by H. G. Wells
dn
Rolling elevated flatland, usually with no trees and poor soil.
do
Public living room adjacent to the bar.
dp
Obsolete gold coins each worth £1.
dq
Sluggish.
dr
Brilliance (French); used ironically here.
ds
Side panels.
dt
Low panel in front of the fire to keep coals from popping out onto the floor or rug.
du
Napkin.
dv
Shade.
dw
Frame for hanging clothing.
dx
Potatoes.
dy
One-horse carriage.
dz
Taking care of him.
ea
Light meal served in the late afternoon.
eb
Clock repairman.
ec
Red stop lights.
ed
Laboratory scientist.
ee
Experiments.
ef
Deceiving, shamming.
eg
Surely, certainly.
eh
Drinking.
ei
Strange character.
ej
Scolded.
ek
Women.
el
Connoisseur who enjoys the arts (Italian); Griffin is a rare item.
em
Nonsense.
en
Why did he bite him?
eo
Sealed by searing with a hot iron.
ep
Plugs.
eq
Tall chest of drawers.
er
Pharmacist’s.
es
Coin worth one-twentieth of a pound.
et
Nails used in making rough workingmen’s boots.
eu
Crackling noise.
ev
Flesh color.
ew
Spotted with different colors.
ex
Solution.
ey
Artists.
ez
Ironic; people are religious on Sunday but neglect religion on workdays.
fa
Bogeymen, monsters.
fb
One who earns his living using his mind rather than working with his hands.
fc
Mysterious appearance.
fd
Still up after bedtime.
fe
Fearfully.
ff
Fossil.
fg
Donation.
fh
Formula.
fi
Artificial arm.
fj
Blinders that keep horses from seeing things at their side; the reference is to Griffin’s wrap-around glasses.
fk
Day after Whitsunday (see chapter IV, endnote 7).
fl
Two pounds plus ten shillings, all coins.
fm
Metal container for carrying coal.
fn
Room for washing dishes and kitchen utensils.
fo
Oddly, comically clothed.
fp
Melting away.
fq
Awakened, aroused.
fr
Have you got what I want?
fs
‘Tas means “ ’tis,” uz means “his,” and ‘e ent is “he ain’t.”
ft
Business.
fu
Alcoholic beverages.
fv
I’m damned if that isn’t witchcraft.
fw
Used not only as good luck charms, but to ward off spirits.
fx
Unbroken, not smashed in.
fy
Beat.
fz
Vague, incomplete.
ga
Criss-cross ribbing pattern in cloth or, as here, in cheap paper.
gb
Game in which balls are thrown to knock coconuts off a shelf.
gc
Clinked.
gd
Twinge.
ge
Now, now!
gf
He treats her as an inferior.
gg
Is that so? (mockingly).
gh
Transformed.
gi
God!
gj
Awkward young person.
gk
Farm workers wore smocks over their clothes.
gl
Head.
gm
Arrest.
gn
Arguing.
go
As in soccer.
gp
Hands on hips, elbows away from the body.
gq
Church caretaker.
gr
Instantly.
gs
Billy club.
gt
Escaping crowd.
gu
Sudden and violent.
gv
Bushy disorder.
gw
Plumpness.
gx
His socks have holes in them.
gy
Herbs of the rose family.
gz
Begging.
ha
Person speaking to him.
hb
Eye.
hc
General name for several birds, including the lapwing.
hd
Off my rocker; insane.
he
Hard quartz stones.
hf
Strange business.
hg
Go on.
hh
Indicates vox et praeterea nihil, “a voice and nothing behind it” (Latin).
hi
Gibberish.
hj
Powerless.
hk
Tizzy, confused state.
hl
Fancy.
hm
Worn by the members of the club that sponsored the Whit-Monday fair.
hn
Decorations.
ho
False, artificial.
hp
Suspenders.
hq
Accustomed.
hr
Darn!—code.
hs
Spotted with red, the result of alcoholism.
ht
Is this the bar?
hu
Informal records.
hv
Something.
hw
In a low voice, a whisper.
hx
By hand signs.
hy
Stubborn.
hz
Probably.
ia
A game like rugby.
ib
Pullover sweater.
ic
Improper, unseemly.
id
Ornaments, decoration.
ie
Candy.
if
Legal holiday.
ig
Ruddy.
ih
Everyone knows about it.
ii
Paralyzing fear.
ij
Austria.
ik
Altercation.
il
Line.
im
Tossing words around; being glib.
in
With no visible support.
io
Cash boxes.
ip
Coins in coin wrappers.
iq
Windowed room at the top of a house.
ir
Slides.
is
Nicely run.
it
Hidden.
iu
White.
iv
Inn (a real one) named afte
r those who play cricket.
iw
A strong ale.
ix
Hinged panel in the bar that allows people to get behind it.
iy
Sofa.
iz
Fire.
ja
Young hare.
jb
Devices for beating grain; a flail consists of a wooden handle at the end of which hangs a stouter, shorter stick that swings freely.
jc
Intervals, spaces between.
jd
With a lack of energy.
je
Ringing the bell for a prank.
jf
Seltzer water.
jg
Washstand with the articles needed to wash face and hands.
jh
Frightening, mysterious.
ji
I need help.
jj
Food pantry.
jk
Nostrils.
jl
Parts of windows that move up and down.
jm
Blurting something out with force.
jn
Larvae are young invertebrate animals; nauplii, crustacean larvae; tornarias, immature acorn worms.
jo
Seeing patients.
jp
Indicates cum grano salis, “with a grain of salt” (Latin); that is, with skepticism.
jq
School of fish.
jr
Probably means Indian coolie, though the term can refer to anyone working under harsh conditions.
js
Glass containing lead oxide; has a high level of refraction; used for optical devices.
jt
Cad.
ju
Dishonest.
jv
One in a low-level academic position.
jw
Important street in London.
jx
Reputation.
jy
Speculators who build cheap structures.
jz
X rays, discovered by W. K. Roentgen (Röntgen) in 1895.
ka
Generators.
kb
Rain barrel.
kc
Trundle bed; low bed on casters.
kd
Put it out of the house.
ke
Mounted cavalry, symbolizing old-fashioned warfare.
kf
High point with a wide view of London.
kg
kemp thinks strychnine releases the savage inside us.
kh
Silver-white alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel. of personality, fatigue, and the drug
ki
Griffin is paranoic, stemming from a combination of personality, fatigue, and the drug strychnine.
kj
Eviction notice.
kk
Clenched my teeth.
kl
The door bolts are fastened to the wooden door with U-shaped staples.
km
A patois is a special dialect; here the word describes the combination of English and Yiddish spoken by the landlord and his sons.
kn
Grill to control heat flow.
ko
Seller of fruit and vegetables.
kp
Freedom from punishment.
kq
Cloth and dry goods shop.
kr
Uncontrollably.
ks
Pub or tavern.
kt
Two-wheeled carriage; Griffin is struck by the shaft to which the horses are harnessed.
ku
Baby carriage.
kv
Susceptible.
kw
Mudie’s Select Library, where people paid a small fee to borrow books; the yellow label was a Mudie’s trademark.
kx
The British Museum.
ky
Covered entry passage.
kz
Made going back impossible.
la
Tools, equipment.
lb
An imaginary emporium; an arcade or group of shops.
lc
Mattresses filled with wool or cotton.
ld
A line of clerks ushering late shoppers out of the building.
le
Cry given by hunters when the fox is spotted.
lf
Decorative ceramic pots.
lg
Hardware.
lh
Ravages.
li
Not just mist but smoke from coal and wood fires.
lj
Soot.
lk
Covered with flyspecks, seedy.
ll
Masquerade costume.
lm
Full-length mirror.
ln
Costume vest in the style of Louis XIV of France (1638-1715).
lo
Cleaning fluid.
lp
cotton fabric.
lq
Treacherous things.
lr
Partially blind or lacking insight.
ls
Catch his scent.
lt
Knowledge.
lu
Closed.
lv
Griffin sends his death threat to Kemp with postage due.
lw
Griffin against the world (Latin).
lx
Casualness of Adye’s position.
ly
Celebrated nineteenth-century landscape painter.
lz
Decorative shrub with yellow flowers.
ma
Desolate.
mb
Very end.
mc
Construction workers.
md
Showed a full range of emotion—concern for their children, fear, and curiosity about Griffin.
me
Useless counterpunch.
mf
Faking.
mg
Red semiprecious stones.
mh
Found treasure becomes government property.
mi
One pound and one shilling.
mj
Except one—that is, where Griffin’s books are.
mk
Like algae.
ml
Once I figure them out.
