Elizabeth Costello Glossary

Elizabeth Costello Glossary

ascribe

To award credit to someone.

circuitous

An indirect and often haphazard route.

commiserate

To share an emotional connection; to feel empathy towards.

Ulysses

A controversial novel written by James Joyce using stream of consciousness technique and which was banned in many countries due to its frank treatment of sexuality and adult themes.

Negritude

A philosophical movement based on the affirmation of African values and raising the consciousness of African heritage and culture.

vegan

A more intense and focused form of vegetarianism that rejects the consumption of any food containing animal ingredients.

inadvertently

Accidentally; not done on purpose or with intent.

expiate

To absolve of one’s sins.

nominal

Seeming or apparent; professed or purported; ostensibly.

expedite

Facilitate; to speed up; put on the fast track.

intertextuality

A relationship existing between independent literary works.

sangfroid

A term roughly translating into a confident self-assurance based on a dignified composure about one’s own abilities or talents.

analagous

A correspondence between two things, often drawing a similarity between two otherwise distinctly unrelated entities.

ersatz

A duplication or replication, typically considered inferior to the original.

Humanities

A discipline of study embracing the arts, philosophy and history, but not the sciences.

Hellenism

The study of ancient Greek culture.

tenuous

Weakly bonded; likely to be temporary rather than permanent; vague and unsubstantiated.

peculate

Embezzle; misappropriate funds.

wheedling

A manner of persuasion based on the belief that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar; sweet-talk; cajolery.

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