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GLOSSARY

Adulant. Excessively worshipful (Faulkner's own back-formation from adulation and adulate).

Agnes-Mabel-Becky. A popular brand of condoms in the 1920s. The round tin package was the size and color of a silver dollar. Faulkner doubtless chose the brand because the package resembles the coin Luster is trying to find.

Ahun. Dialect for iron, from Versh's remark about Benjy's hands getting cold on the iron gate to the Comp-son yard as he waits for Caddy.

Aihy. Dialect for "ere a", itself a dialect term for "any".

Annealment. A Faulknerian neologism, from the verb anneal (to heat and then cool a substance such as steel or glass to make it less brittle). Dil-sey, deeply moved by the Easter ser-vice in the fourth section of the novel, is "crying quietly in the annealment and blood of the remembered Lamb", a context that suggests the tempering as well as the healing of her spirit.

Anticked. A verb meaning "capered," made as a back-formation from the noun antic.

April Eighth, 1928. Heading: Easter Sunday

Armenians. Jason's conversation with the "drummer"-slang of the day for a traveling salesman-satirizes small-town prejudices against Jews.

Asbestos. An incombustible material used in fireproofing. Since the context of Quentin's mention of the term seems to be theatrical, he may be thinking of the fire curtain in theaters of the day, but "Asbestos" was also a brand name found on stove--heated flatirons like the ones he buys to put into his pockets so he can drown himself.

Babe Ruth. The famous baseball star of the 1927 and 1928 Yankees. Thanks to him, the 1928 Yankees had a remarkable season, beating the Cardinals in four games. In the Series'final game, Babe Ruth hit three home runs and made a spectacular catch for the final out.
I wouldn't bet on any team that fellow Ruth played on (252:9) Jason's resentment can be explained by the late twenties' rumor that Ruth was part Negro.

Band. Mourning band.

Beale St . A downtown street of Memphis , Tennessee , known as a commercial and entertainment center for African Americans and one of the homes of the blues. Famous for night clubs and brothels.

Bedlam. "Bedlam" (corruption of the pronunciation of " Bethlehem ") was a popular nickname for the hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem , which had been an insane asylum before becoming a hospital. The word means an insane asylum or a scene of disorder.

Benjamin the child of mine old age held hostage into Egypt (170:20)
Genesis 42-44. Jacob's sons attempt to buy grain from their brother Joseph in Egypt : Jacob did not want to place his youngest son at risk by letting him travel to Egypt .

Biggity. Uppity, showing off rudely.

Biscuit. "Biscuit" in Southern usage "Biscuit" is a collective plural for "biscuits".

Bluegum. Versh repeats a folk legend about Africans with blue rather than pink gums who were considered to have fatal powers.They have many strange properties, such as a fatal bite and are powerful conjurors.

Boat race (84:24)
The annual rowing regatta between Harvard and Yale.

Boll-Weevil. Insect that attacked the cotton plant, a devastating force in Southern agriculture that migrated from Mexico and moved across the South through the 1920s, causing panic, migration of workers, and economic depression.

Breddren. Dialect for brothers.
Wus a rich man: whar he now, O breddren? Wus a po man: whar he now, O sssistuhn (295: 22)
Shegog invokes the parable of Dives and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31). In his life the poor man Dives begs for crumbs from Lazarus's table; in the afterlife, Lazarus, in hell, begs Dives, in Heaven, to dip his finger in the water and drop one drop on his tongue.
Bridge. ( 89:27) Probably the Longfellow bridge, across the Charles River (Samway, 133)

Brooks. A cast-off Brooks suit (97:29)
A suit from Brooks Brothers, a famous men's haberdashery.

Bruck. Broke.

Brung. Brought.

Bubber. A condescending form of "brother".

Cahy. Carry

Christmas gift. A customary game in the South between blacks and whites, where the one who can say "Christmas gift" first gets a gift; Usually no gift was exchanged except that white adults would give black children money when "caught". The custom, like Quentin's stated views about black people, expresses an affectionate albeit racist paternalism left over from slavery. (Polk, 58)

Chub. A freshwater fish related to carp; a step down from the attempts of the boys in Quentin's section to catch a legendary trout.

Chunkin. Throwing.

Claymore. ("Appendix": Charles Stuart)
A two-handed sword with a double-edged blade, used by Scottish Highlanders in the 16th century.

Clove stems. Breath fresheners.

Cultivators.
"Any of several types of mule- or tractor-drawn implements used for cultivating plants after they have come up and reached a fair size". (Brown, 65)

Darkies. (102:17)
And leave Jason here with nobody but you and the darkies;
"Darkies" is a Southern term for blacks, which Calvin Brown describes as "indulgent and affectionate" rather than contemptuous.Here it is condescending and appropriate to Mrs Compson's "Old South" class and race consciousness.

Decoration Day. Begun as a day to decorate graves of Civil War soldiers, became Memorial Day, May 30, 1868.

Defunctive. Having ceased to exist. In Faulkner's work, it echoes T. S. Eliot's phrase "defunctive music," in which the word implies "fading" or "dying" sound or music. A word common in Faulkner which means "funereal".

Dogfennel. " Mayweed, an acrid, rank-smelling weed (Anthemis cotula) bearing a daisylike flower" (Brown, 72)

Dope. A colloquial term, especially in the South for Coca-Cola. With the number of "shots", of "dope" Jason imbibes during his day, Faulkner is clearly drawing on the common belief that Coca-Cola contained cocaine and was an addictive stimulant.

Dramat. The drama club at Harvard.

Ef you be Jesus, lif up yo tree en walk (296: 24)
Shegog confuses two passages from the gospels: the crowd at the crucifixion mocks Jesus and urges Him to "save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross" (Matthew 27: 40-43). Earlier Jesus extols a "paralytic" to "Rise, take up your bed and go home" (Matthew 9:5).

Egvice. A malapropism for "advice."

Ellum. Elm tree. Quentin's attention to pronunciation may reflect his consciousness of difference between Southern speech and speech in the North.

Euboeleus. Eubuleus. In Greek myth, the swineherd who tells the goddess Demeter what has happened to her daughter Persephone, since he not only saw Hades abduct her but also lost some pigs into the crevice through which Hades took the girl to the underworld.

Excruciating-ly. The unnecessary hyphen, which is in both Faulkner's holograph manuscript and his carbon typescript, is one of several suggestions that Mr. Compson's drinking affects the clarity of his speech (he also says "reducto absurdum" for "reductio ad absurdum"), though Quentin, to whom he is speaking, never directly refers to his father's drinking.

Father's
The least he could do at Father's or maybe (197:20)
The 1929 first edition supplies "funeral" after "Father's", but here and elsewhere it seems fairly clear that Jason has trouble putting the words "Father's funeral" together.

Fice. Regional dialect for feist, a small, wiry dog of mixed ancestry prized for hunting. (cf Go Down, Moses)

Flac-soled. In both manuscript and typescript, apparently a Faulkner coinage, or error, meant to refer to the lighter-colored skin in Dilsey's palms.

Flags. (131:24) Flagstones.

Flat-lron. Flatiron; hand-held instrument made of cast iron with a polished, smooth bottom for pressing cloth; before the electric iron was invented, these were heated on the top of a wood stove, for example, often in pairs so that one would heat while one was cooling in use, and either could be picked up with a handle that fit both. It seems likely that the small flatirons Quentin buys to weight his body in the river are such pieces, without the handle. Irons of this size, with the "Asbestos" trademark, also bear the designation "Sad Iron," an apparent reference to their potential use for "Sad clothes"-heavy, dark Sunday clothing.

Flood (114:13)
That flood was way up in Pennsylvania . Probably the Johnstown , Pennsylvania flood of May 31, 1889.

G.A.R. uniform. Uniform of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Northern Army in the Civil War.

Garibaldi. Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), Italian nationalist patriot, the hero of Italian freedom. Having seen Deacon in a Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) parade, Quentin notes that he marches in almost any parade. The reference to Garibaldi probably indicates a parade on Columbus Day because Italian Americans commonly celebrated their heritage in this parade.

Gayoso. Gayoso Street in Memphis , known in Faulkner's time as akin to Beale Street , but more specifically an area notorious for its brothels.

Gizzle. Child's cant for "gizzard," meaning, as a child's threat, "I'll kill him."

Go-cart. Hand-cart, pushcart.

"Graveyard."Benjy's "graveyard" is the glass containing the two jimson weed flowers.

Gwine. Going to

Half-baked Galahad. Sir Galahad of Arthur's Round Table, son of Lancelot and Elaine, was the purest of the Arthurian knights, the one who succeeded in the quest for the Holy Grail and thus a chivalric hero. A half-baked Galahad is an overly pure "would-be" rescuer of damsels in distress. In the Christian context of the novel, the presence of a reference to the Grail knight has obvious relevance.

Hickeynuts. Hickory nuts.

Hogwallow. The muck of a hog pen, wet and usually filthy mud where hogs and pigs cooled themselves by rolling or wallowing. Since pigs have associations with both the myth of Persephone and the miracles of Jesus, the choice of livestock is appropriate, and the filth, in which Caddy and Quentin fight about a sexual master, attaches itself to Quentin's perceptions of sex.

Hophead. Drug addict.

Ise. A contraction of "I is" which means "I am".

Jack- A generic reference, slightly comtemptuous meaning"fellow" or "man," that the carnival man uses to address Benjy.

Jaybird. Jaybirds, or blue jays, were associated in legend with the devil.
A pair of jaybirds came up from nowhere (266:15) . The phrase hints at the birds as visitors or spies from hell (Brown 110-111)

Jellybean.
Slick-headed jellybeans (184:24)
Slang of the 1920s for a slick-haired, self-consciously fashionable adolescent, a "drugstore cowboy", (Brown, 111)

Jimson weed. " Jamestown weed, common thorn-apple (Datura strambonium), a large, rank-smelling, poisonous weed, common around barns" (Brown 111).

Julep. Mint julep, made of bourbon whiskey, fresh mint, crushed ice, and sugar. Famous as a Southern drink.

Knobnot. A childish insult,
something like "blockhead."

Kike
Land of the kike home of the wop (125:25)
Quentin expresses social prejudices with many disparaging terms such as "kike" for a jew and "wop" for an Italian, though it is never easy to be certain how ironic or facetious Quentin is being. Yet he never showsJason's virulence.

Kyo. Dialect for "cure."

Leda.
Leda lurking in the bushes, whimpering and moaning for the swan (167:3)
In the Greek myth Leda, a mortal woman, was raped by Zeus, who came to her in the shape of a swan; Helen of Troy came from this union. (See W. B. Yeats 's famous sonnet "Leda and the Swan")

Little Sister Death
And the good Saint Francis that said Little Sister Death, that never had a sister
St Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226, founder of the Franciscan order, noted for his piety, vows of poverty, and love of nature. St Francis spoke of his sufferings as his"sisters," and tradition has it that when" told that he had but a short time to live, he stretched out his hands and cried:" Then be welcome Sister Death!" (Armstrong 239, quoted by Noel Polk)

Lochinvar
Young Lochinvar rode out of the west a little too soon, didn't he (93: 25)
"Young Lochinvar" is a character in Sir Walter Scott's poem Marmion , about a brave highlander who rides off with the lady he loves, to the astonishment of the groom and the guests, before she is forced to marry a "laggard in love and a dastard in war"; (Peavy)

Louisville . A Mississippi town near where Choctaw Indians still live, or perhaps only a general place-name in the context.

Maingault. The phrase "Maingault or Mortemar has got mixed up with the lodge-keeper's daughter" refers to a mingling of aristocratic and plebeian heritage that Gerald Bland's mother, in Quentin's view, uses to explain the uncivil behavior of the Harvard student Spoade, who has a pedigree superior to Gerald's. The names Maingault and Mortemar would indicate Norman and old English stock.

Marse.
Marster, Marse Gerald(107:12)"Marster" and "Marse" are colloquial southern versions of "master", here used in ironic allusion to stories of the South such as "Marse Chan" by Thomas Nelson Page, in which faithful slaves sacrifice themselves for their masters.

Martha. Louis Hatcher's wife. In the context of the New Testament, the name is significant: Martha was a friend of Jesus mentioned in Luke and John.

Mason and Dixon . By having been born below the Mason and Dixon line, Quentin is a Southerner, like the Virginian Gerald, and so has some value in Mrs. Bland's eyes. The line is the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland and was considered the division between slave and free states before the Civil War. Also called the Mason-Dixon Line . It was named after Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, the two English astronomers who surveyed the line (1763-1767) to settle a boundary dispute and traditionally separates the North from the South.

Miss Cahline. Mrs Compson.

Mottson. A fictional town near the fictional Jefferson , Mississippi ; in Light in August Faulkner appeared to rename it Mottstown, if he had the same place reference in mind.

Nancy . A horse, probably the matching horse with "Fancy,"mentioned elsewhere in the novel. Nancy has broken a leg and has been put down- that is, shot-her body probably cremated where she fell, leaving just the bones, which are a fascinating image of death for the children.

New London . New London , Connecticut , where the boat races between Harvard and Yale were to be held.

" New moon holding water". (85:21)
Holding all I used to be sorry about like the new moon holding water, niggers say
Quentin often draws upon drawings and superstitions heard in his childhood from blacks. Here he refers to the belief that if the horns of the cusp are turned up the new moon is holding water (predicting dry weather). (Polk, 56)

Nicaragua . Agriculturally rich Central American country where American interest resulted in U.S. Marines being stationed there from 1912 to 1925 and again from 1926 to 1933. Cotton was one of the country's products, a fact that perhaps contributes to Jason's objections about spending American money to maintain stability in a place where cotton production might drive down the higher prices on which he is in effect betting by speculating in futures.

Out of the mouths of babes. (100:26)See Matthew 21:16: "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise."

Oxford . Oxford University in England .

Pape.
"I gotta da pape" (143:30) Julio says he has his citizenship papers.

Parker's. The Parker House hotel in Boston , famous for the literary figures who stayed there (Dickens, Hawthorne, Emerson) and where Quentin says he eats breakfast.

Pastuh. Dialect for pastor, minister.

Pasture. The Golf course is in fact the old Compson pasture that was sold in order to finance Quentin's education at Harvard.

Pennsylvaney.
Pennsylvania .
The reference is to the famous and devastating Johnstown Flood (1889), which became an archetypal event in the 19th century America because of the great loss of life and property the flood involved.

Planing-mill. A scraping machine used to smooth out rough-cut lumber in order to make it usable.

Projecking Fooling around in an irresponsible or officious manner (Brown, 156). Dilsey is warning T.P. not to do anything with Queenie that might cause trouble, which means going straight to the cemetery and back.

Pullman cars. Railroad sleeping cars or parlor cars.

Reducto absurdum.The correct Latin phrase is reductio ad absurdum,"reduced to absurdity". The phrase refers to a classical rhetorical mode of refutation, by which one shows that another's arguments, if followed far enough, lead to an absurd conclusion.To Mr Compson, time reduces human experience to absurdity because all life concludes with death.The incorrect phrasing may be a joke on either Mr Compson's or Quentin's part; or along with the hyphen in "excruciating-ly, " the mis-stated Latin could hint that Quentin remembers Mr Compson as drunk and not in full command of his words.

Ricklickshun. Recollection; an important word in the context of a literature of memory; Rev. Shegog's phrase "the recollection and the blood" in effect combines memory and family, as well as invoking faith in the Christian story.

Riding approaching like something on a wire, like a cash box in a store (125:15)
Stores used to have the cash box literally on a wire strung above a long counter, so that one clerk could slide it down the counter's length to another clerk.
Ridge-pole. (114:18) On the roof of the house

Rinktum rectum

Roach of iron gray hair. A roll of brushed-up hair.

Rogers '. A café in Jefferson .

Russell's. A livery stable in Jefferson .

Sacque. Loose-fitting gown or robe.

St. John's . An African American church apparently in Jefferson , where T. P. has gone on the day Luster is allowed to drive the carriage.

Sartoris. Colonel Sartoris is the elder John Sartoris, a character in Faulkner's novel Sartoris, published in January of the same year as The Sound and the Fury; the character is based on the author's own great-grandfather, Colonel William C. Falkner, a statue of whom still stands on the monument erected over his grave in Ripley , Mississippi .

Sassprilluh. Sarsaparilla, a soft drink that, like many such drinks, was originally a tonic, in this case widely advertised for complaints of female debility and impotence. That the beverage T. P. mistakes for sarsaparilla and shares with Benjy is champagne for Caddy's wedding is thus doubly ironic, for Caddy is pregnant out of wedlock. The scene is a parody of the wedding at Cana where Jesus changed water to wine.

Sawdust flowing from what wound in what side that not for me died not (175:32)
Reference to the wound in Christ's side (John 19:34) and allusion to the Hymn "Rock of Ages" based on Augustus Montague Toplady's poem "A Prayer, living and dying" (1776)
Let the water and the blood,
From thy wounded side which flowed ,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Semiramis. The legendary queen of Assyria who survived her husband Ninus, the founder of Babylon . An ironic reference by Shreve to Mrs. Bland, who provides for her son's pleasure while he is at Harvard.

Sewanee. The University of the South, near Chattanooga , Tennessee , which Mr. Compson apparently attended. The younger Jason's joke, that they do not teach you how to drink water there, while they apparently do not teach you how to swim at Harvard, reflects a common set of jokes about Southern party schools where drinking was endemic.
."
Sister. Hello, sister (125:9). "Sister" was often used as a" familiar and affection form of address not implying actual kinship" (Brown, 179)

Sistuhn. Dialect for sisters (also "sisteren").

Skeered. Scared.

Skizzard.Childish colloquialism, possibly a cross between "skink" and "lizard."

Soda. Carbonate of soda, used to soothe burns.

Sojer. Soldier

Sparrow.
Not a sparrow can fall (247:16)
Jason invokes Matthew 10: 29, wherein Jesus comforts his disciples: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." The image is used in an old gospel song, "His Eye is on the Sparrow ( and I Know He Watches Me)

Squinch owl;
Dialect for "screech owl."

Stud'in. Studying, used in the dialectical sense of "paying attention to", as in "I'm not studying you".

Sullin. Sullen or sulking.

Surrey . A small, four-wheeled, two-seated carriage.

Suttee. Hindu practice whereby a widow sacrifices herself on the funeral pyre of her husband.

Tailor's goose. A flat-iron with a gooseneck handle.

Tech. Touch

Thompson's. Thompson's was a popular restaurant on Washington Street , Boston (Samway 132).

Town.
A car came along. I went over to town ( 83:3)
Quentin takes a trolley car into Boston . The line from Harvard Square to Park Street in Boston was not opened until 1912, so literally Quentin's trolley rides are anachronistic. (Samway, 132, quoted by Noel Polk.)

Troof. Truth

Twell. until

Unburdenin. Unburdening, in the religious sense of being shriven, being able to lay down one's unhappiness and sins, something Quentin cannot do even with a roommate named Shreve.

Uncle. As used here and often by whites, especially in the South, "uncle" is a patronizing word referring to older black men, "auntie" referring to older black women.

Uncle Job. a common name among blacks of this era, a reference to the long- suffering and patient Job of the Bible.

Uncle Tom's cabin outfit. A reference to Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous character Uncle Tom, a symbol for the loyal black slave. (Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1852)

Unitarial. Unitarian.

Vilyun. Villain

Voice that breathed. The voice that breathed, first of many references to Benjy's voice, especially as heard at Caddy's wedding. Alludes to the hymn Holy Matrimony by John Keble (1792-1866):
The voice that breathed o'er Eden ,
That earliest wedding-day,
The primal marriage blessing,
It hath not passed away. (Morrison, J.D., 330)

Walthall.Parson Walthall is apparently the liberal-minded minister of a Methodist church who has forcibly protested the shooting of pigeons in the Jefferson courthouse square, even though their droppings clog the courthouse clockworks.

Watch-charm from the Saint Louis Fair. A decoration on a watch chain that secures a pocket watch, the chain usually crossed from one pocket to another on a man's vest, so the charms would be visible.The Saint Louis Fair was the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the purchase of Louisiana from France . It was held in St Louis in 1904.

Wattermilyuns.
Watermelons

W.C.T.U. Women's Christian Temperance Union, founded in 1874, was a women's organization dedicated to reducing or prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcoholic drink. Quentin alludes to the reputed heavy drinking of Italian men. His joke, like his use of "wop" (98:23) shows how much he has adopted the social prejudices of his time.

Yankees.
I reckon you 've got your moneyon the Yankees this year (252: 1)
The 1927 Yankees were arguably the best baseball team ever. Babe Ruth hit his sixtieth home run in September; the Yankees won 110 games that season and beat the Pirates in four games in the world series. The 1928 Yankees also had a spectacular season, beating the Cardinals in four games in the World Series; in the Series' final game, Ruth hit three home runs and made a spectacular catch for the final out (Ward 187-88, quoted by Polk, 172)