vertu or virtu; artistic objects, such as curios, antiques, etc.
vinaigrette a small, ornamental box or bottle with a perforated lid, for holding aromatic vinegar, smelling salts, etc.
"What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus . . . ?" Matthew 8: 29: "And behold, they cried out, 'What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?'" (The speakers are demons, whom Jesus is about to drive out of two men and into a herd of swine.)
"what's yer name" i.e., "what's-your-name," a belittling form of address directed at a person whose name the speaker does not (or pretends not to) know.
"When the Son of man . . . . As ye did it not to one of the least of these . . . ." Matthew 25: 31–46.
"When thou passest through the waters, . . . " Isaiah 43: 2, 3: "'When you pass through the waters I will be with you; / and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; / when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, / and the flame shall not consume you. / For I am the Lord your God, / the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.'"
"When, in the course of human events, . . . " the opening phrase of the Declaration of Independence; St. Clare is parodying this document.
Whitney Eli Whitney (1765–1825), American inventor of the cotton gin, a machine for separating cotton fibers from the seeds.
Wilberforce William Wilberforce (1759–1833), English statesman and vigorous opponent of slavery.
"Woe unto the world . . . " See Luke, 17: 1, 2: "And he said to his disciples, 'Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to him by whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.'"
