M. Butterfly

M. Butterfly Glossary

diva

a famous female opera singer, also used to mean a temperamental woman who is difficult to please.

sour grapes

used to refer to an attitude in which someone is resentful about not getting something they wanted.

submissive

meekly obedient, docile.

Sophia Loren

An Italian actress and sex symbol.

Ho Chi Minh

A Vietnamese communist statesman, who led the Viet Minh independence movement.

expatriate

A person living outside their native country.

whitey

A contemptuous term used to describe a white person.

ricksha

A two-wheeled, hooded vehicle used for transport mainly in Asian countries.

bounder

A man of little honor and few scruples.

lampoon

To criticize a figure, subject, or work, using satire and parody.

treatise

A very formal document systematically laying out a considered argument, e.g. for a legal policy.

bureaucrat

A worker employed within a rigidly defined hierarchical system dealing with procedural or managerial matters.

seppuku

Ritualistic Japanese ceremony preceding suicide.

imperialism

The political strategy of expanding a nation's power and influence through geographic and cultural domination of other regions.

espionage

Broad term covering a host of covert activities including secret surveillance, spying, theft and undercover infitration.

Madame Butterfly

An opera composed by Giacomo Puccini, originally staged in 1904.

civil servant

Term for a low-level government bureaucrat.

prophetic

Capable of foretelling future events.

obsequious

Acting in a servile way, fawning over someone with constant flattery, sycophantic.

Oriental

of, from, or characteristic of Asia, especially East Asia. Often used derogatorily towards people from Asia.