Clop a colloquialism for a physical blow.
hit the canvas to be knocked down in a boxing ring.
Kosher an adjective describing Kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws. These laws require that animals intended for food be killed by specially trained men in such a manner that the animal feels little pain, that dairy and meat dishes not be prepared or eaten at the same time, and that certain animals not be eaten. Following these dietary laws, which come from the Torah, is one of the ways in which Jewish people retain their identity.
prelim man a less skilled fighter who boxes in matches staged before the main fight.
abba (ah bah) Hebrew word for father; a term of endearment.
tefillin (tuh fill in) A religious accessory used by Jewish men in morning prayer service, it consists of small boxes, containing Biblical quotations, attached to each other with strips of leather that the person praying winds around his hand and places upon his head as a symbolic binding of himself to God.
Caen and Carentan cities in northwestern France.
Isle of Wight a British island in the English Channel.
Normandy a region in northwestern France where Allied troops landed on D-Day (June 6, 1944) during World War II.
Royal Air Force bombers British planes or pilots who drop bombs.
Cockeyed askew; slightly crazy.
phylacteries (fill lack tuh rees) like tefillin (listed previously), objects used during Jewish prayer.
Blatt a page of Talmud.
Kiddushin (Key do sheen ) a book of the Talmud.
Maimonidean (My mon uh day on) a reference to the great Jewish medieval scholar Maimonides.
Ivanhoe a novel set in the Middle Ages, by English author Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832).
Darwin Charles Darwin (1809-82), an English naturalist who theorized that humankind evolved from “lower” species.
Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-95), an English educator and biologist who championed Darwinism and agnosticism.
Dynasty a succession of powerful rulers, often from the same family.
Russell and Whitehead Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) and Alfred Whitehead (1861-1947), authors of the three-volume book Principia Mathematica, considered a landmark in the study of logic.
Agitated emotionally and physically disturbed.
