August 2006 Archives

A term used to denote an extra bold weight of type.

'Will Hill, The Complete Typographer, 2005.

Germanic script based upon manuscript forms; variants include Textura, Rotunda, Bastarda, and Fraktur.

'Will Hill, The Complete Typographer, 2005.

'Despite what Archie Bunker said, Edith was never a dingbat. Dingbat is a printer's term for a device that divides text, recognizing some pause deeper than the space between paragraphs, but less profound than the full stop at the end of a chapter. Dingbats dance in the gap. Dingbats come out in the indecisive twilight.'

'Coleman Barks, from his introduction to The Soul of Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 2001.

'You have been interested
in your shadow. Look instead directly

at the sun.'

'Rumi, from The Soul of Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, 2001.

The type arrangement known as diminuendo, from a Roman sepulchre at the British Museum in London. Photo by Paul Dean.

'A verse of Homer remarks that the Great Bear is the only constellation that never bathes in Oceanus. The Great Bear is so close to the polestar that it always remains above the horizon during the daily revolution of the heavens.

But in Egypt that is not the case. There the Great Bear sinks into the sands of the desert for a short while every night. The Greek philosopher Thales must have observed this when he was in Egypt, for his disciple Anaximander drew the conclusion that the Earth could not be a flat disc; if it were, the Great Bear would be everywhere equally high above the horizon. Hence, he argued, the earth must be a sphere floating freely in the universe, with the sky, itself spherical in shape, at an equidistance from it on all sides. . . .

To conceive of the Earth as spherical required a degree of intellectual freedom which Greek culture alone was capable of . . . [and] when it was first conceived, around 600 B.C., it was intoxicating. . . . The Greeks began pondering whether antipodes existed on the lower half of the sphere, and wondering what force prevented them from plunging into the abyss. They reveled in the pleasure of having discovered that the purest geometrical form, the sphere, was fundamental to the structure of the universe.'

'Rudolf Thiel, from And There was Light, translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston, 1957.

'The Babylonians surpassed all other peoples of antiquity in the patience, precision, and impartiality of their [astronomical] observations. . . .

[They] placed their native divinities one after another in the heavens, and transferred the mythic traits of these divinites to the stars. . . .

The cuneiform script itself expressed that impulse, for its sign of divinity was a star. An age-old Babylonian legend related that the lord of the Earth, Bel, appointed the three gods Shamash, Sin, and Ishtar guardians of the firmament, which they thereafter patrolled as the Sun, the Moon, and Venus. When four more wandering stars were found in the firmament, the Babylonians made bold to repeat the act of Bel. The city-god of Babylon, Marduk, became the planet Jupiter; the god of death, Nergal, became the planet Mars; the god of war, Ninurta, became Saturn; and the god of knowledge, Nabu, became Mercury. Mars was called Star of Judgement upon the Dead. The Tower of Babel, which was simultaneously a sanctuary and observatory, was called tersely the Temple of the Seven Transmitters of Commands from Heaven to Earth. . . .

Originally the week [of the Middle Ages] had five days because five divided neatly into the thirty-day month. But once the seven planets had been discovered, the number seven became sacred. Babylonian observatories were made seven stories high; state documents were sealed with seven seals. There were seven colors, seven musical notes, seven parts of the body; human lives were supposed to consist of seven-year periods. . . . The week was given seven days, awkward as this unit was. And each day was named after and presumably dominated by a single planet. To this day the names of the days retain the system: Sun-day, Moon-day, Tiu/Mars-day, Woden/Mercury-day, Thor/Jupiter-day, Freya/Venus-day, Saturn-day. Although the names of our days derive mainly from Norse mythology, the system can be considered a gift from Babylon. . . .'

'Rudolf Thiel, from And There was Light, translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston, 1957.

'I never made love by lantern-shine
I never saw rainbows in my wine
But now that your lips are burning mine
I'm beginning to see the light'

'I'm Beginning to See the Light, words and music by Harry James, Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges and Don George. As recorded by Kitty Kallen with Harry James and his Orchestra in 1945.

'Some blues
Are sad
But some blues are glad
Dark and sad or bright and glad
We're all blues
All shades
All hues
We're all blues'

'All Blues, music by Miles Davis, lyrics by Oscar Brown Junior. Originally released (without the lyrics) on the album Kind of Blue, 1959.

'Tell me where do they go,
These smoke rings I blow each night'
What do they do these circles of blue and white''

'Smoke Rings, words and music by Gene Gifford & Ned Washington; recorded by The Mills Brothers in 1932.

'Follow me, don't follow me
I've got my spine,
I've got my orange crush.'

'Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe, of REM, Orange Crush, 1988.

'I don't give a damn about a greenback dollar,
Spend it as fast as I can.
For a wailin' song and a good guitar,
[Are] the only things that I understand, poor boy,
The only things that I understand.'

'Hoyt Axton and Ken Ramsey, of The Kinston Trio, Greenback Dollar, 1963.

'May the windows of the Human Soul never again look upon such a Conflagration as devoured my three Houses with all their precious Paintings, Chests of Linen, Wool and Silk, copper and tin Vessels, silver Candlesticks, and Ornaments of Gold and Gems, so that it is now impossible to find any Trace of these things among the Ruins. I cannot describe how eighty Rolls of paper, intended for the printing of my new Book, flew flaming through the Air, carried off by the Wind. And if God had not commanded the Wind to turn in its Course, all of the Old City of Danzig would surely have burned to the Ground.'

'Hevelius, a Danzig beer brewer, in a letter to the Sun King, Louis XIV. Quoted by Rudolf Thiel in And There was Light, translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston, 1957.

'In the year 1543 a terrifying comet in the shape of a dragon was seen, a star larger than a millstone, with its tail turned toward the south. From it fire fell upon the Earth; it drank from a brook and drained it dry; afterwards it sprang upon a field and devoured all that was upon it; then it leaped into the sky once more, but left a mark behind it, namely much sickness and dying.'

'a sixteenth-century account, quoted by Rudolf Thiel in And There was Light, translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston, 1957.

'Thou shinest so beautifully on the horizon of heaven,
Thou living Sun, who created life.
Thou standest on the eastern horizon
And hast filled all lands with thy splendor.
Thy rays embrace the lands to the very end
Of all thy creation.'

'Ikhnaton, from the Egyptian Hymn to the Sun. Quoted by Rudolf Thiel in And There was Light, translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston, 1957.

'Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragon-fly
Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky: '
So this wing'd hour is dropt to us from above.'

'Dante Gabriel Rossetti, from Silent Noon, 1881.

'What, Jenny, are your lilies dead'
Aye, and the snow-white leaves are spread
Like winter on the garden bed.'

'Dante Gabriel Rossetti, from Jenny, 1870.

'We are outcast, strayed between bright sun and moon;
Our light and darkness are as leaves of flowers,
Black flowers and white, that perish; and the noon
As midnight, and the night as daylight hours.'

'Algernon Charles Swinburne, from Atalanta in Calydon, 1865.

'[I] Saw Love, as burning flame from crown to feet,
Imperishable, upon her storied seat;
Clear eyelids lifted toward the north and south,
A mind of many colours, and a mouth
Of many tunes and kisses; and she bowed,
With all her subtle face laughing aloud,
Bowed down upon me, saying, 'Who doth thee wrong,
Sappho'''

'Algernon Charles Swinburne, from Anactoria, 1866.

'I looked at the skillfully executed model of the Golden Temple that rested in a glass case. This model pleased me. It was closer to the Golden Temple of my dreams. Observing this perfect little image of the Golden Temple within the great temple itself, I was reminded of the endless series of correspondences that arise when a small universe is placed in a large universe and a smaller one in turn placed inside the small universe. For the first time I could dream. Of the small, but perfect Golden Temple which was even smaller than this model; and of the Golden Temple which was infinitely greater than the real building'so great, indeed, that it almost enveloped the world.'

'Yukio Mishima, from The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, translated by Ivan Morris, 1959.

'The sky was overcast, but occasionally the sun would glare thorugh. Part of the clouds shone white, like the white breast of a woman that one can vaguely make out under numerous layers of clothes; but further back, the whiteness became indistict and, although one could still tell where the sun was, it blended with the even, dull color of the sky.'

'Yukio Mishima, from The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, translated by Ivan Morris, 1959.

'Bright red blood which covers towns and plains
Of Kampuchea, our Motherland,
Sublime Blood of workers and peasants,
Sublime Blood of revolutionary men and women fighters!

The Blood changing into unrelenting hatred
And resolute struggle. . . .'

'the national anthem of Democratic Kampuchea; Cambodia under the rule of the 'Khmer Rouge,' or the 'Red Khmers.' As quoted in Burning Books and Leveling Libraries by Rebecca Knuth, 2006.

'The symbolism of fire and flame dates back to primitive times. Fire and torch were used to fight demons, and the power of the flame derived from the fact that it linked earth and heaven.'

'George L. Mosse, The Nationalization of the Masses, 1975. As quoted in Burning Books and Leveling Libraries by Rebecca Knuth, 2006.

'When they burn books, they will also, in the end, burn human beings.'

'Heinrich Heine, as quoted in Burning Books and Leveling Libraries by Rebecca Knuth, 2006.

People love good type. It's irresistible. Photo by Paul Dean.

'[T]here is fashion in typefaces, just as there is in clothes. What is a type style but a suit of clothes for the letters of the alphabet' You can send your words out into the world looking as though they are in touch with modern trends, or stuck in a 1980s timewarp of big-haired power dressing; wearing an old tweed jacket with leather patches on the elbows, or as a total fashion victim.'

'Simon Loxley, Type: The Secret History of Letters, 2004.

'The detection of types is one of the most elementary branches of knowledge to the special expert in crime. . . .'

'Sherlock Holmes, in The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1902. Quoted by Simon Loxley in Type: The Secret History of Letters, 2004.

'The origins of the slab serif'heavy, monoline (having a uniform stroke width), with thick square-ended serifs'are uncertain, but it was probably developed by sign-writers around the beginning of the nineteenth century. Rather than relying on existing typefaces, they experimented with creating heavier letter forms that better suited their requirements for short, bold copy. . . [I]t's not difficult to see how a slab serif would be easier to paint than a thin bracketed one. Thus the display face, the headline, was born.'

'Simon Loxley, Type: The Secret History of Letters, 2004.

'Germany was the last bastion of blackletter (fraktur), the heavy, jagged typefaces based on monastic script that had been in use since Gutenberg. . . . [A]lthough blackletter represented a very traditional, inward-looking German culture, it had also been a symbol of national identity when that identity was under threat. . . . [T]he period of Napoleon's domination of the continent gave blackletter a symbolic role as a beacon of a national culture under attack from outside forces. . . .

The first Chancellor of united Germany, Otto von Bismarck, claimed that it took him considerably longer to read a page of text set in roman than it did one set in blackletter, which supports the theory that peple find legible that with which they are familiar. . . .

Although blackletter experienced official party backing as the true and only style of German lettering in the early years of the Third Reich, it never existed to the total exclusion of other forms. . . . But to Hitler blackletter was synonymous with patriotism and a deep feeling for German culture.

Then, suddenly . . . [i]n early 1941 a decree outlawed blackletter as a Jewish innovation into the printing trade. Roman was now to be the standard.

The probable true reason for this about-face was . . . [that] Germany now had many conquered territories in which blackletter was not a legible face; its use hindered the spread of German ideas abroad. . . . It has also been suggested that a factor . . . was complaints by German pilots that it was hard to read at a distance when used for aircraft markings.'

'Simon Loxley, Type: The Secret History of Letters, 2004.

'You can buld a massive digital library downloading free fonts from dedicated websites. . . . Many of these free fonts serve well enough for the occasional word or two, but when the letters are fitted together into words and sentences, their shortcomings become quickly apparent'characters of uncertain legibility, lack of harmony between the letters. It then becomes clear how much skill and feeling is required to design a really good typeface.'

'Simon Loxley, Type: The Secret History of Letters, 2004.

A hocus-pocus apparatus or piece of an apparatus.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'If the nation ever finds itself examining its real relation to the Negro, it will find itself doing infinitely more than that; for the anti-Negro attitude of whites represents but a tiny part'though a symbolically significant one'of the moral attitude of the nation. Our too-young and too-new America, lusty because it is lonely, aggressive because it is afraid, insists upon seeing the world in terms of good and bad, the holy and the evil, the high and the low, the white and the black. . . . It hugs the easy way of damning those whom it cannot understand, of excluding those who look different, and it salves its conscience with a self-draped cloak of righteousness. Am I damning my native land' No; for I, too, share these faults of character! And I really do not think that America, adolescent and cocksure, a stranger to suffering and travail, an enemy of passion and sacrifice, is ready to probe into its most fundamental beliefs.'

'Richard Wright, from Black Boy, 1945.

(Of a motorist) to increase speed when the amber light is showing, in order to pass before the red ('stop') light comes on. . . . One who does so is known as an amber gambler.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'The orange colour jacket worn by [railway] platelayers to warn drivers that they are working on the line.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Dexedrine tablets.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Porter (or stout) mixed equally with ale.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A coal- or coke-fired stove used for heating offices, barrack-rooms, etc., extremely difficult to light and keep clean.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'[A] temporary loss of consciousness before pulling out of a power dive.' 2. Censorship; a complete denial by the authorities of all news on a certain topic.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'Engineers call the topping bitumen-bound material; the men laying it know it as black-top.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'I ran across the room and pulled out the dresser drawer and got my pack of razor blades; I opened it and took a thin blade of blue steel in each hand. I stood ready for him. The door opened. I was hoping desperately that this was not true, that this dream would end.'

'Richard Wright, from Black Boy, 1945.

'My grandmother, who was white as any 'white' person, had never looked 'white' to me. And when word circulated among the black people of the neighborhood that a 'black' boy had been severely beaten by a 'white' man, I felt that the 'white' man had had a right to beat the 'black' boy, for I naively assumed that the 'white' man must have been the 'black' boy's father. And did not all fathers, like my father, have the right to beat their children' A paternal right was the only right, to my understanding, that a man had to beat a child. But when my mother told me that the 'white' man was not the father of the 'black' boy, was no kin to him at all, I was puzzled.'

'Richard Wright, from Black Boy, 1945.

From Makrokosmos I, by George Crumb, 1973.

Part of the score of Makrokosmos II, by George Crumb, 1973. Found at the visually stunning, historically significant, and well-archived BibliOdyssey. Check it out!

'In class Barr sometimes held up an egg, asking, 'How does that impress you'' Then he would send the girls rummaging through the dime store for well-designed objects to display in class. The best still life composed of these objects would win a prize, perhaps a papier-mach' dinosaur. . . .'

'Alice Goldfarb Marquis, from Alfred H. Barr Jr: Missionary for the Modern, 1989.

'The half-tones are mediocre, the dozen color plates very bad, so bad that they transform an otherwise innocuous volume into one insufferable for the experienced eye and perversive to the innocent.'

'Alfred H. Barr Jr, in a book review; quoted by Alice Goldfarb Marquis in Alfred H. Barr Jr: Missionary for the Modern, 1989.

'[I]t is no longer necessary to pretend that organized smudges, geometrical patterns and particles of unattached color contain spiritual values or psychic mysteries.'

'critic Thomas Craven, in 1934, quoted by Alice Goldfarb Marquis in Alfred H. Barr Jr: Missionary for the Modern, 1989.

'The word abstract was confusing, [Barr] admitted, but no more than the ethnological tag Gothic to describe French thirteenth-century art, or the Portuguese word for an irregular pearl, Baroque, applied to European art of the seventeenth century.'

'Alice Goldfarb Marquis, from Alfred H. Barr Jr: Missionary for the Modern, 1989.

'Death is the greatest thing that can happen to an artist.'

'English critic Herbert Read, as quoted by Alice Goldfarb Marquis in Alfred H. Barr Jr: Missionary for the Modern, 1989.

'First used for proper names as well as for sentence and verse-line openings, [the use of capital letters was] extended to any words thought to be important (such as titles, terms of address, and personification) as well as to words receiving special emphasis. During the seventeenth century, virtually any word might be capitalized, if it were felt to be significant, and compositors'to be on the safe side'tended to over-capitalize. A reaction set in against excessive capitalization in the eighteenth century, and we find the present-day system emerging.'

'David Crystal, from The Stories of English, 2004.

To feign ignorance, as of a recruit.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'Silver (from argent).' [Shakespeare's] Tempest.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A notably energetic and effectual person (usually male).

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

In off, or on, the beam, failing to understand, or fully understanding. [From] the wireless or radar beam that, in bad visibility, guided a pilot to the airfield.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A policeman. 1597, (Shakespeare).

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A blackbird. 2. A black duck. Australian.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Stout and champagne mixed.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Bold type.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To explain away an offence, etc., by talking at length and very technically, in the hope that one's interlocutor may be so bemused that he will not pursue the matter.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'The projection of light seen in a cathode-ray tube.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Aching scrotum or testicles, caused by unfulfilled sexual excitement.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

The police 'paddy-wagon.' Australian.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'Anything which does not come up to expectations; a dud.' Australian.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A favorite of authority.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A pet, a favourite. The allusion is to innocence.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Venereal disease.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A '25,000 volt A.C. electric locomotive.' Railwaymen's, since ca. 1955.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

With the utmost energy and effort.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A wild rumor. 'Fantastic rumors, called blue lights, began to circulate.' Perhaps from St Elmo's fire or marsh lights.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Cries of terror or alarm; a great noise, horrible din.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Puritanical; censorious.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Used as a euphemism in place of an unprintable word or phrase. As a v., to censor out obscenity.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A wave that has not broken (a 'greenie'). Australian surfers', since ca. 1960.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A summons. Australia and NZ. 2. A nickname for a red-headed man.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A job that has been done badly.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

As Mr Bodger, it means a confused or inefficient man. 2. Anything worthless.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'Silver paint used on once plated fittings to imitate chrome- or nickel-plating.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A bright-eyed gremlin, addicted to dazzling the bomb-aimer. RAF.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'Scottish service name for beer.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Highly intelligent; clever and alert.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Replaced epic and magic as the teenagers' vogue-word for excellent; very early 1979. In Liverpool, at least, it was soon shortened to brill.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Beer.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

(To be) a toady, a sycophant.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To vomit. Australian.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A prostitute. Australian.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A policeman.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A police station.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A voice that is low, well-modulated, and sexually attractive.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Unimportant, undistinguished; colourless, insipid. (Persons only.)

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A very dull person.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To regard with disapproval.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

One who is slow to understand what is going on.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To drive 'all out.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

(Especially of women) good-looking.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A look-out man.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'A call for vigilance.' A pun on the nautical aye aye!

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Someone keeping watch.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Showy, yet superior, goods.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A moving picture; the performance at a cinema.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Tipsy.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'To create an illusion for the purpose of spooking or deceiving someone.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

An intrusive secondary image on a TV screen.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'From train compartments with windows obscured with brown paper when carrying prisoners identified as trouble-makers from one prison to another. Used chiefly in the 1930s.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Transferring an inmate from one prison to another for disciplinary reasons.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'Drugs, flashing lights, sound, colour, movies, dance'usually experienced simultaneously.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989. I guess music falls within the field of 'sound.'

A dexadrine pill used narcotically.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To cheat at cards by using mirrors.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A come-hither look (generally from female to male).

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

The eyes (plural only).

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A beggar. A match seller (in the street).

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

n. A thief's dark lantern. A match.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

v. To look (for a taxicab).

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Suddenly to lose consciousness.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A supporter of the Ecology Party and of conservation generally.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A dollar bill.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

That mythical vehicle in which people are conveyed to a lunatic asylum.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989. What' Mythical'! The green cart is mythical'!'

To be a successful gardener.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'High earnings. Overtime. Bonus payments.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To be reprimanded for another's fault.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A 'middle-aged, conventionally dressed/minded person.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Black slang for a white man.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To try to become the outstanding player in a scene. Theatrical.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Diamonds; loosely, gems.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Gone astray, gone wrong; having failed, a failure.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

''A touch of the inky blue' means flu.' Rhyming slang.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

With no horizon whatsoever.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Loud-coloured; flashy.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Racial prejudice, especially against Negroes.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A policeman.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To see, to espy; to gaze at, to stare.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A tramp acquainted with the police or with their methods.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Tipsy.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Under the influence of drugs.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Of below average intelligence.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Easy, unimpeded.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Popular; much publicised. Australian, [from] 'in the limelight'.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Rain.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

The notebook in which bachelors are reputed to keep girls' telephone numbers.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

One who holds two paid positions at the same time.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Containing secrets, 'shady'; sinister, discreditable.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'Used of jokes that are blue around the edges,' i.e. impolite or indecent.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Unconscious; to become, or to render, unconscious, from or by excessive liquor, fatigue, drugs, or any other cause, very suddenly and deeply.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Excellent; delightful; surprising.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Something that happens (to a person) quite unexpectedly, pleasant or unpleasant.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'Imperfectly cured (kippered) herring which has been dyed with anatta to give the appearance of the true kipper.' Nautical.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A coat-edge in, or of, coloured cloth.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Formal evening dress, black suit and bow tie, white shirt.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A female with gold-grey hair.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To blackmail.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A confirmed party-goer. Beatnik, late 1950s.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A phrase . . . for 'in debt.' . . . Red, in book-keeping, indicates debt; its complement [is] in the black.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

The inland. Australian colloquialism.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'A flight that takes off late at night and arrives very early in the morning, its passengers emerging with eyes red from lack of sleep.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

(Of a female) sexually aroused.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'To go up to the maximum recommended revolutions on a tachometer.'

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A red-tipped match.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

The head. Rhyming slang.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

As in 'in a ruddy blush', a bloody rush. Jocular and euphemistic spoonerism.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'A nickname for any red- or auburn-haired man.'. . . And some girls, too.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To frighten badly.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To be in, [or] fly into, a rage.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To take a night walk with a female companion.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A black eye.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

One who thinks very well of himself.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To feel extremely afraid.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Sleep.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Please. A Hobson-Jobson of [the] French s'il vout plait.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A bed-pan made of stainless steel.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

An extremely thin person.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Jocular for colour unknown or indeterminate. Since ca. 1885.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To sleep in the open. NZ.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A diamond.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Sparkling gems; especially diamonds.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Cocaine.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

[To] sleep in, or at, the Star Hotel, or . . . the Moon and Stars Hotel, ground floor: to sleep in the open. Australia and NZ.

Cr'me de menthe. Both are green.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Cheap, fiery liquor. Australia.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Alliterative nickname for girls named Stella. Australia.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To commence work. Sheet-metal workers', [referring to] a job of welding.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

(Of a boat) to take on water.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To vomit, especially drunkenly.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

(Of a car) 'Badly repaired after an accident.' Car-dealers'. Worse still: four-tone. Punning the advertisers' 'two-tone', of a car painted in two colours.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To inform the police.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Diamonds; jewellery in general.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'Groups are . . . now called two-tone because they put black and white musicians together to play ska' (1980). Contrast three-tone.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A hippy club. Ephemeral pun on unlimited freak-out and the more durable unidentified flying object.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Elliptical for black velvet, any dark-skinned woman.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

In have or get the w.a., to be or to become exceedingly silly, or insane. . . . Applied originally to men gone crazy or, at the least, eccentric through isolation and solitude.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

An instructional film. Shooolteachers' [use] since ca. 1930.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A hospital attendant in prison.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Cocaine.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

To serve a prison sentence. Australia.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Morphine.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Male homosexuals.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A white person, whether individually or collectively.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

'A form of Aboriginal bark and cave painting which shows internal parts of human and animal anatomy.'. . . Technically known as mimi art.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Cowardly though perhaps not apparently so.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A coward.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

Gold.

'Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale, 1989.

A bicycle and pedestrian underpass near the Martin Luther King, Jr Park, in Amsterdam. Photo by Paul Dean. Photos within the photo by Edweard Muybridge, if I'm not mistaken.

'Without a standard to act as a guide, it is not surprising to find a remarkable number of spelling variations in Middle English texts. . . . A selection of spellings for day, for example, includes dai, day, daye, daei, dai3e, deai, dey, dei, dae3, and dawe. For knight we find knight, knighte, knyght, knyghte, knyht, knyhte, knith, kni3t, kny3t, kny3te, knict, kincth, cnipte, and cniht. Some words had hundreds of variants.'

'David Crystal, from The Stories of English, 2004.

'Early manuscripts had no punctuation or, even, spaces between words. The earliest conventions were introduced as a guide when reading aloud became an important activity, such as on literary and liturgical occasions. There was a great deal of experiment: over thirty marks'various combinations of dots, curls, and dashes'can be found in medieval manuscripts, most of which disappeared after the arrival of printing. . . .

The earliest printers generally followed the marks they found in the manuscripts, the actual shapes depending on the typeface used. Most recognized three kinds of pause, represented by a point, a virgule (/), and a mark of interrogation. [William] Caxton chiefly used a virgule and a point (.), occasionally a colon (:) and paragraph mark ('). Word breaks at the end of a line were shown by a double virgule (//). The comma began to replace the virgule in the 1520s, though some printers used them interchangeably for a while. . . .

[T]he apostrophe, at first used only as a mark of omission, [is seen in] 1559. . . . The hyphen, used to identify a compound word, and the exclamation mark . . . arrived towards the end of the century.'

'David Crystal, Punctuating, a sidebar from The Stories of English, 2004. This book is brilliant! Lynne, it's yours next.

'Lord, open the King of England's eyes.'

'William Tyndale, publisher of the first book with an English text, a New Testament; his last words before his execution in 1536. As quoted in The Stories of English by David Crystal, 2004.

'Sidley Park is already a picture, and a most amiable picture too. The slopes are green and gentle. The trees are companionably grouped at intervals that show them to advantage. The rill is a serpentine ribbon unwound from the lake peaceably contained by meadows on which the right amount of sheep are tastefully arranged'in short, it is nature as God intended, and I can say with the painter, 'Et in Arcadia ego!' 'Here I am in Arcadia.'. . .'

'Tom Stoppard, the words of Lady Croom, Arcadia, 1993.

'O, the wild rose blossoms
On the little green place. . . .

White roses and red roses: those were beautiful colours to think of. . . . Lavender and cream and pink roses were beautiful to think of. Perhaps a wild rose might be like those colours and he remembered the song about the wild rose blossoms on the little green place. But you could not have a green rose. But perhaps somewhere in the world you could.'

'James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916.

'[T]he warm heavy smell of turkey and ham and celery rose from the plates and dishes and the great fire was banked high and red in the grate and the green ivy and red holly made you feel so happy and when dinner was ended the big plumpudding would be carried in, studded with peeled almonds and sprigs of holly, with bluish fire running around it and a little green flag flying from the top.'

'James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916.

'His childhood was dead or lost and with it his soul capable of simple joys, and he was drifting amid life like the barren shell of the moon.

Art thou pale for weariness
Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,
Wandering companionless . . . '

He repeated to himself the lines of Shelley's fragment. . . .

The vast cycle of starry life bore his weary mind outward to its verge and inward to its centre, a distant music accompanying him outward and inward. What music' The music came nearer and he recalled the words, the words of Shelley's fragment upon the moon wandering companioness, pale for weariness. The stars began to crumble and a cloud of fine stardust fell through space.'

'James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916.

''They lie in exterior darkness. For, remember, the fire of hell gives forth no light. As, at the command of God, the fire of the Babylonian furnace lost its heat but not its light so, at the command of God, the fire of hell, while retaining the intensity of its heat, burns eternally in darkness. It is a neverending storm of darkness, dark flames and dark smoke of burning brimstone, amid which the bodies are heaped one upon another without even a glimpse of air. Of all the plagues with which the land of the Pharaohs was smitten one plague alone, that of darkness, was called horrible. What name, then, shall we give to the darkness of hell which is to last not for three days alone but for all eternity''

'James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916.

'He closed his eyes in the languor of sleep. His eyelids trembled as if they felt the vast cyclic movement of the earth and her watchers, trembled as if they felt the strange light of some new world. His soul was swooning into some new world, fantastic, dim, uncertain as under sea, traversed by cloudy shapes and beings. A world, a glimmer, or a flower' Glimmering and trembling, trembling and unfolding, a breaking light, an opening flower, it spread in endless succession to itself, breaking in full crimson and unfolding and fading to palest rose, leaf by leaf and wave of light by wave of light, flooding all the heavens with its soft flushes. . . .'

'James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916.

'after I saw him fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers, and smile upon his fingers' ends, I knew there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and 'a babbled of green fields.'

'the Hostess, reporting on the death of Falstaff in Henry V, by William Shakespeare; as quoted by David Crystal in The Stories of English, 2004.

'I would give you some violets, but they wither'd all when my father died.
They say 'a made a good end.'

'Ophelia, raving, in Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, of course. As quoted by Sheila Pickles in The Language of Flowers, 1990.

'Geraniums are said to have been given their colour by Mohammed who left his clothes to dry on a bed of mallow. The flowers blushed dark red with pride and never lost their colour, and have been known as geraniums ever since.'

'Sheila Pickles, The Language of Flowers, 1990.

'And still she slept an azure-lidded sleep,
In blanched linen, smooth, and lavender'd,'

'John Keats, from The Eve of St. Agnes; quoted by Sheila Pickles in The Language of Flowers, 1990.

'I send thee pansies while the year is young,
Yellow as sunshine, purple as the night; . . .
I tell thee that the pansy 'freaked with jet'
Is still the heart's-ease that the poets knew.'

'Sheila Pickles, The Language of Flowers, 1990.

'In its native China, where it has been grown since the Eighth Century, the Red Peony was considered the King of the Flowers and its rich, dark colour and bulbous shape became symbolic of abundance.'

'Sheila Pickles, The Language of Flowers, 1990.

'In the Language of Flowers the Scarlet Poppy means Fantastic Extravagance; the White Opium Poppy from Asia means Sleep. Some people think that its Latin name, Papaver came from 'pap' because the juice was given to babies in their food to make them sleepy. . . .

[Another] name which is given to poppies all over the country is Headaches, because it is said that the smell, or the vivid colour, is bound to induce a pain in the head.'

'Sheila Pickles, The Language of Flowers, 1990.

'Sweetest child of weeping morning,
Gem, the breast of earth adorning,
Eye of flow'rets, glow of lawns,
Bud of beauty, nursed by dawns:
Soft the soul of love it breathes, . . .

And to Zephyr's wild caresses,
Diffuses all its verdant tresses,
Till glowing with the wanton's play,
It blushes a diviner ray.'

'Sappho of Lesbos, in praise of the Rose, c. 600 BC, quoted by Sheila Pickles in The Language of Flowers, 1990.

'The Rose is one of the oldest flowers known to man, and still one of the most popular. Nebuchadnezzar used them to adorn his palace and in Persia . . . the petals were used to fill the Sultan's mattress. . . . Roses later became synonymous with the worst excesses of the Roman empire'the peasants were reduced to growing roses instead of food crops in order to satisfy the demands of their rulers. The emperors filled their swimming baths and fountains with rose-water and sat on carpets of rose petals for their feasts and orgies.'

'Sheila Pickles, The Language of Flowers, 1990.

'Rage: Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,
Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks
Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls
Of heroes into Hades' dark. . . .'

'Homer, the opening lines of the Iliad, translated by Stanley Lombardo, 1997.

'He settled near the ships and let loose an arrow.
Reverberation from his silver bow hung in the air.
He picked off the pack animals first, and the lean hounds,
But then aimed his needle-tipped arrows at the men
And shot until the death-fires crowded the beach.'

'the god Apollo, starting the whole sordid mess; the Iliad, by Homer, translated by Stanley Lombardo, 1997.

''Zeus, most glorious, most great,
Dark Cloud that art in heaven. . . .''

'Homer, the Iliad, translated by Stanley Lombardo, 1997.

'Agamemnon himself had given them ships
To cross over the sea's grey wine,
For the Arcadians knew nothing of sailing the sea.'

'Homer, the Iliad, translated by Stanley Lombardo, 1997.

'[Hecamede] now drew up for them a polished table
With blue enamelled feet, and set on it
A bronze basket, and next to it an onion
Grated for their drink, and pale green honey,
And sacred barley meal. Then she set down
A magnificent cup the old man had brought from home,
Studded with gold rivets. It had four handles,
With a pair of golden doves pecking at each,
And a double base beneath. . . .
Into this cup Hecamede, beautiful as a goddess,
Poured Pramnian wine, grated goat cheese into it
With a brazed grater, and sprinkled white barley on top.
She motioned for them to drink.'

'Homer, the Iliad, translated by Stanley Lombardo, 1997.

'Harpalion sank into his comrades' arms
And breathed out his life stretched on the ground
Like an earthworm in a pool of black blood.'

'Homer, the Iliad, translated by Stanley Lombardo, 1997.

'[Thetis] veiled her brightness in a shawl
Of midnight blue and set out with Iris before her.'

'Homer, the Iliad, translated by Stanley Lombardo, 1997.

'The people gathered around Hector's pyre,
And when all of Troy was assembled there
They drowned the last flames with glinting wine.
Hector's brothers and friends collected
His white bones, their cheeks flowered with tears.
They wrapped the bones in soft purple robes
And placed them in a golden casket, and laid it
In the hollow of the grave, and heaped above it
A mantle of stones.'

'Homer, the Iliad, translated by Stanley Lombardo, 1997.

Text installation by Tine Melzer, part of the group exhibition White, Bright and Delighting Home, ongoing at the Mart House (House for Art, Design & Living), 529 Prinsengracht, Amsterdam. Photo by Paul Dean.

'And if I were some jewelry, baby,
Lord, I'd have to be a diamond ring.'

'Penthouse Pauper, by Creedence Clearwater Revival, from the album Bayou Country. Thank you Jimmy K for the brilliant tip!

'[T]he Land of Ultimate Bliss has pools of the seven jewels, filled with the eight waters of merit and virtue. The bottom of each pool is pure, spread over with golden sand. On the four sides are stairs of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and crystal; above are raised pavilions adorned with gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, mother-of-pearl, red pearls, and carnelian.

In the pools are lotuses as large as carriage wheels: green colored of green light; yellow colored of yellow light; red colored of red light; white colored of white light; subtly, wonderfully, fragrant and pure. . . .

[I]n that Buddhaland, when the soft wind blows, the rows of jewelled trees and jewelled nets give forth subtle and wonderful sounds, like one hundred thousand kinds of music played at the same time. All those who hear this sound naturally bring forth in their hearts mindfulness of the Buddha, mindfulness of the Dharma, and mindfulness of the Sangha.'

'Buddha, The Amitabha Sutra, as translated by Ronald Epstein, 1970.

'Light enters the dingy rooms of film noir in such odd shapes'jagged trapezoids, obtuse triangles, vertical slits'that one suspects the windows were cut out with a pen knife. No character can speak authoritatively from a space which is being continually cut into ribbons of light. . . .

The actors and setting are often given equal lighting emphasis. An actor is often hidden in the realistic tableau of the city at night, and, more obviously, his face is often blacked out by shadow as he speaks. . . . [I]n film noir, the central character is likely to be standing in the shadow.'

'Paul Schrader, Notes on Film Noir, 1972. From American Movie Critics: An Anthology From the Silents Until Now, edited by Phillip Lopate, 2006.

'[T]he colour of her costumes change from white in the carefree beginning, to grey when the forces of tragedy gather momentum, until at last sable black with all its dark meaning appears. First, in an all-black velvet dress and large black hat that she wears for her journey to the country. Then, when it seems that she is to be happy, white again in cannily picturesque lawn dresses with only a black cloak to remind you her fate is sealed; black again after her renunciation'shimmering black net with sequins, but black. For her death, so that you are not too miserable and may find solace in something, a white gown, ecclesiastical in feeling with its monk's cowl, sending you to religion, there to take courage to bear it.'

'Cecilia Ager, Camille, 1937. From American Movie Critics: An Anthology From the Silents Until Now, edited by Phillip Lopate, 2006.

'Not that the black and white film is to vanish overnight, but it is in the death throes, and the knell was sounded with the arrival in glorious raiment of Becky Sharp, a finger pointing dramatically toward hitherto unrealized possibilites in the motion-picture art.'

'The Post, as quoted by Andr' Sennwald in The Future of Color, 1935. From American Movie Critics: An Anthology From the Silents Until Now, edited by Phillip Lopate, 2006.

'A type contrasting with the masculine-feminine girl is the bitch. . . . As presented in Scarlet Street, she is solely preoccupied with sex. Lounging on an untidy couch, she asks drawlingly, 'What else is there''. . .'

'Martha Wolfenstein and Nathan Leites, Got a Match', 1950. From American Movie Critics: An Anthology From the Silents Until Now, edited by Phillip Lopate, 2006.

'What we know as 'blue films,' however much faked or however real the feelings of those sexually involved, would normally seek to represent a certain palpable excitement, to grow 'hot,' to mount tantalizingly to the climax.'

'Parker Tyler, Warhol's New Sex Film: Sex, Psyche, Etcetera, in the Film, 1969. From American Movie Critics: An Anthology From the Silents Until Now, edited by Phillip Lopate, 2006.

Amsterdam, 2006. Photo by Paul Dean.

The Secession Pavillion, designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich for the second Secession exhibition in Vienna, 1898.

'In the provocative blankness of its wall (cheaply plastered, whitewashed and sealed), Olbrich's pavilion announced itself as a primed canvas standing at the start of a new era of creativity, the results of which could not be predetermined. In this respect, it was a compelling illustration of the motto . . . that appeared above its entrance: 'Der Zeit ihre Kunst, der Kunst ihre Freiheit' ('To the Age its Art, to Art its Freedom').'

'Elizabeth Clegg, Art, Design and Architecture in Central Europe 1890-1920, 2006.

'No name is more synonymous with tap dancing . . . than that of Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. Achieving his success in Blackbirds of 1928, 'Bojangles' became a legend and is considered the first African-American dancing star on Broadway.'

'Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, by Loren K Ruff, 1994.

'Thomas D Rice (1808-1860), a white man, introduced a song and dance character of [the lovable African-American clown] type in 1828. He called his character 'Jim Crow.'. . .'

'Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, by Loren K Ruff, 1994.

'Theodore Ward's Big White Fog (1940) . . . was perhaps the most vitriolic play about the African-American's condition in America to have been produced to that date. The play contains the character of Marcus Garvey, the founder of the Black Muslim movement in America, and is a stirring drama of despair.'

'Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, by Loren K Ruff, 1994.

'Earliest man performed theatre outdoors and relied on the sun for natural illumination. Once theatre moved indoors an artificial light source was needed. Pine knots in iron cressets and oil lamps with floating wicks were used.

At the beginning of the Renaissance, three light sources were available: oil lamps, the wax candle . . . and torches (including lanterns). . . .

Candles and oil dominated from the restoration to the 1800s until flammable gas came into use in the 1790s. . . .

Developed in the 1820s . . . limelight was an offshoot developed from the use of gas. Called calcium light, the oxy-hydrogen light, or Drummond light, this instrument was based on the principle of heating a block of compressed quicklime with a flame of oxygen and hydrogen mixed together. Limelight was put to theatrical use between 1826 and 1837. . . .

The electric arc was developed . . . in 1808 and first used in 1846 at the Paris Opera House. It was here in 1860 that the first use of the electric spot-light (carbon arc) to 'spot' or follow the character was introduced. . . .

A major breakthrough came in 1879 with Edison's incandescent electric lamp. . . . With electricity came the invention of modern efficient stage lighting equipment.'

'A Brief History of Stage Lighting, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, by Loren K Ruff, 1994.

Metal device made up of hinged flaps resembling doors. Used commonly on equipment that has no shutter system to control light spill.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

Light which illuminates the actor from the rear, very useful to add plasticity to the stage look.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

A term used to describe the light coming from an instrument.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

To lower the intensity of the lights.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

Similar to backlight; however, this light is mounted directly over the actor and projects straight down.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

Also know as a cookie or template, this is a metal cutout which projects a shadow pattern on the stage.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

The brightest spot in the light, usually the center.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

A drop-in accessory . . . which allows the light to be reduced in aperture. Usually found in follow spotlights.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

'The principal directionf rom which the sourece light is coming. Also known as key light and used commonly in television. The light which supports the key is known as the fill light.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

A common name for any lighting control console. The light board sends a low voltage signal to the dimmers which in turn adjust the levels of the different lights in use.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

An electrical circuit which is not capable of dimming.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

In dance, it is the light mounted on booms or light trees positioned in the wings. The light projects the width of the stage.

'A Lighting Vocabulary, from Imitation and Imagination: The Art of the Theatre, 1994.

'Colors are used to associate and identify in the broadest sense. For example, grass is green and the sky is blue, just as Coke is red and Pepsi is blue. Marketing companies know that over time, consumers come to associate specific colors with certain well-known brands, partly because of carefully controlled advertising and promotion strategies, which include color associated closely with brand name. . . . These associated colors are carefully regulated and controlled by the company, and the colors in different aspects of the ad must be the same as those on the package.'

'J.L. Zaichkowsky, The Psychology Behind Trademark Infringement and Counterfeiting, 2006.

'A large number of women at a luncheon were asked whether they could tell the difference between butter and margarine. Over 90 percent said they preferred butter because margarine tasted oily, greasy, and more like shortening than butter. Two pats were served, one yellow (margarine) and one white (butter). The ladies were asked whether they could discern any differences. The yellow pat (margarine) tasted like butter, claimed 99 percent of luncheon guests, but the white pat (butter) tasted oily like margarine.'

'Cheskin, L, Color Guide for the Marketing Medic, 1954, quoted by J.L. Zaichkowsky in The Psychology Behind Trademark Infringement and Counterfeiting, 2006.

'Each year at the world's largest consumer goods trade fair show, called the Frankfurt Ambiente fair, black gnomes with gold-tinted noses are awarded to companies judged as making 'the most flagrant and unimaginative' design imitiations. The reason for the gnome prize is the history of sales lost to German producers of ceramic garden gnomes because of copy-cat Polish knockoffs. . . . The black gnome with the gold nose symbolizes profit through plagiarism. . . .'

'J.L. Zaichkowsky, The Psychology Behind Trademark Infringement and Counterfeiting, 2006.

'The explosion of counterfeit drugs sold around the world poses an extreme health risk. . . . Novartis says that counterfeiters used yellow highway paint to get the color match for its fake painkiller.'

'J.L. Zaichkowsky, The Psychology Behind Trademark Infringement and Counterfeiting, 2006.

'Instead of saying, 'You should try the cold, black, sweet, fizzy water with caffeine that does not taste like coffee,' you can say 'You should try Coca-Cola.' Thus, we use brand names not only to be specific about what we are referencing, but also to differentiate the items from what we are not referencing.'

'J.L. Zaichkowsky, The Psychology Behind Trademark Infringement and Counterfeiting, 2006.

'Studies of illusory conjunctions place conscious seeing at a greater remove from the physical stimulus than might be assumed intuitively. In other words, individuals may cognitively rearrange what is actually seen to coincide with what they think they would most likely see logically.'

'J.L. Zaichkowsky, The Psychology Behind Trademark Infringement and Counterfeiting, 2006.

'It is very easy to use color to differentiate one's brand. . . . The color combinations should be limited because designs with a multitude of colors have no specific identity, whereas designs with one or two colors are recalled with ease. . . .

Although some companies are successful in building identification with one color as an integral quality cue of the product, such as Corning's pink fibreglass . . . the package or logo of the product is a more likely place for color identification. This is when distinctive combinations are crucial. . . . If the company selects only a single hue for the package, there is greater likelihood that a similar one or even the same hue will be used by subsequent competing brands brought to the marketplace.'

'J.L. Zaichkowsky, The Psychology Behind Trademark Infringement and Counterfeiting, 2006.

The process of assigning meaning to a sensation; something seen, heard, touched, etc.

'Educational Psychology, Fifth Edition, Gage & Berliner, 1992.

In cognitive psychology, the kind of intractable naive beliefs people hold, in spite of what they learn in school. Example: belief that light travels farther at night than during the day.

'Educational Psychology, Fifth Edition, Gage & Berliner, 1992. What' Light travels farther at night than during the day' I did not know that.

After Kunin, a characteristic of teacher behavior where the teacher exhibits awareness of what is going on in the classroom even when not obviously looking at or listening to the sudents being attended to.

'Educational Psychology, Fifth Edition, Gage & Berliner, 1992.

'I can hear it in the day and in the night; the white foam breakers are saying that which I think.'

'Olive Shreiner, from The Spell of the Sea.

'I see the deep's untrampled floor
With green and purple sea-weeds strown;
I see the waves upon the shore,
Like light dissolved in star-showers thrown. . . .'

'Percy Bysshe Shelley.

'I am where I would ever be;
With the blue above, and the blue below,
And silence wheresoe'er I go. . . .'

'Adelaide Anne Proctor, from I'm on the Sea!.

'[A]t last the whole sea grew restless, and shifted color and flickered green; the swells became shorter and changed form. Then from horizon to shore ran one uninterrupted heaving, one vast green swarming of snaky shapes, rolling in to hiss and flatten upon the sand.'

'Lafcadio Hearn, from Storm at the Beach.

'The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands. . . .'

'Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls.

'Keep walkin' 'til you see a blue light lit
Fall in there and we'll see some sights. . . .

You'll want to spend the rest of your nights
Down at the house, the house of blue lights.'

'House of Blue Lights, words and music by Freddie Slack and Don Raye, 1947.

'Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral Arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.'

'Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 1979.

"The optometrist says 'Has your eyes always been checked''

And I says, 'Why no, they has always been blue. I gwarantee ya!'"

'Justin Wilson, concluding an episode of Justin Wilson Lookin' Back, his cooking show. I caught it on RFDTV this morning, just after flying home via Heathrow and New York. (It's good to be back home.)

"If you've gone to many picture shows, particularly back in the early days of the business, you've seen it happen once or twice. The film will hit the screen like a still. Then it looks like someone is punching a live cigar butt through it from the back.

That's caused by not having the film rolling while the arcs are on. Because those arcs are just like a blast furnace, and nothing burns as easily or faster than film."

--Jim Thompson, Nothing More than Murder, 1959. The burning still is used to great effect at the end of Two-Lane Blacktop, directed by Monte Hellman and starring James Taylor, 1971.

Not in operation; a dark house.

--Glossary of Exhibitor Terms, from Nothing More than Murder, by Jim Thompson, 1959.

Advertising matter.

--Glossary of Exhibitor Terms from Nothing More than Murder by Jim Thompson, 1959

Pictures.

--Glossary of Exhibitor Terms, from Nothing More than Murder, by Jim Thompson, 1959.

"She had on an old mucklededung-colored coat--the way it was screaming Sears-Roebuck they should have paid her to wear it. . . ."

--Jim Thompson, Savage Night, 1953.

"When I woke the last time it was nine-thirty, and sunlight was streaming into the room. It was shining right on my pillows, and my face felt hot and moist. I sat up quickly, hugging my stomach. The light, hitting into my eyes suddenly, had made me sick. I clenched my eyes against it, but the light wasn't shut out. It seemed to be closed in, under the lids, and a thousand little images danced in its brilliance. Tiny white things, little figure-seven-shaped things: dancing and twisting and squirming."

--Jim Thompson, Savage Night, 1953.

"Around four in the afternoon, after I'd walked about ten miles, I came to this roadhouse. I went on past it a little ways, walking slower and slower, arguing with myself. I lost the argument--the part of me that was on-the-beam lost it--and I went back."

--Jim Thompson, After Dark, My Sweet, 1955.

"The concrete pasture. I mean, that's what it seems like to me. You keep going and going, and it's always the same everywhere. Wherever you've been, wherever you go, everywhere you look. Just greyness and hardness, as far as you can see."

--Jim Thompson, After Dark, My Sweet, 1955.

"I am glad to be able to recall numerous occasions when the silver at Darlington Hall had a pleasing impact upon observers. For instance, I recall Lady Astor remarking, not without a certain bitterness, that our silver 'was probably unrivalled'. I recall also watching Mr George Bernard Shaw, the renowned playwright, at dinner one evening, examining closely the dessert spoon before him, holding it up to the light and comparing its surface to that of a nearby platter, quite oblivious to the company around him."

--Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day, 1989.

"Of my Auntie Dora (who died when I was very young), I remember nothing except for the color orange--whether this was the color of her complexion or hair, or of her clothes, or whether it was the reflected color of the firelight, I have no idea. All that remains is a warm, nostalgic feeling and a peculiar fondness for orange."

--Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, 2001.

"I loved the yellowness, the heaviness, of gold. My mother would take the wedding ring from her finger and let me handle it for a while, as she told me of its inviolacy, how it never tarnished. 'Feel how heavy it is,' she would add. 'It's even heavier than lead.'"

--Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, 2001.

"[G]as flames, with their glowing carbon particles, were scarcely brighter than candle flames. One needed something additional, a material that would shine with special brilliance when heated ina gas flame. Such a substance was calcia--calcium oxide, or lime--which shone with an intense greenish white light when heated. This 'limelight,' Uncle Dave said, was discovered in the 1820s and used to illuminate the stages in theaters for many decades--that was why we still talked about 'the limelight,' even though we no longer used lime for incandescence."

--Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, 2001.

"If someone could look at the earth from outer space, see how it rotated every twenty-four hours into the shadow of night, they would see millions, hundreds of millions, of incandescent bulbs light up nightly, glowing with white-hot tungsten, in the folds of that shadow--and know that man had finally conquered the darkness."

--Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, 2001.

"I was drawn into the history of 'cold' light--luminescence--which started perhaps before there was any language to record things, with observations of fireflies and glowworms and phosphorescent seas; of will-o'-the-wisps, those strange, wandering , faint globes of light that would, in legend, lure travelers to their doom. And of Saint Elmo's fire, the eerie luminous discharges that could stream in stormy weather from a ship's masts, giving its sailors a feeling of bewitchment. There were the auroras, the Northern and Southern Lights, with their curtains of color shimmering high in the sky. A sense of the uncanny, the mysterious, seemed to inhere in these phenomena of cold light--as opposed to the comforting familiarity of fire and warm light."

--Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, 2001.

"[I]f one dissolved uranyl salts in water, the solutions would be fluorescent--one part in a million was sufficient. The fluorescence could also be transferred to glass, and uranium glass or 'canary glass' had been very popular in Victorian and Edwardian houses. . . . Canary glass transmitted yellow light and was usually yellow to look through, but fluoresced a brilliant emerald green under the impact of the shorter wavelengths in daylight, so it would often appear to shimmer, shifting between green and yellow depending on the angle of illumination."

--Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, 2001.

"As he was arrested [in 1895, for homosexual acts, Oscar] Wilde was spotted carrying a yellow book--in fact a yellow-backed French novel, but reported in the press as The Yellow Book. That reference and Wilde's and Beardsley's erstwhile collaboration on Salome were enough to besmirch [Aubrey] Beardsley in the scandal. . . .

Hostile stone-throwing mobs gathered outside the offices of The Yellow Book's publisher John Lane, and several of Lane's authors--fearful for their own reputations--demanded Beardsley's dismissal. Overnight from being the illustrator most in demand, his name had become a byword for degeneracy: he was at once almost unemployable."

--Patrick Bade, Aubrey Beardsley, 2001.