Wake Words

twone
Page and Line: 03.12
The word “twin” spelled twone yokes together the numbers two and one.

oldparr
Page and Line: 03.17
In the development of fish such as salmon, a parr is a juvenile fish preparing to leave the fresh waters of its home.

muzzlenimiisslehims
Page and Line: 05.16
I parse out muzzlenimiisslehims as lightweight muslinmuzzlen, plus i m i issle (“I am I — Issy” lisped) plus the multiple hims. Issy nuzzlin’ in the muslin with the guys, playing “find the miissle.” Or perhapsmuzzlenimiisslehims is a male animal: you can see a pair of i’s to go along with the muzzle, suggesting any number of animals.

It may half been a missfired brick
Page and Line: 05.25
Was Joyce referring to Ignatz Mouse, the brick-wielding character in George Herriman’s comic Krazy Kat, or one of its many animated cartoon versions? While the strip was around the entire time Joyce was writing the Wake, I have not been able to find any ironclad proof that Joyce was aware of the comic strip. There are many similarities between the two works, but also some crucial differences.

foamous
Page and Line: 07.12
Fame is like the foam on a head of beer. Appears suddenly and doesn’t last long. The foamous discover that their celebrity is ephemeral as a Dixie cup of PBR at a kegger.


little Anny Ruiny
Page and Line: 07.24
The words little Anny Ruiny (and the similar sounding lovelittle Anna Rayiny in the same phrase) bring to mind the spunky lass Little Annie Rooney, a young lady who appears in various entertainment mediums.

wide harse
Page and Line: 08.21
Whether wide harse is Willingdone’s white horse, Copenhagen, or his wide arse, odds are good he’ll be sitting on both.

Touchhole
Page and Line: 08.26
In munitions, a touch hole is a small hole, through which the propellant charge of a muzzle-loading gun is ignited.
In the Wake, the Cad with a Pipe, with a his phallic gun, seeks out a touchhole, in more ways than one.

Asseye
Page and Line: 08.26
Two bits of anatomy at opposite ends of the body joined together. A lot like touchhole, which follows it on the same line, Asseye seems to point at the round area in the posterior region that resembles an ocular opening.

skud
Page and Line: 10.36
Sometimes in the Wake the Cad that HCE meets in Phoenix Park displays a weapon, and whatever the type of gun, cannon or sword it is, it always has phallic overtones.

militopucos
Page and Line: 11.14
The word militopucos contains, slightly misspelled, the Esperanto words for war (milito) and peace (paco). As Esperanto is a “world language,” the phrase seems to be discussing issues of World Peace or World War. The word “armitides” which appears earlier in the phrase, also points paradoxically towards both peace (armistice) and war (an army tide washing over the landscape.)

quaffoff
Page and Line: 7.13
A quaffoff is a what you’d call a beer-drinking contest in olden times. Barley was hurled to make the beer, and barley was sometimes hurled after the beer had been chugged.
Quaffoff required theWake’s typesetter in Lyon, France to pull two special “ff ligatures” to handset the type.

goldtin
Page and Line: 8.18
A good sheriff wears the gold star, a corrupt lawman sports a tin star. A goldtin star is worn by the best bad cops around.

wounderworker
Page and Line: 8.35
While Ulysses describes the Wonderworker as “the world’s greatest remedy for rectal complaints,” its pamphlet also notes: “Insert long round end.”
If you don’t, it’s a wounderworker, something that can work up a wound on the body.