"kills me"
Holden uses this term whenever something makes him feel pangs of love or similar emotion. For example, the notebooks of young kids "kill" him in that they push him to open up his hardened heart.
ace
top-quality, of the highest order
backasswards
completely wrong, misdirected, or out of order, so backwards that the rear or "ass" is at the fore
Benedict Arnold
perhaps the most famous traitor in American history, a man who fled from the American side during the Revolutionary War in order to give information to the British
bourgeois
pertaining to the phony, middle-class or better lifestyle
Brown Betty
an American dessert of baked pudding that dates back to colonial times
caddy
person who accompanies a golfer on the course and carries his bag of clubs, sometimes giving advice about a shot
Canasta
a card game similar to Rummy in which the object is to score the most points by creating melds of cards of the same rank, playing cards out of one's hand onto the table, eventually playing out all of one's cards
chiffonier
similar to a sideboard, a type of furniture with drawers that serves as a receptacle for odds and ends
cockneyed
shifted to one side
dough
money (slang)
earlap
the flap on a hunter's hat that covers one's ear to protect it from the weather
falsies
artificial breast enhancers worn inside one's dress
flitty
appearing homosexual
Flys Up
a playground variation of baseball where whoever catches a fly ball gets the next turn at bat
furlough
a break in action or temporary leave of absence, usually in the military
get wise with
to make sexual advances
give her the time
to have intercourse with a female
Gladstone
type of luggage
grippe
influenza; the flu
halitosis
a condition of having bad-smelling breath
highball
an alcoholic drink usually involving whisky in a tall glass
louse
a contemptible person
neck
to kiss or make out
pacifist
a person who is against war and believes in peace as a matter of principle (Holden calls himself one)
Peter Lorre
a famous character actor
phony
anyone who is inauthentic; one who lives on the surface or subscribes to artifice (Holden believes that most adults are phonies)
prince
a "good guy"; someone who is valorous and noble
ratty
tattered, dilapidated
rubbernecks
people who turn their heads to watch something out of curiosity, especially when it is none of their business
rye
grass grown as a food crop, closely related to wheat and barley
shadow punching
boxing against an imaginary opponent
snowing
fooling; pulling the wool over someone's eyes
strong box
a safe for storing valuables
Tattersall
a cloth pattern
the Lunts
famous stage actors who drew large crowds
West Point
famous military academy in the United States
wooden press
a kind of case for a wooden tennis racket, which kept it from warping (prior to modern tennis rackets made of other materials)
