The Black Lexicon
In which we present a greatest hits of Blackian phraseology, compiled from his autobiography, A Life in Progress, and loosely translated
Planturous
“I went in 1972 to a performance of the movie Cabaret with a planturous, whisky-swilling French-Canadian securities block-trader…”
Definition: Fleshy, abundant
Loose translation: “…with a voluptuous, whisky-swilling French-Canadian securities block-trader…” [but “fat,” if the trader was male]
Divertissement
“After the operatic divertissement, I found I had been assigned a dinner place next to Louise Humphreys, a Metropolitan Opera patroness, Bud’s widow and sister of R. L. ‘Tim’ Ireland, another Hanna director, whom George had advised of his talks with me.”
Definition: A diversion
Loose translation: “After the show, I schmoozed.”
Ultramontane
“English corporate political contributions and an almost ultramontane clerical hostility to social reform…”
Definition: The assumption of superior power
Loose translation: “Anglo handouts and fossilized priests…”
Piquancy
“I pointed out, with some piquancy, that all of French Quebec would sink without a ripple in metropolitan Chicago.”
Definition: Sharpness
Loose translation: “I snottily pointed out…”
Poltroon
“In his first term, Bourassa was just a mealy mouthed manoeuvrer manipulated by his hangers on and always appearing to be a fugitive from a CEGEP model parliament, a poltroon masquerading as a chef…”
Definition: Coward
Loose translation: “Bourassa was a big baby…”
Rumbustious, Raspingly, Uneuphonious
“[In Sept-Iles] winters were unimaginably cold, the people rumbustious, there was more sand than soil, the drinking water was discoloured, the principal architectural feature was the mobile home, and the quality of spoken French was the most raspingly uneuphonious I have ever heard.”
Definition: Unruly; Gratingly; Unharmonious
Loose translation: “I’m a big baby…”
Beneficiation
“In the late forties, when the Mesabi iron range in Minnesota and Michigan was running down, and before the beneficiation process had been discovered to save its life…”
Definition: A process for extracting metal
Loose translation: “…and before advanced processing had been discovered…”
Spavined
“…his chairmanship of the Ontario Jockey Club saw horse-racing in Ontario elevated from spavined milk-wagon horses in fixed races in tumbledown tracks…to the highest standards of horse breeding and racing.”
Definition: Lame
Loose translation: “…elevated from nag racing to ‘A gripping, absolutely ripping Moment at the Ascot opening day.’”
Fissiparous
“…involving himself in the obscure and squalid manoeuvrings within the fissiparous perennial opposition.”
Definition: Divided
Loose translation: “…within a party that could never get its act together.”
Interlineated
“After he died I discovered some books in his library about sadness that he had heavily interlineated…”
Definition: Between the lines
Loose translation: “…that he’d written in…”
