Words, Pronunciations & Meanings

These are words that Eileen and I noted from the first read-through. Note: you must have speakers (turned on) to use the links for pronunciation.

an academic (Taylor, p. 8)
a professor or, more likely in Kent's situation, a scholar or someone with scholarly interests

aesthetic (Kent, p. 12)
Mom collects these butterflies just because they are pretty ("aesthetic").
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=aesthetic

Aspen (Taylor, p. 17)
upscale ski resort for the rich and famous; of the town's residents, only .44% (yes, less than 1/2 of 1 percent) are African Americans

anecdotal
based on casual reports or stories
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=anecdotal

cotillion (Dad, p. 33)
formal dance; often a way to present eligible young women ("coming out" to "proper society")
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=cotillion

Darjeeling
a tea of high quality
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=darjeeling

discourse (Taylor, p. 58)
"canon of hard feminist discourse" refers to the those (white) feminist writers she would have been required to read in college; as a noun, emphasis is on the first syllable
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=discourse

entomology (Taylor, p. 30)
the study of insects
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=entomology

entree (Kent, p. 65)
Kent suggests that Taylor had entrance into/access to (entree) a world of priviledge because of her father's status.
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=entree

Ferragamo (Kimber, p. 77)
very expensive, handmade Italian shoes

histrionic (Kent, p. 43)
melodramatic or over-the-top
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=histrionic

inequities (Taylor, p. 87)
injustice or unfairness
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=inequities

ingratiate
to use deliberate effort to gain favor or acceptance
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=ingratiate

Johns Hopkins (Taylor, p. 30)
The first research university in the U.S. Located in Baltimore, Maryland, the school is extremely selective. Note that the name is Johns (with an "s").

latticework
criss-crossed pattern of (wooden) strips
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=latticework

Kennebunkport (Dad, p. 35)
a small town on the coast of southern Maine that it is summer home of the Bush family

libel
written communication that is false and damaging
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=libel

lox (Cheryl, p. 37)
salmon that is cured and thinly sliced; often served with cream cheese on bagels for breakfast

melanin (Kent, p. 20)
Kimber is light-skinned ("melanin challenged"); the amount of melanin in the skin determines its darkness
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=melanin

Ngo Dinh Diem (Dad, p. 26)
the first president of South Vietnam (1955-1963)
http://www.forvo.com/word/ng%C3%B4_%C4%91%C3%ACnh_di%E1%BB%87m#vi

no hypocrisy in your lamentations (Kimber, p. 56)
"as long as you have a good reason to bitch"

NYU, Columbia, and Princeton (Cheryl, p. 16)
NYU and Columbia are very selective and expensive private universities in Manhattan (New York City); Columbia is an Ivy League school. Princeton also is Ivy League but is located in New Jersey.

octoroons and quadroons (Dad, p. 57)
1/8th and 1/4th black respectively; an octoroon would have 7 white grandparents and 1 black grandparent; the Plessy of Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896 Supreme Court) was an "octoroon"

pageboy-Birkenstock-unshaved ass (Taylor, p. 57)
Taylor is suggesting that her professor is a (steroetypical) radical feminist and/or perhaps lesbian

Pavlov (Cheryl, p. 25)
as in Pavlov's dogs, which automatically react in preconditioned ways to certain stimuli
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=pavlov

pituitary
pea-sized gland at the base of the brain that secretes hormones
http://www.forvo.com/word/pituitary/

postdoc (Taylor, p. 30)
If Taylor is on a postdoctoral fellowship, then she has completed her Ph.D. in entomology. At the end of this fellowship, she probably will teach and/or research at a university.

provincial (Taylor, p. 11)
lacking urban polish or refinement
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=provincial

Pulitzer (Dad, p. 28)
Prestigious annual awards for excellence in writing and musical composition in the U.S. According to the Pulitzer's own website, the correct pronunciation is "PULL it sir."

Reich (Taylor, p. 58)
the Third Reich = Hitler's Nazi Germany (1933-1945)
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=reich

social stratification (Kent, p. 6)
dividing black society into classes based on economics/income, education, ownership
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=stratification

Swahili (Kent, p. 12)
language spoken in Kenya and several other east African nations
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=swahili

sycophantic relationship (Taylor, p. 6)
sucking up to those with money and power (the "well heeled")
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=sycophantic

testosterone
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=testosterone

hypothetical utopian (Taylor, p. 55)
theoretical but impossible to achieve "perfect" society
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=utopian

Whitcomb (Kent, p. 12)
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=whitcomb