by injury or disease.
acquiesce—to agree or consent quietly, without protest, but without enthusiasm.
exophthalmic eyes—abnormal protrusion of the eyeballs, caused by various disorders.
Airport Talkies
15 years ago
