Save the gerund and screw the whale: Max, as the character written by Henry, corrects his own grammar in the previous sentence. In the second scene, Henry corrects Max’s grammar in the same manner during an argument. A gerund is a noun, though with the –ing ending, appears to be a verb. The second part of the statement is a pun directed at the “Save the Whales” campaigns popular at the time.
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/gerund.htm
Finnegan’s Wake: A work by James Joyce, largely considered one of the most inscrutable in the canons of literature.
Bournemouth: A beach resort in Dorset, UK
Deauville: A beach resort on the northern coast of France
St. Moritz: A skiing resort in Switzerland
Buck’s Fizz: An alcoholic drink made with orange juice and champagne
Playing the feed one night: Slang for an actor who plays the straight character who provides the setup for another actor to give the punchline
Badinage: light playful talk, banter
http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2002/12/13.html
Dame Janet Baker: English opera singer, mezzo-soprano, long associated with the operas of Britten
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Dame_Janet_Baker.aspx
The Common (Barnes Common): A park with wooded areas in central London
http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation/Attraction/Barnes_Common/3219/
Norfolk: A county in Eastern England
Anti-missiles demonstration in London (American Missiles): There have been American missiles housed in England since the mid-1950s. Protests had happened since the mid-1960s in favor of nuclear disarmament.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_and_the_United_Kingdom#Deployment_of_US_tactical_nuclear_weapons
http://www.cnduk.org/index.php/information/info-sheets/nuclear-timeline.html
Owning property in Little Barmouth: A small, traditional town on the Welsh coast. A sign of posh class status
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/destinations-national/barmouth/1267507/
Children’s serial “Rosie of the Royal Infirmary”: A made up serial
Dilettantes: People having superficial interest in art or a branch of knowledge
http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/dilettante
St. Augustine: Fourth to Fifth century bishop of Hippo (in Roman Africa). Known for his written Confessions.
http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-augustine-of-hippo/
War memorial with wreath of the unknown soldier: Probably a reference to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey, where flowers and wreaths are occasionally placed.
Lacuna: A blank space or missing part
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lacuna
Vous voulez plaisanter, madame: From Strindberg’s Miss Julie. Translated means “you want to joke, madam”.
Miss Julie (Strindberg): A play about class, sex, and power.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Miss-Julie-and-the-Stronger/August-Strindberg/e/9780571205431
Miranda Jessop: Made up character
Trotsky Playhouse: Made up show
A priori: relating to or derived by reasoning from self-evident propositions
http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/a+priori
De facto: Medieval Latin, literally, from the fact
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/de%20facto
Everly Brothers: A country-rock duo (actually brothers) popular in the US in the late 1950s.
http://www.history-of-rock.com/everlybros.htm
Andrews Sisters: A singing trio of sisters popular in the US in the mid-1940s
http://www.cmgww.com/music/andrews/about/bio2.htm
Glasgow: A city in southern Scotland
http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/
Fascist: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism
Mussolini: Fascist leader of Italy in the 1930s.
http://comandosupremo.com/mussolini.html/2
Apologia: a defense especially of one's opinions, position, or action (such as Plato’s “Apology”).
http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/apologia
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