Teufelsdröckh (German) devil’s dung. The central character in Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus (1836).
paroxysm a sudden attack, as of a disease or a sudden outburst, as of laughter.
opprobrium the disgrace or infamy attached to shameful conduct.
culbute (French) somersault; downfall.
ontologist one who studies ontology, the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being or reality.
orthodox conforming to the usual beliefs or established doctrines.
Götterdämmerung (German) twilight of the Gods; the total, usually violent, collapse of a society, regime, or institution.
philistine a person regarded as smugly narrow and conventional in views and taste.
