Save The World Through Degeneracy

A statue of Igantius J. Reilly on the 800 block of Canal Street, New Orleans, the former site of the D.H. Holmes Department Store, now the Chateau Sonesta Hotel. (Credit: Jockey Full Of Bourbon)

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."

- Jonathan Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting.

Going through my parent's books I came across an old copy of John Kennedy Toole's hilarious novel A Confederacy of Dunces (with two Nova Fontana toy receipts for ₱190 and ₱109.75 still tucked between the pages, I assume they were used as bookmarks).  Many other folks have already praised this book before me so instead I am going to present a list (in no particular order) of neat vocabulary I came across while reading it.

• dope sheet - "a racing publication giving information on horses and the outcomes of horse races."
• coxcomb - "a conceited dandy who is overly impressed by his own accomplishments."
• onanism - [1] "manual stimulation of the genital organs (of yourself or another) for sexual pleasure;" [2] "a method of birth control in which coitus is initiated but the penis is deliberately withdrawn before ejaculation."
• Boethius - "an early Christian philosopher and statesman who was executed for treason... [and] had a decisive influence on medieval logic."
• libertine - "a dissolute person; usually a man who is morally unrestrained."
• paragon - "an ideal instance; a perfect embodiment of a concept."
• basso profundo - "a very deep bass voice."
• lanolin - "a yellow viscous animal oil extracted from wool; a mixture of fatty acids and esters; used in some ointments and cosmetic."
• dacron - "a kind of polyester fabric."
• Dr. Nut - "Dr. Nut was a soft drink...[with] a distinct almond flavor... and bottles were characterized by their plain logo depicting a squirrel nibbling on a large nut."

Of course there's more colorful language that decorates this blood diamond of a story, but I often found myself so caught up in reading it that I forgot to keep adding them to my list.  Feel free to mention anything you came across that I may have neglected.