Difference between revisions of "P"

Revision as of 11:41, 21 September 2008

Padang
57

paduasoy
149: A rich heavy silk fabric with a corded effect (American Heritage Dictionary)

Painswick
199; Gloucestershire village about 5 miles north of Stroud; Fair, 498, 502

Palisado
248; O.E.D.: As Palisade (fr. palisade), a fence of pales or stakes.

Palladian
719; Style of architecture based on the writings and buildings of the Vicenza humanist and theorist, Andrea Palladio (1508-80) one of the great architects of the 16th century, and perhaps the most influential. Palladio felt that architecture should be governed by reason and by the principles of classical antiquity as it was known in surviving buildings and writings. Key features - clarity, order, symmetry, as well as paying homage to antiquity. Inigo Jones introduced the style to England, after a trip to Italy (1613-14), e.g. the Queen's House at Greenwich

Pantograph
487; an instrument for copying (usu.) maps, consisting of four rigid bars jointed in parallelogram form

Paoli's Revolt
28; In Corsica, named after its patriotic instigator, Pasquale de Paoli (1725-1807). The struggle was originally against the Genoese who ruled Corsica. After the island was sold to France in 1768, Paoli's forces fought the French but were eventually overrun by the French army; he escaped to England where he was introduced to Dr. Johnson by Boswell.

Papists
233; followers of the Pope

Paradicsom, Count
195

Paradise of Chance
421; gaming room at Castle Lepton

Parageography
141

Paranoia
41; 44; 73; 128; 132; 140; 158; 192; 250; 273; Jesuits, 287-88; 291; "Riot's indoor Sister, Conspiracy" 305; 320; 394; 429; Mason's, 438; 479; unseen Persecutor, 546; 683; 746

Parcelsus, Dr. (real name: Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim) (1493-1541)
267; German alchemist and physician, born in Einsieden, Switzerland; his self-coined name meant "beyond Celsus," a Roman physician. He coined the word "alkahest," from the Arabic, which became "alchemy." He established the use of chemistry in medicine, gave the most up-to-date description of syphillis, and was the first to argue that small doses of what makes people ill can also cure them.

pari passu
507; Latin: "with equal step"; at an equal rate or pace

614; Signed on Feb. 10, 1763, it settled the Franco-British conflicts of the Seven Years' War (1756-63); it was signed by representatives of Great Britain and Hanover on one side and France and Spain on the other. France renounced to Britain all the mainland of North American east of the Mississippi, except for New Orleans and environs, as well as all conquests in India and the East Indies since 1749. Britain made concessions to France in the West Indies.

Paronomasia
396; a play on words or pun

Patsy
401; on Long Island

Paxton Boys
304; slaughtered the Indians; 310; 488; 572; 613; MORE

Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle
381

Peace of Paris
420; See Paris, Treaty of

Peach, Sam, Jr.
185; son of Sam Sr.

Peach, Samuel
73; silk merchant and "growing power" in E.I.C.; 139; 169; 189; 203; 254; "of Chalford" 270;

Peach, Susannah
143; wife of Bradley; 169; 184; Married Bradley 1744; Died 1757

Pearl of Sumatra
24; tavern in London where M&D, Bodine & the L.E.D. go

Pearse
114

Pebble-Lenses
549

Péché Mortel
727; French: "fatal weakness"

Pegeen
392; Perhaps a nod to the character Pegeen Mike, the lusty innkeeper in John Millington Synge's The Playboy of the Western World; Red-head at Inn

Peggy
131; wife of Lord Clive; sister of N. Maskelyne

Pelf
217; money, usu. with a contemptuous implication

Pelhamites
209; Henry Pelham (1695-1754), an English statesman, took an active part in suppressing the [J#jacobites|Jacobite Rising]] of 1715. He became prime minister in 1743; events during his ministry include the Austrian Succession War, the Jacobite Rising of 1745, and the calendar reform; 283; 538; 557

Pelog
77; pélog is the seven-tone system of ancient Javanese/Balinese music known as gamelan, which system evolved in the 16th century or perhaps earlier

Pembroke
116

Pendennis Point
704; in Falmouth in Cornwall, England, and the site of Pendennis Castle, one of a chain of castles built along the southern shore of England in the mid-16th c. by Henry VIII to defend against possible French attacks, and pictured here.

Penns
293; family that was the proprietors of Pennsylvania; William, 257, 266, 335; 341; Penn's Edict, 616; Pennite refuse, 638

217; written by Timothy Tox; Timothy Tox's Pennsylvaniad is a play on Ebenezer Cooke's poem The Sot-weed Factor or A Voyage to Marylandiad. The poem is a concentrated vision of colonial life that was likely influential on Pynchon's own reworking of the local history.

Ebenezer Cooke first appears in Maryland records in 1694, probably at the time an adult of 27; he lives in England and Maryland periodically, then after 1712 settles in Maryland permanently. In addition to the satiric poem The Sot-weed Factor, he wrote a few elegies, a narrative poem on Bacon's Rebellion, a revised version of The Sotweed Factor, and a related poem, Sot-weed Redivivus. First published in London in 1708, The Sot-weed Factor, set in sing-song iambic tetrameter, chronicles the misadventures of an English emigre to the American colony of Maryland and his ignominious return home. (The Sotweed Factor is also the name of a contemporary novel by John Barth dealing with the same time period.) Much more on Cooke here; Wikipedia entry.

Pennsylvania Gazette
656; owned, since 1729, by Benjamin Franklin

Pennycomequick, Lord
721; "global-Communications Nabob"

Pentacle
427-28; a 5-pointed star; 680

Pentateuch
772; the first five books of the Bible

Pepinazos
477; "Anthem of the [M&D] Expedition":

Pepinazos, nunca         Blows, never
Abrazos, Si me           Hugs, if you
Quieras,                 loved me,
!Oigame!--               Listen to me!--
Dejate,                  Leave,
Los Pe-pi-naa-zos!       The blows!

Perpetual Motion
318;

Perth Amboy
566; City in Middlesex County, eastern New Jersey, a port on Raritan Bay, at the southern end of Arthur Kill (a channel), and at the mouth of the Raritan River; settled 1683, incorporated 1718. From 1686 to 1702, it was the capital of East Jersey colony and alternated with Burlington as the capital of New Jersey province (from 1776, state) from the late 1730s to 1790. The name Amboy is probably derived from a Leni-Lenape Native American term for "elbow of land"; the name Perth honors James Drummond, 4th earl of Perth, an early Scots proprietor in the region.

Peters, Reverend
773

Philadelphia

8: "Northern Liberties, Spring Garden and Germantown": neighborhoods

Southernmost Point: South Street marks what used to be the southern edge, and M&D commenced their surveying at the northwest corner of 2nd and South.

Geography " Philadelphia History

Philadelphia Irredempta
612; "Irredempta" is Latin for "unredeemed" and in the context (national claims of territory and the fact that the name "Philadelphia" is a Latin formation, calling for a Latin adjective) almost certainly is intended to evoke "Italia Irredenta" (Italian for "Unredeemed Italy"), the mid-19th century Italian nationalist catchphrase for the areas on which the new nation of Italy had a claim but which were under foreign (Austro-Hungarian or French) control.

Philadelphia Lawyer
So notorious were these folks that the term has long become synonymous with one who makes things unnecessarily complicated and obfuscates matters.

Philosophes
377; a group of writers, mathematicians, scientists and philosophers eventually known as the French rationalists, who first came together to work on Diderot's 35-volume Encyclopedie project. Voltaire is usually considered one of the Philosophes.

Philosophical Transactions
292; 494

Phiz
30; Slang: "face"; derived from "physiognomy" (facial features)

Phoebe
324-25; R.C.'s wife

Phoebus
273

Pietist
293

"Was that Oinking upon the rooftop?" 143; 220; "aviating swine" 257 (play on the contemptuous or disbelieving "yeah--when pigs fly!" and on Carroll's "whether pigs have wings."); "rooting Hogs" 259; 278; 296; 330; 365; 382; 394; 409; 458; 495; 624; 762; Pigs in Gravity's Rainbow

Piggotts
74; taking the longitude by lunar culminations

Pillars of Hercules
612

pinguid
215; fat, oily, greasy

Pirogue
243; nearly flat-bottomed boat, able to cruise in shallow water, marsh and swamp--as in: "Good-bye Joe, we got to go, me oh my-o/we got to go row a pirogue down the bay-o." - "Jambalaya" Hank Williams

Pitt, William (1708-78)
7; The 1st Earl of Chatham, known as "the elder Pitt," was an English statesman and orator, serving in parliament beginning in 1735; after becoming nominally secretary of state (but virtually premier) in 1756, he conducted a quite successful military policy, repeatedly defeating the French (including the Battle of Quebec); his second son was William Pitt, "the Younger."

Pitt, William ("the Younger") (1759-1806)
7; At the age of 24, William Pitt became Britain's youngest prime minister where his government (which lasted 17 years) pursued good relations with America and reorganization of the East India Company.

Pitt & Pliny
7; the twins who are the sons of J. Wade & Zab LeSpark

Pizza
234-35; 260

Plafond
412; French: "ceiling"; in cabin

Plato
262; "'in his Republick',--'When the Forms of Musick change, 'tis a Promise of civil Disorder'"; 282; Tale of Er, 537

Pleides
365; constellations aka "The Seven Sisters"; "among the first stars mentioned in astronomical literature, appearing in Chinese annals of 2357 B.C. . . In China they were worshiped by girls and young women as the 'Seven Sisters of Industry,' while [at] the first hsiu they were Mao, Mau, or Maou, anciently Mol, the Constellation, and Gang, of unknown signification; 628

Pliny, Gaius Pinius Secundus (23-79)
7; Roman writer on natural history, published the 37-volume Historia Naturalis in 77, which was an exhaustive classification everything of natural or non-artificial origin, including digressions on human investions and institutions; 595;

Pliny, Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (62-113)
7; aka Pliny the Younger, was the nephew of Pliny the Elder, but became his charge after the death of his father (married to PtE's sister) and was eventually adopted. He distinguished himself as a writer, orator and politician.

Plumbaginous
547; resembling or containing graphite

Pluto
In Roman mythology, Pluto is the ruler of the infernal regions; Plutonian wife, 147; "young Plutonians" [Plutonians ascribe the changes on the Earth's surface to the agency of fire], 219; Arts of Pluto, 233; Plutonians, 317, 500; "a Plutonian History unfolding far below our feet" 548; "Vomited from Pluto's own Gut!" 701; MORE

Poesia
489; Italian: "poetry"

Polaris
333; aka the North Star; of Evil, 428; 468

pollicate
30; from Latin "pollex" = "thumb", thus = waving one's thumb at; See also desuperpollicate

Polonaise
564;

polymorphous perversity
Castle Lepton, 412-13

Pompadour, Madame le Marquise de
373; mistress of Louise XV, she controlled public affairs for the king; 377

Pongee
169; soft, usu. unbleached Chinese silk fabric woven from uneven threads of raw silk

Pontiac (c.?1720-69)
276; Chief of the Ottawa Indians, in 1763 he led an uprising against the English garrisons, besieging Detroit for five months; it was this uprising that led to the British Proclamation of 1763; Pontiac was killed by an Illinois indian; 316; 614

Poor Richard
294; Benjamin Franklin published his own writing in "Poor Richard's Almanack" annually, with great success

489; English poet, called the "Wasp of Twickingham" for his small stature (he was 4'6") and his acerbic writing; and Lady Montague, 691

Pope Joan
185; an English woman who, in the Dark Ages, disguised herself as a man and became pope. She was said to have succeeded as "John VIII" on the death of Leo IV who died in 855. Most scholars now believe there never was a Pope Joan, but for centuries the story was accepted as fact; Tarot Connections

Popeye
486; cartoon sailor and boyfriend of Olive Oil ("I am what I am, and that's all that I am...I'm Popeye the Sailor Man!")

Popish
190; Roman Catholic; 318; 339

Portes-Cochères
516; in Jesuit College in Quebec

Portland Bill
127; a permanent sandbar: in this case, meaning half-way along the south coast of England

Power
312; 544; of kings and surveyors, 585-86; 596; 599; 627; 649; 662; 731; "They who control the Microscopick, control the World" 663; 748

Prandium gratis non est
317; Latin: "There is no free lunch"

Presbyterian
488-89; 495

Presque Isle
420; "Boys from"

Prester John
345; The legends of Prester John (also Presbyter John), popular in Europe from the 12th through the 17th centuries, told of a Christian patriarch and king said to rule over a Christian nation lost amidst the Muslims and pagans in the Orient. Written accounts of this kingdom are variegated collections of medieval popular fantasy

Preterite
698

Price, Justice
588; adjudicator in Catherine & Tom Wheat debacle; Historical Sources

Price, Mr. & Mrs. Rhys (pronounced "Reece")
446; chains go through their house, putting half in Maryland and half in Pennsylvania

Prisqueetom
673; "Prince of the Delawares"

Pritchard, Brother
605

Proceedings of the Council of Maryland
579; 1765 Herein

470; The Proclamation of 1763, declared by the British crown at the conclusion of the French and Indian War, was an attempt to deal with relations with the Indians. It established a huge British-administered reservation west of the Appalachians and forbade all white settlement in that territory, ordering those already there to leave. The "Proclamation Line" was very unpopular with the colonists; 617

Prometheus
372; stole fire from the gods, for which he was punished by being chained to a rock and having his liver eaten by vultures. In another myth, he also shaped the first human form out of dust; 565

Propus
142

Prospero
658; Prospero is a character in Shakespeare's The Tempest who was a sorceror of sorts shipwrecked on an island and proceeds to subdue its natives with his magic. This has been viewed as a commentary on how the old powers were conquering the New World

Province Island
306

Prussian Plains
613

Pues Entonces
523

Pumplenose
77; A large citrus fruit (Citrus maxima); the ancestor of grapefruit (or the tree itself). Etymologically, an alternate form of the South African “pampelmoes”—commonly known elsewhere as the pomelo, Chinese grapefruit, jabong, or shaddock.

Punch's Voice
491; Punch and Judy, traditional English puppet play, deriving from commedia dell'arte. Punch is cruel and boastful; his wife, Judy, whom he beats, is a loud, faithless nag. Punch's raucous voice is created with a 'swozzle', a vibrating reed held between the teeth.

puns
"Suture Self, as the Medical Students like to say" 20; Sirius, 118; well sprung, 121; "aviating swine" 257; "turn..." 272; minitude, 309; prize money, 322; "There wasn't Time" 321; Armand Allègre, 366; Hervé du T., 372; "El P. is nothing if not a Cyclickal Creature" 432; "Yingle-Yangle" 455; "Sari [...] sarong" 479; Still, 598; "old Forts" 662

Pygephanous
566; ass-showing, butt-revealing &c.

Pygmies
67

226; English politician who while leader of the Puritans in parliament, along with Sir Henry Vane of the House of Commons, vigorously pursued the impeachment of Thomas Strafford for his ruthless policies in Ireland on behalf of Charles I. Pym's motive was more power.

Pyramids
547