Finnegans Wake



Roman Catholic* - a member or adherent of the Roman Church

double jointed* - having joints that permit exceptional degrees of freedom;                joyed

janitor - a door-keeper, porter, ostiary.

grandfer - grandfather

someone's right hand does not know what his left hand is doing* - one part of organization or group does not know what another part is doing and because of this difficulties arise.

doat - imbecile; to be infatuatedly fond of

cherub - an angel of high rank

chalk - to draw with a chalk

ogre* - a man-eating monster, usually represented as a hideous giant (in folk-lore and fairy tales).

tricks;      knick knacks -  a trinket;    bag of tricks - stock of resources.

diggings - lodgings, quarters.

seep - moisture that drips or oozes out; a sip of liquor.

lieve = lief - gladly; dear, beloved                                                                             leave

laus (l) - thanks, gratitude

Knirps (d) - kid

tartan* - a kind of woollen cloth woven in stripes of various colours crossing at right angles so as to form a regular pattern; worn chiefly by the Scottish Highlanders;         tar - asphalt;             tan - to make dark or tawny in colour.

playboy*            plaid - a woolen fabric with a tartan pattern.

incostive* = costive - confined in the bowels, constipated; slow or reluctant in action.

ink;        dinkum - work; esp. hard work; dinkum oil (the honest truth, true facts).

laving - washing, bathing

blue streak - something resembling a flash of lightning in speed, vividness, etc.; a constant stream of words.

one's birthday suit - the state of being completely undressed;        bourse - the money-market.

torch* - a light to be carried in the hand, consisting of a stick of resinous wood, or of twisted hemp or similar material soaked with tallow, resin, or other inflammable substance.

rekindle - to kindle again, arouse again

felix (l) - happy

let down - to lenghten (a garment)

convent - monastery

ruddy - red, reddish;          red berry - any of several N. American plants.

pia (l) - tender

riot - violence, strife, disorder, tumult, esp. on the part of the populace; (orig. Theatr.) som. extremely successful or amusing; spec. an uproariously successful performance or show, a 'smash hit'.

designate - marked out for office or position, appointed or nominated, but not yet installed.

poster - to affix poster to

pouter - one who pouts;    pout - to thrust out or protrude the lips.

jamb - each of the side posts of a doorway, window, or chimney-piece, upon which rests the lintel.

rep - reputation, repertoar

tam tam - tom tom;      tom tommer - one who beats tom-tom or drum.

whirligig - a fickle, inconstant, giddy, or flighty person.

cachucha - a gay Andalusian solo dance done with castanets

flat - absolute, downright, plain

dilate - expand                                                                                                       delight

spoor - to track by a spoor (the trace, track, or trail of a person or animal, esp. of wild animals pursued as game).

cork - to stop (a bottle, cask, etc.) with a cork; and so to confine or shut up (the contents of a bottle, etc.)

swamp - to swallow up

float - to flood

fetch - to draw forth

angst - anxiety, anguish, guilt, remorse

lumbus (l) - hip

mist* - fog                                                                                                            missies

lodge - to reside as an inmate in another person's house, paying a sum of money periodically in return for the accommodation afforded.

pour on - to overspread with something poured, to suffuse fully.

sleepy - inclined to sleep, somnolent

so be it* - formerly used as a rendering of amen

burial* - funeral;         memorial - memory, something by which the memory of a person, thing, or event is preserved, as a monumental erection, a custom or an observance.

tipper - one who tips (to render unsteady, make drunk, intoxicate; to drink off).

put on - to push forward (the hands of a clock, the time) so as to make it appear later; Also in fig. allusion.

up a stump - blocked in one's efforts, nonplussed, perplexed.

shed - to separate, divide, come apart

remnant - that which remains or is left of a thing or things after the removal of a portion; a remaining trace or survival of some quality, belief, condition, or state of things.

sternwheel - a paddle-wheel placed at the stern of a small river or lake steamer.

crawl - to move or progress very slowly, to drag along