scones and crumpets biscuits and cakes usually served with tea.
señoritas young, unmarried women.
siditty pretentious.
Sloan's Liniment an astringent balm used to treat strains and sprains.
sloe gin a fad drink of the early 1940s composed of grain alcohol flavored with the rosy, sweet fruit of the blackthorn.
sobriquet nickname, or code name.
Southern Pacific Mole a local train which passes through tunnels in Twin Peaks, two hills in central San Francisco.
St. Vitus Dance a chronic spastic twitch of face and limbs.
string-along songs about razor blades Radio prize-fight broadcasts were sponsored by Gillette.
Suffer little children to come unto me, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven. as found in Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, and Luke 18:16, a variation of Jesus' words to his disciples, who rejected children who accompanied their parents to see and hear Jesus.
taking low being humiliated or berated.
teenincy Southern dialect for very small.
Texarkana twin cities on the border of Texas and Arkansas.
The Brazos a Texas river, flowing past Waco to Freeport on the Gulf of Mexico through stereotypical cowboy country.
the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke a crucial chapter in the Christian gospel which defines justice, describes the appropriate way to pray and the contrition required of a suppliant of God, predicts the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, and concludes with an act of healing.
"The Fall of the House of Usher" one of Edgar Allan Poe's most dismal tales of horror, which features the theme of premature burial.
the Fates characters in Greek mythology who determined the course of human life.
the Green Hornet a popular radio show which originated on WXYZ Detroit on January 31, 1936, and continued until December 5, 1952. The Hornet, the great nephew of the Lone Ranger, was created by George W. Trendle and written by Fran Striker, who also wrote episodes of The Lone Ranger.
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. . . . Blessed be the name of the Lord Job 1:21, a stoic verse often cited at funerals and graveside rites.
"The moving finger writes and having writ, moves on . . ." a verse from Omar Khayyám's Rubaiyat which implies that fate is impervious to human wishes.
the Phantom Ray Moore's cartoon, which first appeared in daily newspapers on February 17, 1936, advanced to comic books, and was made into a movie serial in 1943 and a TV animation in 1986.
The Rover Boys a twenty-volume young adult series written by Edward Stratemeyer under the pseudonym Arthur M. Winfield. Stratemeyer also wrote the Tom Swirt, Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, and Hardy Boys series, a total of over eight hundred books.
The Shadow a popular radio program premiering on the CBS "Detective Story" in August 1930, which grew from Walter Gibson's serialized novels in Street and Smith magazine. The character was originally played by Jack LaCurto; in 1937, Orson Welles assumed the role.
The Well of Loneliness Radcliffe Hall's 1928 novel about lesbianism.
thou art my good and faithful servant with whom I am well pleased an approximation of Jesus' words in the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:21.
Tiny Tim beloved crippled son of Bob Cratchit in Charles Dickens' classic novel A Christmas Carol, published in serial form in 1843.
tithe a percentage of income (usually ten percent) donated regularly to the church in obedience to the specific command of Malachi 3:10: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there might be meat in mine house."
Toussaint L'Ouverture François-Dominique Toussaint-L'Ouverture (1743-1803), military leader and liberator of Haiti.
turned to got busy (in this case, preparing food).
two last names divided by a hyphen the European custom of naming a child both the father's and mother's surnames.
Tyrone Power dark-eyed romantic lead (1913-58) who starred in The Razor's Edge, Captain from Castile, and Jesse James.
