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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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"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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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.

 

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

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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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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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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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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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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 deaths

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as useful as a cock in a convent - (pg. 38) cock: vulgar slang, a penis; convent: a Christian community under monastic vows, especially one of nuns; this vulgar and humorous turn of phrase is meant to call someone or something extremely un-useful or as useful as a sexually active man or penis would be in a convent where nuns have taken a vow of chastity and abstinence from sex.

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incontinent near-imbecile - (pg. 45) incontinent: having no or insufficient voluntary control over urination or defecation, an insult often directed at those older in age; near: meaning here, close to, almost imbecile: a stupid person, idiotic, unintelligent; together calling Fitz old and therefore insulting his body's ability to function and insulting his intelligence

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manhood as shriveled to boyhood - (pg. 45) manhood: information, used euphemistically to refer to a man's genitals; shriveled: past tense of shrivel: wrinkle and contract or cause to wrinkle and contract, become insignificant or ineffectual; boyhood: the state or time of being a boy; together, Quinn is insulting Fitz by euphemistically implying that Fitz's has lost his ability to perform sexually due to his age

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mock virility - (pg. 47) mock: not authentic or real, but without the intention to deceive; virility: (in a man) the quality of having strength, energy, and a strong sex drive; manliness; together, Dunne is calling Quinn's dyed hair an inauthentic show of his youth and status as sexually viable and attractive

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fraudulent follicle-er - (pg. 47) fraudulent: obtained, done by, or involving deception, especially criminal deception; follicle: the sheath of cells and connective tissue which surrounds the root of a hair; Dunne is using this made up phrase to accuse Quinn of producing the appearance of his hair falsely and of therefore being a fraud

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liberal hugger of humanity - (pg. 49) liberal: willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas; relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise; hugger: a person who gives hugs or is fond of hugging; humanity: the human race, human being collectively; Quinn is making a play on the phrase "tree-hugger" which is often used as a demeaning phrase towards people who are overly passionate about the environment, Quinn is being condescending towards Burns' change of heart or new desire to be a moral person

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blacker-than-black fucking soul - (pg. 49)  a black soul is often used to describe someone who is percieved as being evil, malicious, or lacking in feeling or empathy; Quinn is pointing out the fact that prior to this day, Burns' had not had moral withholdings against the way their little society was functioning and that this change is in contrast with the way they all had been living for 20 years together selfishly and without empathy for each other. 

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banging his tambourine at this new world order - (pg. 49) banging his tambourine: to be playing the tambourine enthusiastically as a method of celebration; new world order: this is another condescending reference to Burns' new proposed outlook on life, Quinn is demeaning Burns' efforts as in-genuine and inconsequential by invoking sarcasm 

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glorious utopia - (pg. 49) glorious: having, worthy of, or bringing fame and admiration; utopia: an imagine place or state of things in which everything is perfect; Quinn is continuing his condescension of Burns' new outlook by calling it a utopia, when Burns' understands that they are far from a utopia but would like to combat Quinn with ideas of moral goodness, Quinn is invoking sarcasm to demean Burns' ideas

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It's a rainbow - (pg. 50) Traditionally, a rainbow is a sign of hope, the beauty after the storm, with the mythical pot of gold and good fortune at the rainbow's end; However, an underlying meaning could be interpreted from Quinn that he is also referring to the fact that rainbows are ultimately reflections of light, so no matter how much you might chase them, you will never find the bottom of a rainbow and find the promised wealth and good fortune you search for. So even though what Burns speaks of sounds nice and promising, Quinn is calling it an illusion of faith.

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amn't I?! - (pg. 50) an abbreviation of "am I not?"; therefore Quinn is meaning when he says this, "I'm right, am I not?"

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'less you toe the line - (pg. 51) 'less: abbreviation of "unless"; toe the line: accept the authority, principles, or policies of a particular group, especially under pressure; Quinn is saying to Burns, "if you don't submit to my authority, then I will react with violence"

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opens the press - (pg. 52) the press: an Irish term for "cupboard" or cabinet dating from the old english definition of "pressen" meaning "to clasp, hold, cluster", which a cupboard, or press, is used to hold things or gather them together; Dunne is saying that his mother opened the cabinet to retrieve a package of biscuits.

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waves a fist at God for mercy - (pg. 55) In the film Gone with the Wind, one of the most iconic moments is when Scarlett O'Hara, at the end of the second act, collapses into the dirt out of exhaustion and hunger. She then stands and, as she overlooks her family's plantation, which has since lost its former glory and is bereft of food, and shakes her fist at God saying, "If I have to lie, steal, cheat, or kill, as God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again".

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She takes Romeo's dagger and stabs herself - (pg. 56) this is a reference to the way that Juliet kills herself at the end of Romeo and Juliet when she awakes from her medicinally induced slumber and realizes that Romeo has killed himself thinking that she was actually dead. When she realizes this, she takes Romeo's dagger and uses it to stab herself.

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JFK's head explodes - (pg. 57) shortly after noon on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy (JFK) was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade (a procession of motor vehicles, typically carrying and escorting a prominent person) through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas. He was in the back seat of a vehicle with his wife, Jackie Kennedy, when he was in the back of the neck and he was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:00pm.

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La Pietà - (pg. 57) the Madonna della Pietà, informally known as La Pietà, is a marble sculpture of Jesus and Mary at Mount Golgotha, sculpted by Michelangelo Buonarroti, and is now housed in Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. It is a key work of Italian Renaissance sculpture and often taken as the start of the High Renaissance. The sculpture captures the moment when Jesus, taken down from the cross on which he was crucified, is givne to his mother Mary.

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Eros the Greek God of Love - (pg. 57) Eros was the Greek god of carnal love. In Latin he is called Amor (love) or Cupid (desire). Eros was the assistant, and according to some the son, of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and fertility. He made people fall in love by shooting an arrow into their heart.