Glossary of Terms
"hinc illae lachrimae": "hence these tears" (Latin).
Bevo: A beer with a low concentration of alcohol made in St. Louis.
Booster: A member of a club that supports civic activity.
Bryn Mawr: A women's college in Pennsylvania.
Bully: A period term meaning "excellent."
Camisole: An undershirt.
Celluloid: A substance like plastic.
Cicero: A Roman politician famous for oration.
Comus: A play by John Milton.
Corking: A period term meaning "excellent."
Cretonne: A cotton fabric used for drapes and upholstery.
Eamon de Valera: President of an Irish revolutionary party called Sinn Fein.
En brosse: Hair that is en brosse is cut short or cropped.
Flapper: A young woman in the 1930s who defied social and moral conventions (most noticeably in hair and clothing style).
Flivver: A nickname for Model T Fords.
Hum: A demeaning term for Germans used during World War I.
I.W.W.: The Industrial Workers of the World, a revolutionary labor union.
Legion or Honor: A French honorary order.
Making love: Flirting or sweet-talking.
Petting and Cuddling: Sexually embracing, fondling, or kissing.
Phi Beta Kappa: The oldest and most elite academic honor organization.
Primitivism: A simplified style of painting employed by European post-impressionists.
Pullman: A sleeping car invented in the late nineteenth century by George M. Pullman.
Putting on the dog: To get dressed up.
Reader: A reading and grammar textbook.
Rotogravure: High-definition engraving found in newspapers.
Silver pencil: A mechanical pencil.
Singhalese: Refers to Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka.
Skirt: A demeaning term for a female.
Sleeping-porch: Many homes had porches for sleeping before the invention of air conditioning.
Sportier: Refers to sporting houses (brothels).
Tin-horn: A person who boasts about having more money, influence, or power than he actually has.
Ukulele: A small Hawaiian musical instrument.
V.C. (Victoria Cross): A british military decoration.
Vers libre: Free verse
Wireless: A radio.
Wooden money: Generally worthless wooden coins or tokens issued by the Confederacy during the Civil War to replace metal currency.
Zenith: The highest point. (The city of Zenith carries this connotation.)
ClassicNote on Babbitt
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