pool lounger -  (pg. 7) A chair-like device typically placed in a patio, garden, or swimming pool deck, or used as beach-side outdoor furniture. Often constructed from wood, formed plastic, or metal and indoor fabrics. They have designed adjustable backs for people to lie down, or sit up on, recline while relaxing.

 

miniature snooker table - (pg. 7) A heavy table on which snooker, pool, or billiards are played, billiard table, pool table, but miniature in size.

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trestle table - (pg. 7) A table consisting of a board or boards laid on trestles; A trestle: a framework consisting of a horizontal beam supported by two pairs of sloping legs, used in pairs to support a flat surface such as a tabletop, aka a saw horse.

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portable CD stereo - (pg. 7) A portable audio player used to play compact discs (CDs).

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standing screen - (pg. 7) Also known as a folding screen, it is a type of free-standing furniture consistenting of several frames or panels, which are often connected by hinges or other means. They can have practical uses (to shield an individual while they change clothes) and decorative uses.

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Taunton Deluxe Barbecue - (pg. 7) The Taunton is a style of barbeque cooker with three large burners and an additional side burner, listed to be ideal for a larger family. http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/bbqs/premier-silverline-taunton-deluxe-barbecue-3-burner-with-side-burner.asp

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CCTV camera - (pg. 7) Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from a broadcast television in that the signal is not openly transmitted.

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Terrycloth swimming-pool robe - (pg. 8) Terrycloth: a fabric woven with many protruding loops of thread which can absorb large amounts of water. Such fabric is frequently used for swimming-pool or shower robes due to their ability to absorb large amounts of water.

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trainers - (pg. 8) A soft sports shoe suitable for casual wear; a sneaker.

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spectacles - (pg. 8) Another term for glasses: a pair of lenses set in a frame resting on the nose and ears, used to correct or assist defective eyesight or protect the eyes.

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Speedo - (pg. 8) Men's brief, tight swimming trunks; a brand name for a style of tight swimwear.

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moccasins - (pg. 8) A soft leather slipper or shoe, strictly one without a separate heel, having the sole turned up on all sides and sewn to the upper in a simple gather seam, in a style originating among Indigenous Americans.

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Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass play 'Spanish Flea' - (pg. 9) Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Herb continues to release new albums, his newest album "Wish Upon A Star" is released September 15. "Spanish Flea" is a popular song written by Julius Wechter in the 1960s with lyrics by his wife Cissy Wechter. The original version was recorded by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass where Julius Wechter was a percussionist in the band, most notably on the marimba. It was released as an instrumental on the B-side to the single "What Now My Love" from their 1965 album Going Places. The album was a No. 1 hit in the US and the single peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Spanish Flea" features Alpert's trumped over a Latin rhythm backing.

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cardboard cone-shaped party hat that elasticates under his chin - (pg. 9) A party hat, typically in the form of a cone and made with a thin piece of paperboard, usually with designs printed on the outside and a long string of elastic acting like a chinstrap, going from one side of the cone's bottom to another to secure the cone to the person's head.

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theatrical troubadour - (pg. 9) Troubadour: A French medieval lyric poet composing and singing in Provençal in the 11th to 13th centuries, especially on the theme of courtly love; a poet who writes verse to music; Theatrical: exaggerated and excessively dramatic

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container of tablets - (pg. 10)  Implied to be a container of high-intensity medication, likely a pain medication which induces a feeling of highness and euphoria such as codeine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, morphine, or oxycodone. 

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he blesses himself - (pg. 10) To make the sign of the cross on one's head and chest. The most well-known method is, utilizing either two or three fingers, to touch one's forehead ("In the name of the father…"), then one's heart/center of chest ("And the son…"), then the left side of the chest ("And of the holy), and then the right side of the chest ("spirit"), and then bringing hands together in prayer ("Amen").

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his manner's a little fey - (pg. 10) Fey: To describe someone as behaving in a shy, childish, or unpredictable way, and often to suggest that this is unnatural or insincere. In Scottish English only, meaing fated to die or at the point of death.

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flamboyant margarita - (pg. 10) Flamboyant: tending to attract attention because of their exuberance, confidence, and stylishness; Margarita: a cocktail made with tequila and citrus fruit juice. 

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erudition - (pg. 10) The quality of having or showing great knowledge or learning; scholarship; strongly implies the acquiring of profound, or bookish learning. 

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rougher diamond - (pg. 11) A rough diamond: a person who is generally of good character but lacks manners, education, or style; a diamond in the rough; an uncut diamond

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their accents are provincial - (pg. 11) "Provincial speaking": having or showing the manners, viewpoints, etc. considered characteristic of unsophisticated inhabitants of a province.

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a yurt in Mongolia shivering into a herd of yaks - (pg. 11) Yurt: a circular tent of felt or skins on a collapsible tramework, used by nomads in Mongolia, Siberia, or Turkey; Mongolia: A country located in Asia between Russia to the north and China to the south; yak: a large domesticated wild ox with shaddy hair, humped shoulders, and large horns, used in Tibet as a pack animal and for its milk, meat, and hide; The annual average temperature in Mongolia is 32 degrees Fahrenheit, reaching a high of 50-80 degrees F in the summer and a low of -18.4 to -65.2 degrees F in the winter. Yurts are the traditional home of nomadic families in Mongolia and the felt is used as an effective method of temperature control during the winter months. Mongolia has the world's second-largest population of yaks in the world after China at approximately 1,005,000 yaks in the 13 provinces of Mongolia. 

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modicum of heat - (pg. 12) modicum: a small quantity of a particular thing, especially something considered desirable or valuable; desiring heat which is so valuable, even a small amount of heat would suffice.

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banger - (pg. 12) A British term used to refer to sausages; this colloquial term was left over from the first World War when sausages sometimes exploded/burst open in the pan when you cooked them, partly due to the shrinkage of the tight skin and partly because of the cheap sausage fillers that they were using at the time. 

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thirty-three degrees Celsius - (pg. 12) equivalent to 91.4 degrees Fahrenheit, so very hot.

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the mind is a bucket of eels - (pg. 13) This is not a common knowledge analogy, but one being used by our character uniquely in this instant to describe the way that threads of thought and ideas within the mind can be lost within itself. A bucket of eels is full of individual eels, but because they are all constantly moving around, on top of, and through each other, it is impossible to see one eel distinctly. Dunne is making the analogy that it is impossible for each of the men to follow their own train of individual thought, they are losing their thinking to other thoughts layering on top of one another in a confusing manner.

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lads - (pg. 13) informal, a boy or young man; British: a group of men sharing recreational, working or other interests; a young man who is boisterously macho

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degeneration - (pg. 13) a state or process of being or becoming degenerate; decline or deterioration; degenerate: having lost the physical, mental, or moral qualities considered normal and desirable; showing evidence of decline; lacking some property, order, or distinctness of structure previously or usually present

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Homer - (pg. 14) a state or process of being or becoming degenerate; decline or deterioration; degenerate: having lost the physical, mental, or moral qualities considered normal and desirable; showing evidence of decline; lacking some property, order, or distinctness of structure previously or usually present

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Magic Porridge Pot - (pg. 14) The original German title directly translates to "Sweet Porridge", but is commonly known in English as "The Magic Porridge Pot"; the story is a folkloric German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm as tale number 103 in Grimm's Fairy Tales in the 19th century. This link takes you to a pdf version of a contemporary children's book of the fairy tale: https://fliphtml5.com/phryq/dasz/basic

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obesity - (pg. 14) the state or condition of being very fat or overweight; defined by the World Health Organization as abnormal or excessive fat accululation that presents a risk to health. Historically, BMI has been used to measure obesity in medicine, however this is not always a comprehensive assessment of one's health. 

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fat bastards - (pg. 14) fat: an adjective describing a person as having a large amount of excess weight, often used in an insulting manner; bastard; an insult derived from the original meaning of a child born out of wedlock (outside of a legal marriage), but which has now broadened to a derogatory term meaning an unpleasant or despicable person; In Austrialia and the UK, the term is often used in a jokey and fun manner among friends to poke fun at one another, therefore the connotation can differ depending on background, context, and usage, however the term is inherently derogatory in denotation.

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eating yourself through - (pg. 14) Not a common knowledge phrase, but the context here tells us that this phrase means to overeat something, similar to the idioms "eat your heart out" or "eating your weight in [something]"

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you can't get out of first gear - (pg. 14) First gear of a car is the lowest gear and therefore used when traveling very slowly, thus the turn of phrase "can't get out of first gear" is used in reference to a failure to make progress.

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sweet stodgy oats - (pg. 14) stodgy: British meaning; (of food) heavy, filling, thick, semi solid consistency, and high in carbohydrates; oats: another term referring to porridge or oatmeal

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crikey - (pg. 14) Informal, British; an expression of suprise (Ex. Crikey! I never thought I'd see you again!)

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retarded - (pg. 14) definition: affected by intelliectual disability or to be intellectually disabled. Today, the term "retarded", frequently referred to as "the R-word", is increasingly considered offensive and by many is considered an ableist slur and a form of hate speech. The use of "intellectually disabled" is now preferred over "retarded" in medical, educational, and regulartory contexts, as well as in general use. Informally (and considered offensively), the term has been used to mean very stupid or foolish. "While 'mental retardation' was originally introduced as a medical term in 1961 for people with intellectual disabilities, in the decades since, the R-word has become an insult used all too commonly in everday langauge. Those who use the R-word often do so with little regard for the pain it causes people with intellectual disabilities – and the exclusion it perpetuates in our society." Quoted from the Special Olympics webpage "Why the R-Word is the R-Slur."  This article, written by Brandy Johanson-Sebera, M.S. and Julia Wilkins, Ph.D. and published in the Review of Disability Studies, begins with a history of the development and usage of the R-word and then goes into a study of the usage of the word on YouTube. The study breaks down research of 222 YouTube videos using the R-word into categories based on the type of video and then the usage of the word. It is a very interesting look at the modern usage of the word from a research lens and details the mutiple ways that the general U.S. population has used the term in recent years, but in particular the history provided towards the beginning of the article is particularly helpful in understanding the evolution of the word. I offer this selected quote from the study: "Although it is important to recognize the socially constructed nature of the disability that gives rise to the mentally retarded label, the focus of this article is on the changing nature of the terminology used to describe those so classified." If you have thoughts, feelings, or opinions on the usage of the term in the script, I welcome all conversation regarding this very sensitive issue and will take such conversations into serious consideration as we move through this process.

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unequivocal - (pg. 15) meaning leaving no doubt; unambiguous

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hellish - (pg. 15) of or like hell; British (informal): extremely (used for emphasis)

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senility - (pg. 15) the condition of being senile: having or showing the weaknesses or diseases of old age, especially a loss of mental faculties

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morphed - (pg. 15) past tense of to morph: meaning to undergo a gradual process of transformation

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lament - (pg. 15) used here as a verb; meaning to mourn; express regret or disappointment over something considered unsatisfactory, unreasonable, or unfair

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muscle wastage - (pg. 15) wastage: the weakening or deterioration of a part of the body, typically as a result of illness or lack of use; together meaning, the weakening or deterioration of the muscles, in this context, as a result of a lack of use

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kindling-like bone structure - (pg. 15)  kindling; easily combustible small sticks or twigs used for starting a fire; together, this phrase is describing Fitz's bones as being particularly weak, frail, and thin as a result of old age and lack of strength

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shrunken piece of yellowing parchment - (pg. 15) shrunken: having become or been made smaller in size; yellowing: to become yellow, especially with age; parchment: a stiff, flat, thin material used as a writing surface in ancient times; together and in context, this insult is meant to describe Fitz's skin to look like a shrunken, thin, yellowed, ancient piece of paper due to his old age.

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sensuous ninja - (pg. 16) sensuous: attractive or gratifying physically, especially sexually; ninja: a person skilled in the Japanese art of ninjutsu; Informal: a person who excels in a particular skill or activity; In context Quinn is using this term to describe himself as extremely agile, skilled, as well as physically and sexually attractive. It is important to note that the term "ninja" is a term that originates from Japanese culture and has been co-opted by Western cultures and often used in a stereotyped or generalized context without full acknowledgement of the word's origin and cultural meaning. 

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svelte - (pg. 16) (of a person) slender and elegent; lithe, suave.

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oxpecker bird - (pg. 16) a brown African bird related to the starlings which feeds on parasites that infest the skins of large grazing mammals, such as the hippopatamus. In this context, they are particularly referring to the symbiotic relationship that oxpeckers have with hippopotami by eating the parasites off of their backs.

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dictum - (pg. 17) a short statement that expresses a general truth or principle

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peaky - (pg. 17) British: pale from illness or fatigue; sickly

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bulimic buck... frolicking - (pg. 17) bulimic: relating to, characterized by, or affected with the eating disorder bulimia: an eating disorder characterized by regular, often secretive bouts of overeating followed by self-induced vomiting or purging, associated with persistent and excessive concern with body weight; buck: the horned male of deer; frolicking: to play and move about cheerfully, excitedly, or energetically; In conjunction, Dunne uses this simile to describe Burns as appearing malnourished as though he spent the day as active as a energetic deer while depriving himself of his necessary nutrients.

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emaciated kidney... filtering - (pg. 17) emaciated: abnormally thin or weak, especially because of illness or a lack of food; kidney: each of a pair of organs in the abdominal cavity of mammals which filters and excrets urine; filtering: pass (a liquid, gas, light, or sound) through a device or organ to remove unwanted materials; In conjunction, Dunne uses this simile to describe Burns as appearing weak as though he were a undernourished or ill kidney organ after continuing to function as an organ filtering urine for a day. 

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Twiglets - (pg. 17) Twiglets are a wheat-based snack marketed in the United Kingdom that have a distinctive knobbly shape similar to that of twigs and a speckled-brow-over-pale-color appearance.

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flamenco - (pg. 17)  style of Spanish music and dance, played especially on the guitar and danced in a vigorous rhythmic dance style. Video of Flamenco dance performance by Ballet Flamenco Andalucia at New York City Center.

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scamp - (pg. 17) Informal; a person, frequently used to refer to a child, who is mischievous in a likable or amusing way; a wicked or worthless person; a rogue

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press-ups - British term for a push-up: an exercise in which a person lies facing the floor and, keeping their pack straight, raises their body by pressing down on their hands; in this context, Burns is doing these press-ups/push-ups vertically against the wall of the pool

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mammy - (pg. 18) Informal (British); one's mother, especially used as a child's word; it is important to note in our American context, "mammy" can also be used, regarded to be an offensive term, to refer to a Black nursemaid or nanny, usually who cares for white children. The "mammy archetype" has been reinforced through American media in films such as Gone With the Wind in the role of "Mammy" played by Hattie McDaniel. 

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debris - (pg. 18) scattered pieces of waste or remains

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half-wit - (pg. 18) a foolish or stupid person; a person who is feeble-minded

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vocal abstinence - (pg. 19) abstinence: the fact or practice of restraining oneself from indulging in something, typically alcohol; in conjunction, this term indicates that Dunne's mother had strong beliefs about restraining oneself from indulging in conversation or speaking

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mime - (pg. 19) the theatrical technique of suggesting action, character, or emotion without words, using only gesture, expression, and movement.

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devoid of the yap-yap - (pg. 19) devoid: entirely lacking or free from; yap yap: an informal term for chatter, small talk, or to talk at length in an irritating manner

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leotard and the whitened face of the mime artiste - (pg. 19) describing the traditional costume and makeup of a mime artist which is usually black pants, a striped black and white tight fitting shirt, suspenders, a black beret, and a face painted all white with the eyes, eyebrows, and mouth made distinct with black makeup. Though a leotard is generally known as a one piece garment such as those worn in a dance context, in this context it is meant to refer to the artistic uniform of a traditional mime.

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imprint - (pg. 19) an impression or impact made on something; in this context, on the world at large.

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wetting my bed - (pg. 19) to involuntarily urinate during sleep

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season my neck with a little gravy - (pg. 19) Not a common knowledge phrase, Dunne is using this idiom to express that his mother was so fixated on food and so withholding of her affection that the only way that Dunne could entice her to give him physical affection was to 'season his neck with gravy', a notoriously flavorful and fatty sauce.

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mystery of yeast - (pg. 19)  yeast: a microscopic fungus consisting of single oval cells that reproduce by budding, and are capable of converting sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide and thus can be used to ferment beer or to raise dough bread; In this context, Dunne is referring to the mysterious transformation that yeast causes in bread and in the fermentation of alcohol which is a chemical process that is unknown or perplexing to most. He compares this to the unknown and perplexing nature of the relationship between mothers and their sons.

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Fata Morgana - (pg. 20) an Italian term originally referring to a mirage seen in the Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily and attrubuted to Morgan le Fay, the term literally means 'fairy Morgan', but name means a mirage: or an optical illusion or something that is believed to be true or real but that is actually false or unreal.

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the historic moment Howard Carter unsealed the doorway into Tutankhamun's burial chamber - (pg. 20) on the 26th of November 1922, the British archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter made a tiny hole in the doorway of a tomb which he then looked through to reveal the contents of Tutankhamun's tomb. Tutankhamun was the Pharaoh of Egypt in the 18th century. This moment was particularly breath-taking and historically significant; Dunne is comparing the reveal of the BBQ upon its arrival to this historic moment in time.

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plastic toy in a Kellogg's box - (pg. 21) Kellogg's is a well-known and popular cereal brand. In 1957, Kellogg's first had the idea to inclue a minature plastic toy in their cereal boxes, which became a very popular gimick and part of their brand for decades following. However, the company decided to stop including plastic toys in their boxes after 2009, so this could potentially be an Easter egg from Walsh as the play was published in 2010, this line is possibly an indicator of the ways that these characters are completely detached from the progression of the modern world.

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garden tragedy - (pg. 21) Not a common knowledge phrase, but one of Dunne's own usage in this instance to refer to the dissappointing nature of a BBQ that only lit once but which now remains unusable but is still central to their outdoor area where they spend their days.

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unworkable images - (pg. 21) unworkable: not able to function or be carried out successfully; impractical; Fitz is exclaiming that the disfunctional BBQ only provides the men with visions and images of possibilities that are in fact impossible due to the BBQ being broken and unfunctional.

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pornography - (pg. 21) a printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display or sexual organs or activity; In this context, Fitz is connecting this term to his previous term "unworkable images" as pornography is frequently depictions of sexual activity or body parts in a way that is unattainable for the common person, his therefore claiming the BBQ to be an unattainable, but yet desireable and enticing, aspiration.

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slipped disc - (pg. 21) a vertebral disc that is displaced or partly protruding, pressing on nearby nerves and causing back pain or sciatica; a very painful back injury

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cove - (pg. 22) a small sheltered bay

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cypress - (pg. 23) an evergreen coniferous tree with small rounded woody cones and flattened shoot bearing small scale-like leaves; a cypress tree, or branches from it, can be used as a symbol of mourning; they are very commonly seen in Italy and the Mediterranean

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hyacinth - (pg. 23)  a bulbous plant of the lily family, with straplike leaves and a compact spike of bell-shaped fragrant flowers.

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parched grass - (pg. 23) parch: to dry up or wither due to sunlight or heat; referring to dried up and withered grass as a result of sunlight and heat in addition to lack of water

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whinging bloodied slugs - (pg. 23)  whinging: British: complain persistently and in a peevish or irritating way (pronounced using the soft "g" sound); bloodied: covered or stained with blood; slugs: a slow, lazy person

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innards - (pg. 23) Informal: entrails: a person or animals intestines or internal organs, especially when removed or exposted

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suicide - (pg. 24) the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally. There are multiple references during the play to an act of suicide which has occurred within the world of play, albeit prior to the start of the play. If you have any concerns or difficulty handling this heavy topic within the show, I am open and available for conversation, and the resources at CMU's Counseling and Psychological Services are available to assist in the case of a mental health need or crisis.

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This is a man who went to war and butchered thousands without breaking a sweat - (pg. 24) The is in reference to the power and strength of Odysseus, who, according to Greek mythology and the story detailed in the Illiad, destroyed the city of Troy and ended the Trojan War single handedly. The Odyssey tells the tale of Odysseus wandering the seas for ten years as he struggled to return from the Trojan War.

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bowel movement - (pg. 24)  an act of defecation

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palpitations - (pg. 24) a noticeably rapid, strong, or irregular heartbeat due to agitation, exertion, or illness.

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legend who faced monsters - (pg. 24) this is another reference to Odysseus' strength and triumphs as reference in the Illiad and the Odyssey written by Homer. In these stories, Odysseus faces many mythical creatures including: Cyclops (also known as Polyphemus), a monster with one eye and the son of Poseidon, who Odysseus blinds; Poseidon himself, who seeks revenge on Odysseus on behalf of his son Cyclops; the cannabalistic Laestrygonias who attack Odysseus' ship; the enchantress Circe who curses Odysseus' crew by turning them into pigs, but who Odysseus convinces to undo the curse by becoming her lover; He survives the temptations of the Sirens' song, mermaid like creatures who lure sailors to their death with their seductive song; He defeats Scylla, a six-headed sea monster; He is the lone survivor of a final attack from Zeus, the king of the gods; And finally he defeats Calypso, a beautiful, lustful nymph who tries to trap Odysseus on her island permanently. Quite the hefty list of monsters and triumphs!

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unblinking, unphased - (pg. 24) unblinking: (of a person or their gaze or eye) not blinking, in this context, the word is similar to unflinching: meaning not showing fear or hesitation in the face of danger or difficulty; unphased: not suprised or worried, undaunted

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phobia - (pg. 24) an extreme or irrational fear or aversion to something

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withering - (pg. 24) the action of becoming literally dry and shriveled, figuratively meaning the action of declining or decaying, to deteriorate or weaken

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thievery - (pg. 24) the action of stealing another person's property

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pigeon-holed - (pg. 25) past tense of pigeon-hole: to assign [someone or something] to a particular category or class, especially in a manner that is too rigid or exclusive

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Master Derivative - master: meaning having or showing very great skill or proficiency; derivative: (typically of an artist or work of art) imitative of the work of another person, and usually disapproved of for that reason; together, Fitz is saying that previously he had thought to be the most skilled at immitating the ideas and work of other people without coming up with his own original thoughts, but now from understanding his unique phobia of autumn, he see Dunne as a more creative and original person than he previously thought. This is quite the back-handed compliment in this context, whether or not Fitz intends it to be so. 

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Laureate - (pg. 25) a person who is honored with an award for outstanding creative or intellectual achievement.

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G and T - (pg. 25) an abbreviation of Gin and Tonic, or a drink containing a mixture of gin: a clear alcholic spirit distilled from grain or malt and flavored with juniper berries; and tonic water: a bitter, carbonated soft drink made with quinine: a bitter crystalline compound present in cinchona bark

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a sup - (pg. 25) Northern English term for a drink that will be had by sips or spoonfuls, such as an alcoholic drink 

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the reef - (pg. 25) a ridge of jagged rock, coral, or sand just above or below the surface of the sea

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levity - (pg. 26) humor or frivolity, especially the treatment of a serious matter with humor or in a manner lacking due respect

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a tonic - (pg. 26) n this context Fitz is using the meaning of tonic: as a medicinal substance taken to give a feeling of vigor or well-being, to refer to his use of humor as something with a healing and invigorating effect

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wading through the doldrums of his subconscious - (pg. 26) wading: present participle of wade: to walk with effort through water or another liquid or viscous (having a thick, sticky consistency between solid and liquid) substance; doldrums: a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression, coming from the initial meaning of a region in the Atlantic Ocean with calms, sudden storms, and light unpredictable winds; subconscious: the subconscious part of the mind, of or concerning to the part of the mind of which one is not fully aware but which influences one's actions and feelings; together, Dunne is asking the rhetorical question if it is Fitz that is slowly moving through the calm and inactive parts of his subconscious thoughts, as this would be reasonable considering their belief that Fitz will be the first to be killed upon the return of Odysseus.

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wandering aimlessly through the forest of disenchantment - (pg. 26) wandering: traveling aimlessly from place to place; aimlessly: without purpose or direction; disenchantment: a feeling of disappointment about someone or something you previously respected or admired; together, Dunne is asking the rhetorical question if it is Fitz who is wandering without purpose or direction through the feelings of disappointment about their inevitable death; he is also utilizing some irony in this invented turn of phrase by using the term "forest of disenchantment" when the more common and uplifting term is the "enchanted forest". 

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sailing a sea of desolation - (pg. 26) desolation: a state of complete emptiness or destruction, anguished misery or loneliness; Dunne is asking the rhetorical question if Fitz is choosing to sail a metaphorical sea of misery and loneliness in response to their prophesied deaths.

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Cockeyed Optimist - (pg. 26) cockeyed: crazy, stupid, or ridiculous; optimist: a person who tends to be hopeful and confident about the future or success of something; together meaning, someone who, perhaps foolishly or absurdly, believes in the best or most hopeful outcomes.

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a little high - (pg. 26)  feeling euphoric, especially from the effects or drugs or alcohol; this in reference to the pills that Fitz took earlier in the script, see entry "container of tablets" from pg. 7

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"The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost" - (pg. 26) The Holy Trinity in Christian doctrine, referring to the unity of the Father (God, father of Christ), the Son (Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God) and the Holy Ghost also known as the Holy Spirit, or the intangible aspect of the Christian idea of the spirit not encapsulated in the form of a holy figure or person.

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flotsam - (pg. 26) the wreckage of a ship or its cargo found floating on or washed up by the sea; people or things that have been rejected and are regarded as worthless

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motto - (pg. 27) a short sentence or phrase chosen as encapsulating the beliefs or ideals guiding an individual, family, or institution

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"Is Res Non Vos Es Caro In A Assus." - (pg. 27) Literally translated to "this is not the case, you are meat in a roast" but the meaning is indicated by Burns to mean "It Matters Not, We Are Meat On A Barbecue"; playing on the tradition of religious institutions or institutions of higher learning using Latin mottos because of the implicit prestige and the history of Latin as the basis of Romantic languages and Christian religious texts.

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tennis-table bat - (pg. 27) table-tennis: also known as ping-pong, it is a game resembling tennis but played on a table with small paddles and a hollow plastic ball; bat: referring to the paddles traditionally used to play table-tennis or ping-pong

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morality - (pg. 28) principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior; a particular system of values and principles of conduct, especially held by a specified person or society

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festering pool - (pg. 28) (of a wound or sore) forming pus, becoming infected; (of food or waste) rotten and offensive to the sense; (of a negative feeling or problem) becoming worse or more intense, especially through long-term neglect or indifference; in this context, Dunne is referring to the pool in a metaphorical sense, and therefore principly using the third definition, meaning becoming worse or more problematic, but is also invoking the negative sensual connotations of the first two definitions of the word "festering" to create a particularly negative adjective of the "festering pool"

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veritable Apostle of Goodness - (pg. 28) veritable: being in fact the thing, being real and true, not false, unreal, or imaginary; Apostle: a term first used to refer to the twelve chief disciples of Jesus Christ and consequently used to refer to Christian teachers and missionaries of faith, in a broader sense however, meaning an idol, teacher, or leader of a particular, generally a morally good, ideology; together meaning, Dunne is refering to his new, reborn sense of self and identity to be a true and real leader and icon of goodness. 

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heavily fingered dictionary - (pg. 28) heavily: to a great degree, in large amounts; fingered: having used the fingers to turn or flip the pages of a book; all together, Dunne is telling Fitz to remove the word "trust" from the dictionary of his mind and replace it with his own face as he will from now on be the very image of trust. The use of "heavily fingered dictionary" could potentially be a reference to the fact that Fitz is a frequent and apt reader, but it could also be a passive aggressive insult implying that Fitz must use the dictionary very frequently because he is unintelligent.

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supplant - (pg. 28) supersede and replace

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Jeepers - (pg. 28) informal term, used to express surprise or alarm; derived from "Jesus!" used as an expression of suprise or alarm

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fiber of your being - (pg. 28) this common turn of phrase means with all of one's effort or desire; something you want or believe in very much

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heave - (pg. 28)  informal, a case of retching or vomiting; Quinn is saying that Dunne's efforts at seduction are so repulsive they cause him to gag or want to vomit

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wired for change - (pg. 29) wired for: meaning to be set up for something, geared towards something, naturally conditioned towards something; In context, Dunne is expressing that humankind, and they themselves, are built to constantly change and evolve.

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communing with those hairy apes - (pg. 29) communing: share one's intimate thoughts or feelings with someone, especially on a spiritual level; hairy apes: a reference to the scientific theory of humankind's evolution from apes; in context, Dunne is saying that unless mankind were set up to change and evolve, they would still be living and interacting with the apes from which mankind came from.

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subservient-bespectacled-little-shitheads - (pg. 29) subservient: prepared to obey others unquestioningly; less important, subordinant; bespectacled: wearing eyeglasses; shithead: vulgar slang, a stupid, unpleasant, and unpopular person; together and in context, Quinn is insulting Burns by calling him less important than the others, making fun of him for wearing glasses (this is the first time that Burns wearing glasses has been implied), belittling him, and using vulgar language to insult him, and saying that he is more comfortable and therefore alike to the hairy apes from which they have all evolved. In the next sentence, Quinn drives home this insult and exclusion of Burns by saying "But not us three!" referring to himself, Dunne, and Fitz as a company. 

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chuffed - (pg. 29) more commonly used in British English, meaning quite pleased, delighted

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follow spot - (pg. 29) a spotlight for following a performer moving about on a stage

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live transmission - (pg. 29) a live broadcasting, referring to various types of media that are broadcasting without significant delay

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outlandishly theatrical - (pg. 29) outlandishly: in a strange or extremely unusual way; theatrical: exaggerated and excessively dramatic

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Crackerbread house - (pg. 29) crackerbread: a crisp, textured flatbread that is typically thin and small in size; together, Dunne is referring to his house as made of thin walls and being small in size, fragile or easily breakable

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claggy-acid-breath - (pg. 29) claggy: British english, meaning thick and sticky; acid: sharp-tasting/smelling or sour; Dunne is saying that Penelope's breath does not smell like a gross, sour-smelling, acidic smell that is generally associated with morning breath as a result of sleeping while your stomach lies idle at night but contains stomach acid.

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pheromones - (pg. 30) a chemical substance produced and released into the environment by a mammal, affecting the behavior or physiology of others of its species; chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside of the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavior of the receiving individual; a chemical substance released that is generally received positively as a trigger or indicator of sexual attraction or viability

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builds a mighty tower in my underpants - (pg. 30) a euphemism referring to a penial erection

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peasant olive soap - (pg. 30) referring to soap handmade by peasants in Greece generally made of an olive oil base

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filling a cistern and pulverizing a petrous turd - (pg. 30) cistern: a tank for storing water, especially as part of a flushing toilet; pulverizing: reduce to fine particles; petrous: in anatomy, noting or pertaining the hard dense portion of the temporal bone; in this context, meaning like stone, very dense, very hard; turd: vulgar slang for a lump of excrement or feces; Dunne is on a tangent talking about how some water serves only the unpleasant purpose of flushing and destroying dense pieces of feces down a toilet.

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edited by a lesser scribe - (pg. 30) lesser: not so great or important as the other or rest; scribe: a writer or author; Dunne is rejecting Quinn's feedback by saying he will not respond to criticsm from a weaker writer

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unhand me - (pg. 30) unhand: release someone from one's grasp; a demand to be let go of from someone else's grasp

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"Morning Mood" from Peer Gynt - (pg. 30) 'Morning Mood' is a part of Edvard Grief's Peer Gynt, Opus number 23, written in 1875 as incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play of the same name, a play which chronicles the journey of its title character from the Norwegian mountains to the North African desert and back. The song is written in E major and alternates between the flute and oboe, and is orchestrated for flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, timpani, and string section. The climax occurs early in the piece at the first forte which signifies the sun breaking through.

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courtship - (pg. 31) behavior designed to persuade someone to marry or develop a romantic relationship with one

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pastoral music embellishing his already turgid lyricism - (pg. 31) pastoral: a piece of art (visual, literary, or musical) portraying an idealized version of country life; embellishing: make something more attractive by the addition of decorative details or features; turgid: swollen, distended or congested; (of language or style) tediously pompous or bombastic; lyricism: an artist's expression of emotion in an imaginative and beautiful way; In his stage directions, Enda Walsh is presenting the intention of using 'Morning Mood' as a dramatic underscoring for Dunne's already very theatrical performance.

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tiger print - (pg. 31) a pattern on fabric resembling the black and orange stripes of a tiger

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Ionian breeze - (pg. 31) Ionian: relating to the Ionian islands, which are a group of islands in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece; the Ionian breeze would be particularly pleasant coming off of the beautiful Ionian sea

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bristling shoulders - (pg. 31) bristling: aggressively brisk or tense; to stand upright especially in anger or fear; describing the shoulders as tensing out of anxiety, tension, anger, or fear

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blackbird - (pg. 31) a European bird with mainly black feathers; known to be a symbol of death, change, magic, and mystery

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warming what cockles are left in my arid heart - (pg. 31) cockles of the heart: the core of one's being, the wrinkles of the heart; to warm the cockles of one's heart: to warm and gratify one's deepest feelings; arid: dry, barren, lacking interest, excitement, or meaning; Dunne is describing how the presence of the blackbird touched him in the deepest part of his soul in spite of his heart being empty and dry.

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a siren - (pg. 31) referring to the creature in Greek mythology: a number of women or creatures of the ocean whose singing was so seductive as to lure unwary sailors to their deaths on the rocks; they are referring to the bird's call as Penelope's siren song, luring Dunne to a crazed feeling of love and infatuation.

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a carousel in my mind - (pg. 31) carousel: a rotating device or machine, like a merry-go-round, a children's ride that moves in a circle; Dunne is saying that the call of Penelope creates a thought loop in his mind so that she is all he can think about.

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rebuilding me, refashioning me, reupholstering - (pg. 31) rebuilding: to build something again after it has been damaged or destroyed; refashioning: fashion something again or differently; reupholstering: to change out something (usually refering to a piece of furniture) with new materials, especially with a different fabric, in a metaphorical context, referring to Dunne as being rebuilt out of new materials from the power of Penelope.

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fuckers - (pg. 32) vulgar slang, a contemptible or stupid person (often used as a general term of abuse)

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mortal doubts - (pg. 32) a doubt or fear that comes from being a mortal human, susceptible to death

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master scribe - (pg. 32) master: meaning having or showing very great skill or proficiency; scribe: writer or author; together meaning a greatly skilled writer

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lavender - (pg. 32) a purple flower with a soothing floral scent; lavender can represent purity, silence, devotion, serenity, grace, and calmness

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wounded hound - (pg. 32) wounded: inflected with a wound, injured; hound: another term for a dog; Dunne is using this analogy to describe himself to be alike to an injured dog

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Ionian Sea - (pg. 32) The Ionian Sea is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy and the west coast of Greece; Homer's the Odyssey places the setting of Odysseus' home near the Ionian Sea and within Greece.

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old ham - (pg. 32) ham: an overacting inferior performer, an actor of low grade; Enda Walsh in these stage directions is calling Dunne an old and overacting performer

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puffs color into my cheeks - (pg. 33) meaning to cause one's cheeks to flush with color from a rush of blood to the face due to pride and sexual attraction

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his heroics - (pg. 33) behavior or talk that is bold or dramatic, especially excessively or unexpectedly so

 

PEDIGREE - (pg. 33) the background or history of a person or thing, especially as conferring distinction or quality or an upper-class status

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grouting - (pg. 34) the mortar or paste filling the crevices between wall or floor tiles

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talking dead - (pg. 34) meaning that these men are destined to die later in the day, they are speaking to one another but they are already as good as dead because of their prophesied future ending

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platonic love - (pg. 35) a type of love in which sexual desire or romantic features are nonexistent or have been suppressed or sublimated; the type of love that exists between close friends

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slit his own wrists - (pg. 35)  to attempt to kill oneself by cutting one's wrists; There are multiple references during the play to an act of suicide which has occurred within the world of play, albeit prior to the start of the play. If you have any concerns or difficulty handling this heavy topic within the show, I am open and available for conversation, and the resources at CMU's Counseling and Psychological Services are available to assist in the case of a mental health need or crisis. 

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the gods have forgotten us - (pg. 36) referring to the Greek gods which are prevalent figures in Greek society and therefore prevalent characters in Homer's the Odyssey. In Greek mythology, the Greek gods are known to be particularly flighty and are not inherently benevolent figures; they can become irritated and malevolent, but more often than not, are not concerned with the plights of mortal or regular humans; this is a phrase of despair and hopelessness indicating that there is no divine force that will save them from their imminent death