Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated

by Robin Furth

  **JILLY-CHILD: A young jilly or gilly. See JILLY, above

  **JILLY-COME-LATELY: A sarcastic comment about youth. An old woman can also look like a jilly-come-lately when compared with a much older woman.

  JIN-JIN: See entry in HIGH SPEECH

  JING-JANG: An old-fashioned telephone. In Debaria, their jing-jangs used to be able to call all the way to Gilead. Now the telephone lines only reach as far as the Jefferson Ranch to the north, Sallywood in the south, and Little Debaria to the northeast. W:54

  JIPPA: To go jippa is to go crazy. This is an unpleasant term that people in Tree Village use for someone who has lost his mind. W:219

  JUGWEED: A weed that grows in the alkali ranchlands north of Debaria. W:74

  KA HAS NO HEART OR MIND: Ka does what it must do without considering the emotions of mere mortals. VI:16

  KA IS A WHEEL: Ka is a wheel. Its purpose is to turn and to bring us back to where we started, or to an equivalent place. W:60

  KA LIKE A WIND: Ka comes with a force of its own. V:31

  KA SPEAKS AND THE WIND BLOWS: Ka is the force behind all events. VII:305

  KA WAS A WHEEL, ITS ONE PURPOSE TO TURN, AND IN THE END IT ALWAYS CAME BACK TO THE PLACE WHERE IT HAD STARTED: This is another Mid-World truism. What you do comes back to haunt you. What goes around comes around. III:394

  KA WAS OFTEN THE LAST THING YOU HAD TO RISE ABOVE: Ka doesn’t always bring what we want it to bring. It can bring death and failure too. V:661

  KA WORKS AND THE WORLD MOVES ON: Roland utters this phrase in anger after Ben Slightman apologizes for supplying information to the WOLVES of Thunderclap and their masters. Roland’s exact response is “Balls to your sorry. Ka works and the world moves on.” V:658

  KA WOULD TELL. IT ALWAYS DID: In the end, ka has the final say over our fates. V:160

  KA-DADDY: A slang term for one’s boss. VI:144

  KA-DINH: See entry in HIGH SPEECH

  KAFFIN TWINS: Identical twins who are joined at the body. In our world, we often use the term “Siamese twins.” V:675

  KA-MATE: Your ka-mate is your tet-mate, or a person bound to you by ka. W:31

  KAMMEN: See entry in HIGH SPEECH

  KA-SHUME: See entry in HIGH SPEECH

  KEEP EM WELL, DO: Keep them safe. W:15

  KEN (TO KEN) To know. See also CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT. W:17

  KENNIT: See entry in CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT

  KEY WORLD: Our world is the key world because Stephen King, the key maker, lives in it. See also KEYSTONE EARTH, in END-WORLD TERMS. VI:200

  KI’BOX: See entry in CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT

  KI’COME: See entry in CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT

  KI’-DAM: See entry in END-WORLD TERMS

  KING’S EVIL: See FALLING SICKNESS, above

  KINKMAN: The kinkman is the showman who stands outside a carnival tent and tries to entice people in. W:58

  KISSIN DON’T LAST; COOKIN DO: So say the Manni-folk. W:150

  KISSING MOON: The full moon of FULL EARTH is known as the Kissing Moon. In Wizard and Glass, Roland meets Susan Delgado under this perfect disk of silver. See also MID-WORLD MOONS, located at the beginning of this Concordance. IV:115

  KNUCKLES (GOLD KNUCKLES, SILVER KNUCKLES, GOLD KNUCKS): Used as money in the Mid-World of Roland’s youth. W:44

  **KUVIAN NIGHT-SOLDIER: It seems likely that the Kuvian night-soldiers were a band of assassins. This term does not appear in the 2003 version of The Gunslinger. I:200

  LADY OF THE PLATE: See entry in CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT

  LADY-SAI: A formal term of address for a woman. W:49

  LAND-PIRATES: Mid-World’s roving bands of harriers gave themselves this name. Farson was essentially a land-pirate with pretensions. W:40

  LAST TIMES: This is Sylvia Pittston’s term for the End of the World. I:50

  LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION: This phrase is another one of the raven Zoltan’s sayings. In our world, it can be found in the Lord’s Prayer. I:20

  LEMON JUICE WON’T TAKE THE STAIN OUT OF A LADY’S REPUTATION: It’s not easy to lose a bad rep. IV:143

  LET BE WHAT WILL BE, AND HUSH, AND LET KA WORK: Roland learned this saying from his mother, Gabrielle Deschain. VII:729

  LET EVIL WAIT FOR THE DAY ON WHICH IT MUST FALL: This saying comes from Gilead. It means that you shouldn’t borrow trouble from the future since it will arrive soon enough. V:162

  **LET’S SHAKE A MILE: Let’s get moving.

  LET YOUR SHADOW GROW. LET IT GROW HAIR ON ITS FACE. LET IT BECOME DARK: Wait until you’re older. I:172

  LIFE FOR YOU AND FOR YOUR CROP: A Mid-World greeting. V:72

  LIFE FOR YOUR CROP: This is a Mid-World greeting. Roland uses it when he meets Brown, the Border Dweller. I:15

  LIFE IS A WHEEL AND WE ALL SAY THANKYA: Life, like KA, is a wheel. We seem to move forward, but in the end we find ourselves back just where we began. VII:4

  LINEOUT: This is Roland’s word for an outline. VI:285

  LINIMENT AND STINKUM: The Jefferson Ranch’s deserted tack shed contained dust-covered jugs of liniment and stinkum. W:77

  LOAD (THE LOAD): See entry in CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT

  LOG OF EASE: The log which campers sit on to dump the proverbial dinner. I suppose some people find it easier than squatting to poop. VII:635

  LONG AGO (THE LONG AGO): The time before the world moved on. VII:9, VII:161, VII:178

  LONG DAYS AND PLEASANT NIGHTS: A Mid-World greeting. The proper response is “May you have twice the number.” In Calla Bryn Sturgis, this greeting is accompanied by three taps to the throat. IV:197, V:3, VI:149

  LONGSTICK: Steven Deschain stated that the women of Serenity preferred a longstick to a man. In other words, they would rather take pleasure from a fake phallus than lie with a man. W:38

  LOOK NOT LONG AT WHAT’S OFFERED, FOR EVERY PRECIOUS THING HAS WINGS AND MAY FLY AWAY: This saying comes from the West’rds. In other words, take an opportunity when it appears—it may soon be gone. W:118

  LOOKS: See THREE LOOKS TO THE HORIZON, below

  LORD PERTH: Mid-World’s story of Lord Perth bears a strong resemblance to our biblical tale of David and Goliath. See also MID-WORLD FOLKLORE, in CHARACTERS. V:39

  LOS ÁNGELES: This Mejis term describes fat, white, fair-weather clouds. VII:455, VII:477

  LOUTKIN: A lout; an ill-mannered person. VI:180

  LOVE STUMBLES: This is Roland’s mother’s phrase. It is roughly equivalent to our saying “love is blind.” V:77

  LOW PURE: The foothill meadows below the salt-houses in Debaria. W:57

  MACROVERSE: A term often used in Stephen King’s fiction for all the known worlds that spin about the Tower. I use it frequently in this Concordance, even though Stephen King doesn’t use it in the Dark Tower series. See also MULTIVERSE

  MADAME DEATH: Lady Death. In decks of cards, she is often represented by the Queen of Spades. VI:18

  MAGDA-SEEN (MAGDA-SEENS): This is Roland’s misinterpretation of the word magazine, and it doesn’t make any sense to him. He can’t figure out what Magda must have seen. II:61, V:677, VII:494

  MAGIC TALES OF THE ELD: When Roland was a child, this was his favorite book. It contained the story entitled “The Wind Through the Keyhole.” W:14

  MAKE HASTE: See MID-WORLD GESTUES

  MAKE WATER (TO MAKE WATER): To urinate. V:86

  MALHABLADA: This is a Spanish word which means “woman who speaks badly,” or, in the case of Susan Delgado, a woman who uses bad words. IV:237

  MANDRUS: Mandrus’s common name is “whore’s blossoms.” It is a venereal disease (endemic in cities such as Lud) that appears to have quite a lot in common with syphilis. The oozing sores apparent in the later stages of the disease are particularly horrific. III:297

  MANTO: In Hambry, a manto is a cloak. In other places, it is a slang term for a homosexual. Kimba Rimer once jokingly called Clay Reynolds “sai Manto,” referring to his cloak, but Reynolds later murdered him for doing so. IV:471

&n
bsp; **MANY AND MANY-A: A long time ago. V:131, V:328

  MARMAR: Mother. W:103

  MARRY IN HASTE, REPENT AT LEISURE: This is another saying used by the old folks in the Endless Forest. If you marry too quickly you may regret it. W:162

  MAY IT SERVE THEM VERY WELL: May it make them healthy, or may it make them prosper. V:74

  MAY THE SUN NEVER FALL IN YOUR EYES: Good luck to you. V:402

  MAY WE BE WELL-MET ON THE PATH: See WELL-MET, below

  MAY WE MEET IN THE CLEARING AT THE END OF THE PATH WHEN ALL WORLDS END: May we meet after death. May we meet again in the next world. VII:801

  MAY YOU DO WELL: May you prosper. VI:182

  MAY YOU HAVE TWICE THE NUMBER: See LONG DAYS AND PLEASANT NIGHTS, above

  MAY YOUR BEAUTY EVER INCREASE/AND MAY YOUR FIRST DAY IN HELL LAST TEN THOUSAND YEARS, AND MAY IT BE THE SHORTEST: This testy interchange is part of the story of Lady ORIZA and her suitor/enemy Gray Dick. See ORIZA, LADY, in CHARACTERS

  MAY YOUR DAYS BE LONG UPON THE EARTH: A Mid-World greeting. The proper reply to this is “And may you have twice the number.” V:123

  MAY YOUR FIRST DAY IN HELL LAST TEN THOUSAND YEARS: See MAY YOUR BEAUTY EVER INCREASE, above

  MAYHAP: Perhaps. V:328, W:29

  MAYHAP SOME OF THE OLD WAYS STILL HOLD: Perhaps some of the old ways have survived. V:126

  MEGRIMS: Fears. Fantasies. As Susan walks to Rhea’s hut for the first time, she sings to keep “the worst of her megrims away.” IV:123

  MERRY SEE, MERRY BE: See HILE AND MERRY-GREET-THE-DAY, above

  MESCALINE: We have this in our world too. Cort called mescaline the Philosopher’s Stone and maintained that the old gods pissed over the desert and made this hallucinogen. The use of drugs (usually to communicate with speaking demons) was part of a gunslinger’s training. See APPENDIX IV: MID-WORLD MISCELLANY. I:124–25, I:127

  METALED/METAL: A metaled road is a paved road. III:287, V:291

  MICKLE (USELESS MICKLE): Useless junk. W:163

  MID-SUMMER: The season of Mid-Summer marks the hottest part of the year. Mid-Summer was also one of Gilead’s FAIR-DAYS. See APPENDIX IV: MID-WORLD MISCELLANY. V:2

  MIM: See entry in HIGH SPEECH

  MIND (TO MIND): To watch out for something, as in “mind the step.” W:16

  MIND-SPEAR: A mind-spear is a focused thought which can kill the person at whom it is aimed. The BREAKER Ted Brautigan is especially good at throwing mind-spears. VII:278, VII:376

  MOIT: A group of five or six. It is also part of an expression: “Surely you’ve got a moit more guts than that.” V:237, V:358, VII:808 (expression)

  MOITY’MORE: Many more. W:268

  MOLLIES: Unsterilized female mules, usually kept for their good tempers rather than for breeding. Such creatures rarely give birth to true-threaded offspring. W:145

  MORE THAN ONCE-UPON-A: More than once. V:367

  MORTATA: See entry in CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT

  MOTHER-ROOT: Umbilical cord. III:175

  MOZO: Spanish for porter. Used in Hambry for male servants. IV:278

  MOUTH’S HUNG IN THE MIDDLE AND RUNS AT BOTH ENDS (MY MOUTH’S HUNG IN THE MIDDLE AND RUNS AT BOTH ENDS): I talk too much, or I say things I shouldn’t. W:122

  MUCH TALK IS JUST LA-LA-LA: Much talk is just nonsense. W:42

  MUFFIN-BALLS: Although they look like mushrooms, muffin-balls are actually a kind of edible ground berry. V:42

  MULTIPLE AMERICAS: Although the Tower contains only one Keystone Earth and that Keystone Earth contains only one North America and one United States, other levels of the Tower also contain alternate Americas, or alternate versions of North America and of the United States. These alternative Americas are subtly different from ours. (For example, in some of those other Americas people drive Takuro Spirits and drink Nozz-A-La cola.) When I refer to the many Americas, including the one found on Keystone Earth, I use the term Multiple Americas. See also entry in OUR WORLD PLACES

  MULTIVERSE: A term I often use in this Concordance when I am referring to the many worlds which spin around the Dark Tower.

  MUMBLETY-PEG: A game in which players throw or flip a jackknife in various ways so that the knife sticks in the ground. We play this game in our world too. V:227

  MUSICA: In Calla Bryn Sturgis, a musica is a bandstand on a town green. In other parts of Mid-World, a wandering musica is a wandering musician. V:210, VII:51

  MUTIE: A mutant. Mutants are common in Mid-World. See MUTANTS, in CHARACTERS

  MY LIFE FOR YOU: Richard Fannin makes Tick-Tock repeat this sinister saying. III:389

  MY TONGUE TANGLES WORSE THAN A DRUNK’S ON REAP-NIGHT: Roland’s way of saying that he isn’t good with words. V:216

  NAR: NO. W:63

  NASTY LOT OF WORK (THEY WERE A NASTY LOT OF WORK); They were a nasty bunch of men/women. W:56

  NAUGHT BE ZERO, NAUGHT BE FREE, I OWE NOT YOU, NOR YOU OWE ME: Nothing has been decided yet, and no one owes anyone else anything, at least as yet. V:110

  NAWP: No. W:103

  NECK-POPPED: Hanged. I:105–6

  NE’MINE: Never mind. VI:50

  NEN: A drink used by the Covenant Man to make Tim Ross feel like an icy visitor inside his own head. Nen isn’t alcoholic but it must have some drug-like properties. W:161

  NEVER IN LIFE: Not on your life. V:403

  NEVER MIND SPLITTING NAILS TO MAKE TACKS: Don’t split hairs. The gist of whatever is being said is correct. V:167

  NEVER SAY SO. FOR ’TIS BLASPHEMY: Never say so, since it is a sin against God. W:52

  NEVER SPEAK THE WORST ALOUD: This was one of Cort’s sayings. Don’t speak your worst fears. VII:589

  **NEW EARTH: New Earth is the spring plowing season. Mother Nature is just waking from her long sleep. See also APPENDIX IV: MID-WORLD MISCELLANY. V:3

  NINETEEN: Nineteen is the number which haunts our KA-TET throughout the last three books of the Dark Tower series. See NINETEEN, NINETY-NINE, and NINETEEN NINETY-NINE, all in CHARACTERS

  NIS: Nis is another name for Na’ar, or Hell. W:61

  NO FRET: Don’t worry. W:65

  **NO ONE EVER REALLY PAYS FOR BETRAYAL IN SILVER; THE PRICE OF ANY BETRAYAL ALWAYS COMES DUE IN FLESH: The cost of betrayal is dear.

  NO QUARTER: See WE WILL ACCEPT NO QUARTER, below

  NOON (TO NOON): To noon in the saddle is to spend noontime (or the afternoon) riding. You can also “noon with” someone, which means to spend the afternoon with them. V:205

  NOT BY MY WARRANT: Not if it’s up to me. V:47

  NOT JUST ONE POINT OF WHEN: Not just one point in time, but more than one. V:103

  NOW WHILE WE BIDE: Now while we stay here. V:230

  NOZZ-A-LA: The Great Old Ones must have preferred Nozz-A-La cola to either Coke or Pepsi, since some of the cans are still kicking around End-World. Nozz-A-La may also be found in many of the ALTERNATIVE AMERICAS. V:36, V:560, VII:724

  NUB (TO HAVE THE NUB OF IT) To have the essence of it. W:42

  NUMMORE: No more. W:91

  NUMMORE THAN: No more than. W:58

  OAST: See BASTED IN A HOT OAST, above

  OGGAN: See entry in CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT

  OH BITE IT!: This was Pat Delgado’s favorite cuss. IV:239

  OLD BONE-TWIST MAN: See DRY-TWIST, above

  OLD ONES: The Old Ones (also called the Old People or the Great Old Ones) were the technologically advanced inhabitants of Mid-World. By Roland’s time, they were long gone, and all that remained of them were their weapons and dangerous, half-fried technology. See OLD ONES, in CHARACTERS

  OLD ONES’ DOOR: This is Roland’s term for a mechanical door made by the Old Ones. Unlike the magical doors left over from the PRIM, or the enchanted doors created by KA or art, the Old Ones’ doors are dedicated and always come out at the same place. Few are in good condition, so passing through them can make a person physically sick. See also DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS, in PORTALS. VII:35

  OLD RED FURY (THE OLD RED FURY): Battle fury. V:171

 
OLD WAR: See GREAT POISONING, above

  OLLIE KNOT: A sloppy kind of knot used to secure things to the back of a wagon, etc. W:126

  ONCE UPON A BYE, BEFORE YOUR GRANDFATHER’S GRANDFATHER WAS BORN: In Mid-World, this is how folktales and fairy tales begin. It is equivalent to our “Once upon a time.” W:105

  ONE TO WATCH AND ONE TO WORK. PULL TOGETHER AND NEVER APART: According to the old-timers of Tree Village, this was how woodcutting partners had to work. It was too dangerous to go into the Endless Forest alone. W:117

  ONLY A FOOL BELIEVES HE’S DREAMING BEFORE HE WAKES UP: Don’t ignore the situation, deal with it! Also, hope for the best and expect the worst. III:59

  ORIZA: See entry in CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT

  OTHER WHERE-AND-WHEN: On some other level of the Dark Tower. In some other where-and-when, Lud is a version of New York City. V:179

  OUTER DARK: Chaos. Evil. The Crimson King serves the Outer Dark. Roland and his fellow gunslingers serve the WHITE. V:115

  OUTLANDERS: To the Pubes, outlanders are people not from Lud. III:321, III:322

  PAIN RISES, FROM THE HEART TO THE HEAD: This is one of Roland’s sayings. Eddie has a strange feeling that he’s heard similar sentiments in cowboy flicks. When Roland removes a bullet from Eddie’s leg, he tells Eddie to bite down on a belt so that he can catch the pain as it rises. The trick seems to work. VI:203

  PALAVER: To hold palaver is to hold counsel. Palaver tends to imply the exchange of important ideas. I:197, V:108, V:158, VI:66, VI:183, W:7

  PAÑUELO: Handkerchief. A Spanish term used in Hambry. IV:374

  PARD: Short for “pardner.” We use this term in our world too. It means partner or comrade. W:77, W:119

  PASSING FINE (I’M PASSING FINE): I’m fine. W:175, E:179, W:77, W:198