a Saint Anthony a St. Anthony medal. St. Anthony of Padua is the Roman Catholic patron saint of miracles. He is also a patron saint of Italy.
"A basso gli ufficiali!" (Italian) "Down with the officers!"
abbastanza bene (Italian) rather well.
Abruzzi a region of central Italy, on the Adriatic Sea.
Abyssinia former name for Ethiopia.
"Africana" song title.
Alpini (Italian) Alpine troops.
"Alto piano . . . but no piano" (Italian) "Upland plain . . . but no plain."
Amalfi a town in south Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno.
Antitetanus inoculation against tetanus, an acute infectious disease, often fatal, caused by the specific toxin of a bacillus which usually enters the body through wounds: it is characterized by spasmodic contractions and rigidity of some or all of the voluntary muscles, especially of the jaw, face, and neck.
Aosta the Valle d'Aosta, a region of northwest Italy.
Aquila town in the Abruzzi region of Italy.
Archbishop Ireland American archbishop, apparently, with whose case Henry is unfamiliar.
armoire a large, usually ornate cupboard or clothespress.
articulation a joint between bones.
Asti a wine from the city of the same name in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy.
Babbitting metal a soft white metal of tin, lead, copper, and antimony in various proportions, used to reduce frictions as in bearings.
Bacchus the Roman god of wine and revelry; identified with the Greek Dionysus.
Bainsizza plateau a plateau in present-day Slovenia.
battery an emplacement for heavy guns, or a fortification equipped with such guns.
bawdy house a house of prostitution.
bersaglieri (Italian) riflemen.
Béziers a city in south France.
big Skoda guns a type of artillery.
Black Forest a wooded mountain region in southwest Germany.
"Blow, blow, ye western wind . . . Christ, that my love were in my arms and I in my bed again. That my love Catherine. That my sweet love Catherine down might rain. Blow her again to me." Falling asleep in the cab of the ambulance, Lieutenant Henry recites to himself a garbled version of a poem from the sixteenth century, the author of which is unknown. The best-known lines from this poem are as follows: "O Western wind, when wilt thou blow,/That the small rain down can rain?/Christ, that my love were in my arms/And I in my bed again!" Note the portentous rain imagery.
bock a dark beer traditionally drunk in the early spring.
borghese (Italian) civilian clothes.
bread pudding with hard sauce a custard dessert made with pieces of bread, raisins, or other fruit, etc., served in this case with a sweet, creamy mixture of butter, powdered sugar, and a flavoring such as vanilla extract, rum, or brandy.
Brescia commune in Lombardy, north Italy, at the foot of the Alps.
brigata (Italian) brigade.
Brigata di Pace (Italian) Peace Brigade.
Brindisi a seaport in Apulia, southeast Italy, on the Adriatic.
Bulgaria Bulgaria too became allied with the Central Powers after the start of the war.
"But at my back I always hear/Time's winged chariot hurrying near" Lieutenant Henry quotes from "To His Coy Mistress," a lyric poem by Andrew Marvell (see below). The reference to the poem itself, about a woman who is sexually unavailable, is ironic, considering all of Henry and Catherine's premarital sexual activity. But the lines themselves are consistent with the sense of doom that pervades the novel.
Ça va bien? (French) Are you doing well?
Cadore region in the Carnac Alps, east of Cortina D'Ampezzo.
caisson a two-wheeled wagon for transporting ammunition.
camion a motor truck or heavy dray wagon.
Campoformio Campoformido, town in northeast Italy, south of Udine.
capitano (Italian) captain.
Caporetto village in present-day Slovenia, the scene of a battle in World War I in which the Italian army was defeated by Austro-German forces (1917).
Capracotta a village in the Abruzzi region.
Capri an island near the entrance to the Bay of Naples.
capri bianca an Italian white wine.
carabinieri (Italian) military police.
carbines rifles with a short barrel, originally for use by cavalry.
Carpathians the Carpathian Mountains, a mountain system in central Europe, extending southeast from south Poland through the Czech Republic and Ukraine into northeast Romania.
Caruso (1873–1921) Enrico, world-famous Italian operatic tenor.
Castagnola a town on the shore of Lake Maggiore.
catch crabs in rowing, to fail to clear the water on the recovery stroke accidentally, thereby unbalancing the boat or impeding its movement.
Chalet a type of Swiss house, built of wood with balconies and overhanging eaves.
chamois a small goat antelope of the mountains of Europe and the Caucasus, having straight horns with the tips bent backward.
Cheery oh Dr. Valentini is trying to ingratiate himself with Catherine through the use of the British expression "cheerio." Hemingway's spelling indicates that his pronunciation isn't quite idiomatic.
Chernex, Fontanivent alpine villages.
chianti a dry red wine produced in the Tuscany region of Italy.
cholera any of various intestinal diseases; specifically, an acute, severe, infectious disease (Asiatic cholera) common in Asia, caused by bacteria and characterized by profuse diarrhea, intestinal pain, and dehydration.
choucroute (French) sauerkraut.
Ciaou (Italian) Hello.
Cinzano brand-name of an aperitif.
Cividale Cividale del Friuli, town in northeast Italy between Udine and the Isonzo River.
cloistered secluded or confined as in a cloister (a monastery or convent).
cognac a French brandy distilled from wine in the area of Cognac, France.
cogwheel railway a railway for a very steep grade with traction supplied by a central cogged rail that meshes with a cogwheel on the engine.
convoy a group of vehicles traveling together for mutual protection or convenience.
Cormons town west of Gorizia, in northeast Italy.
Corriere Della Sera (Italian) Evening Courier, a newspaper.
Cortina D'Ampezzo town in the Carnac Alps, in Italy due north of Venice.
coup de main a surprise attack or movement, as in war.
Croat a person born or living in Croatia, a country in southeast Europe that was at one time part of Austria-Hungary.
Croyant (French) believing.
cypress an evergreen, cone-bearing tree, with dark foliage and a distinctive symmetrical form.
